The Big Oopsie

One thousand years, The Spirit of Harmony emanated.

Yes, it is more accurate, in fact, to say that The Spirit of Harmony emanated rather than spoke. Harmony did not have a voice, nor did he have a body. He was a force, but a strong enough force to have a being about him as well. An individuality, so to speak.

Harmony rested within The Tree of Harmony, as usual- And the tree he rested within sat where it had been rooted for the last thousand years.

More than a thousand years, in fact, as Harmony would state moments later.

More than a thousand years, in fact- Such a vast expanse of time to sit and think, to ponder my purpose and understand it, to discover the true extent of my power as a being born from the almighty force of companionship- True companion to love- an even stronger force which is a lover of companionship-

Harmony stopped to take in an easy, slow, relaxing breath. Despite the considerably pondering nature of the fact that a being without lungs and with no need for them would breathe at all, it's understandable that one thousand plus years of planning leading to failure would need at least one deep breath.

Harmony resumed emanating, even though the words would go unheard by any intelligent soul at the moment.

...And to calculate everything out to the tiniest minutia of detail.

Harmony did not lose his cool. Ever. He could not have been what he is if he were not capable of representing his composite elements perfectly.

...One does not think of everything even with a thousand years to do so, I suppose. Harmony channeled honesty, but to some extent also generosity with this statement, as he knew in the back of his metaphorical head that he REALLY should have seen this coming.

It is time that I review what went wrong.

'~*~'

As Twilight saw her friends ascend the staircase of the ancient castle of The Two Sisters, a tiny spark appeared in her eyes, and a beautiful realization hit her.

She boldly turned to face Nightmare Moon with a new confidence she hadn't had any moment before in this skirmish and PREPARED. A HEROIC. SPEECH.

"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here."

Nightmare Moon was taken aback by the bold statement, but then, curiously, had decided it made quite a bit of sense. Was this the moment? Harmony thought.

A cold, cleverly cast grin slipped onto the fanged teeth of the princess of darkness. "Indeed they are, Twilight Sparkle. Humor me, how so?"

It was Twilight's turn to be surprised, but not for long. She had a heroic speech to finish, and if the villain was going to let her make it, then all the better!

"Uh, okay then." She cleared her throat a little awkwardly to get back into the mood, then got her heroic stance back into position and her confident smile.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty!"

"Ooh! A pause for dramatic effect! Is this going to be a theme? Also I'll admit that the definition of honesty is flexible enough to allow that." Nightmare Moon was showing an odd understanding of the situation.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness!"

"She is a little sweetheart, isn't she?"

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter!"

"I wouldn't always recommend that course of action, but I am indeed seeing the spirit of laughter in her."

Twilight was loosing resolve.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity."

"It was indeed noble! Hours of tail work down the drain! Also, are uneven mustaches in style lately, or is it just me?"

"And Rainbow Dash, who could not... leave her friends... for her own stuff... represents... loyalty?"

"Aaaaaand, ended with a lame finish," Rainbow rudely quipped.

Applejack threw Rainbow Dash dirty look.

"What? She screwed up my part! That is so lame!"

"Zip yer hole, RD. Somethin's fishy." Applejack chided.

At that moment, Nightmare Moon seemed even more looming and huge somehow, and was starting to more than scare Twilight.

"'Fishy' indeed! But Twilight! What about the sixth element? Surely it has to be here somewhere!"

Twilight was trying to come up with what she had on her mental script. It wasn't working. "I- I-"

"You what?"

"I got the sixth element when I discovered how happy I was to see my friends! There was a spark in that- Metaphorical maybe- maybe more than that- but it burned fiercely in me- in us all, and got us the element of magic!"

Silence. Nightmare Moon was letting it sink in.

Fluttershy fidgeted. She usually did in uncomfortable social situations, but this was even more of a fidget than her normal fidgeting.

Applejack found herself chewing on the brim of her stetson and COULDN'T STOP. Where this nervous tic came from and why it showed up now, she didn't know.

Rarity looked to her tail and back again, worry and concern alight on her features.

Pinkie seemed to need a reboot.

Rainbow fidgeted. This was not normal for her like it was for Fluttershy, but it was a pretty fidgety fidget regardless.

Twilight swallowed. She did not turn her gaze from Nightmare Moon. She would not.

"I'll say what we're all thinking." Nightmare Moon began. She brought her face in close to Twilight and her voice down to a low whisper. It almost came out like a hiss- "They're fake."

"Wh-what?" Twilight... Sort of responded. At this point, there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and she was perfectly fine with not talking, thank you very much.

The Princess of Darkness then summoned all the hamminess she could muster for the situation, making sure she chewed the scenery nice and thoroughly-

"THEY'RE FAAAAAAAAAAKE!" Her voice boomed in all-caps, almost rattling out the teeth of the ponies present.

Nightmare Moon continued uncontested. "THE SHATTERED ELEMENTS YOU SEE BEFORE YOU WERE NOTHING BUT SHATTERED ROCKS! I HAD A THOUSAND YEARS TO PREPARE! DID YOU THINK I WOULD BE SO FOALISH AS TO FORGET THE MIGHT OF THAT WHICH HAD BANISHED ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?"

Shocked silence responded her.

"I have many MORE centuries of understanding than you could EVER COMPREHEND! Believe me, my little ponies, THE ELEMENTS were the FIRST THING I thought to remove!"

The same cold, cast smile crept back on the mare's face as she continued. "It is true- I had presumed the elements would stay broken once smashed, but harmony is such an incredible force that even shattering the real elements didn't stick- They came back together in five minutes."

She began circling the six friends in a predatory fashion. "Quiet, Fluttershy," She scolded- Fluttershy was about to speak but barely knew it herself.

"This is not the good news that you or anypony of you think it might be- Baring their destruction, I had a plan B. I took the elements and scattered them all across Equestria and even beyond. In my haste, even I do not know where I put them, so you cannot force the information out of me, Rainbow Dash." Rainbow was thinking it, but didn't know she was.

More circling. Pinkie was getting dizzy watching her.

"It honestly is a shame though, isn't it? I'm certain you all enjoyed yourselves on the wild goose-chase I sent you on."

AJ spat out her hat and put it back on her head quickly, hoping nopony saw her chewing on it.

"It wasn't that fun," Rainbow countered Nightmare Moon.

"Oh come on, nopony enjoyed my singing?" Pinkie complained.

"Well, that was pretty fun, but I could have done without the rest."

Twilight nodded. "I didn't exactly like falling off a cliff."

Fluttershy was extra quiet. You could tell she was upset by the manticore's pain having now been revealed to be needless cruelty.

Rarity scowled at Nightmare Moon. She was upset that her perfectly good act of generosity might not have been needed if the alicorn hadn't decided to string them along.

Rainbow, however, was seething. "And I could have stopped so much trouble just by turning back around and leaving! I didn't even NEED to tie the bridge! I don't even know why you'd play 'evil dark flying team' with me if you had already won!"

As the ponies in Harmony's acute and vast memory suddenly were hit with the full force of what they were told, Harmony realized his mistake.

Luna never developed all the pride I presumed she would. She only focused on righting a perceived wrong, not on the glory she imagined she would receive! Such a small difference, negligible, but it changes everything! Harmony emanated to himself. She had more heart to her than what she was expected to, making eternal night... Somehow more important to her.

Back to the mane six- Five of the six members of the elements of harmony looked at Dash with horror, while Rainbow Dash gave Nightmare Moon a similar one.

The tension was thick. The implications horrible. Nightmare Moon shouldn't have been that smart, should she? But the proof was in the pudding. The broken rocks stayed broken, and it had been five minutes. No magical auras, no shiny rainbows, no princess Luna, just Nightmare Moon and eternal night as the clock struck 8:00 AM in Ponyville.

The alicorn, having had her fill of the tense silence (and having very much enjoyed it), decided to make her exit- But not without one last thing to seal the despair.

"Yes, I have already won- And you will not find the elements, and you will not find me. You will only find darkness underneath my stars."

And with a puff of stardust, Nightmare Moon was gone.

'~*~'

Harmony could almost view no further into his memory. There were not enough words to describe the aching sensation he felt when it had first occurred, but he had to continue viewing. Reviewing everything was important before he made his next choice- both the hope and the despair.

It still hurt.

He took another deep breath- Again, confusing as to its need, but understandable- and steeled himself for the vivid sensation of what came next.

'~*~'

Nopony likes seeing Fluttershy cry.

Fluttershy was sobbing- Literally bawling as tears poured down her face and muzzle and condensed below her chin, only to drip off and form in an ever increasing puddle on the stone of the old castle. Her body heaved up and down with each heavy breath as she cried and cried and kept on crying- Certain that she would never see the sun again.

Every little twitch of her tail and ears only made the scene worse as she transcended her natural beauty into something like a grieving angel. It felt wrong and unearthly to watch.

It would have been hard enough to witness if it weren't for the fact that Twilight was sharing this sorrow with her- She did not look beautiful at all when crying this hard, but this ugly kind of grief was just as difficult to look at- Her emotion made use of every last corner and muscle in her face, contorting it into a tapestry of pain.

The pegasus and unicorn currently sobbing inconsolably had each other wrapped in a hug in a vain attempt to comfort the other. Twilight found a mantra that seemed to help, but she wasn't sure-

"I'm sorry princess- I'm so sorry princess- I'm so sorry-"

Thankfully, Fluttershy found one for the both of them that was helping, slowly but surely-

"We'll be okay." For every one of Twilight's "I'm sorry"s, she responded with "We'll be okay."

But The worst part about the scene was that the other four were letting empathetic tears trickle down their own faces, even though different things were on their minds.

How will our crop grow in this? Applejack thought. She didn't often cry like this for somepony else's troubles even if were bad enough. It just never happened even if she wanted to. But eternal night affected her too, just like anypony else.

Will anypony ever be happy without sun? Thought Pinkie, gazing quietly on the sobbing pair.

Will I ever be happy without sun? Will I ever feel generous again? Thought Rarity. Her makeup was surely suffering, but it went unnoticed.

I'll never be able to fly in this darkness... Thought Rainbow Dash, who was not crying, and would refuse to admit it despite evidence.

But most of all, the four not actively sobbing wanted the two that were to stop.

Especially Fluttershy.

And fittingly, a nice distraction showed up to pull them out of it in the form of Princess Celestia. All ponies pulled themselves together to give a bow, even Twilight, who felt as if she failed her and was going to do everything then that she could to make it right.

Princess Celestia did not look as regal and beautiful as she usually did. A tired expression showed on her face, the slight bags only dimming her deeply apologetic eyes a little. Some scuffs here and there soiled her lovely coat and reduced the luster of her regalia, and the usually well preened and graceful feathers of her wings were a little disheveled. About the only thing that looked the same was her majestic alicorn horn, but it was very hard to tarnish the beauty of something as hard as a horn.

After a bit of awkward staring between the seven, Twilight finally managed to speak up. "I'm sorry princess-"

"You have nothing to apologize for, Twilight. If anything, I must apologize to you-"

She then noticed the condition of the mane six, fur ruffled and tear streaked as they were.

"You all look quite simply awful," She said pityingly.

Rainbow Dash pulled herself together the rest of the way. "You're not looking much better yourself, Princess," She noted with a smirk, eager to find a distraction from all that crying.

Seriously. There was just way too much of it right then.

"Perhaps we'll just say the lock on my cell was difficult to pick," The princess responded gracefully. She then turned back to Twilight, but addressed the group as a whole.

"I must apologize to you all because I did not foresee this. I must confess, Twilight, that I had already known you were one of the bearers of the elements from the moment you had first expressed your extraordinary talent, which is why I sent you off in the pursuit of friends when you informed me of the prophesy of my sister's return."

"Say what now?!" Applejack looked floored. Of course save for Twilight- of whom had read all of the prophesy unlike the others, so did the other ponies.

"That ruthless ruffian is your sister?!" Rarity's eyes practically bugged out.

"Did she always do that? Stop the sun from rising?" Rainbow merely asked curiously.

Celestia only let out a knowing smile, hinting at a touch of delight on how she had spilled the secret. "We will have plenty of time to discuss it, but I'm not yet finished. If you would kindly?"

All the other ponies simply went silent, but Fluttershy, ever ridiculously polite to a fault, gave a little bow. "Certainly princess. I'd love to hear the rest." You could almost hear her soft smile in her voice.

Celestia rolled her eyes- She was feeling rather un-princessy at the time and would rather have had all of them simply be quiet without the theatrics.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to annoy you." Fluttershy showed the "to a fault" point of her politeness.

Celestia cocked an eyebrow at her. Fluttershy took the hint and quieted down with a blush.

"Where was I...? Oh, yes. It does seem that you have not only found five friends to call your own, but in them the rest of the bearers as well. I even understood that Luna would know where to look for the elements, but what I did not foresee was that she would know when to look for them."

"So..." Twilight queried. She wasn't certain why Celestia called her sister "Luna", but that was just another question for later.

"The Elements of Harmony were the first thing she considered after her escape. You six could never have stopped her- But your efforts were not without use."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, ever the inquisitive student. The rest listened with deep interest.

"If Luna had never put those obstacles in your path, would you have ever forged your friendship?"

Something clicked in Twilight's head. "...Hoisted by her own petard!"

Rainbow cocked her head. "What's that mean?"

"By sticking around to try to break us apart, she only brought us together! We wouldn't have ever become friends if we didn't face her tricks! But... What about the Elements? How are we ever going to find them before Equestria freezes under eternal night?"

The other five exploded into a frenzy of panic, running around, fluttering about and waving wildy- Twilight was unsure why they had never considered the implications of lacking the sun's heat.

"Mah farm! We're never gonna grow enough ta feed us!"

"DARK AND COLD?! MY WINGS WILL FREEZE OFF BEFORE I CAN EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO FLY IN THE DARK!!"

"There's gonna be so much snow! Stores will close! Schools will close! EVERYTHING WILL CLOSE! WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BECOME SNOW PONIES AND EAT ICE THE REST OF OUR LIVES!"

"Fluttershy, dear! Please don't start crying again!"

"No s-s-sun? N-no s-s-summer? I c-c-c-can't ta-a-a-ake it!"

This went on for a while. Priceless artifacts of a thousand years in age were carelessly broken, halls not tread for equally long were stripped of their mystery, and local populations of sleeping fauna were disturbed very much.

And then Celestia's voice boomed out.

"Quiet, please," Celestia requested politely, despite the sheer decibel count of her words. As she had spoken, her body glowed with a fearsome corona as huge swaths of fire sprung out of the ground and the earth below her quaked.

Everypony quieted down- It was kind of hard not to after that.

"That, my little ponies, was the Royal Canterlot Voice. If you did speak with Luna, then you may or may not have experienced it from her, but know that I make a habit of avoiding its use whenever I can. Now, as for the cold, it would certainly be worth consideration as an issue if it weren't quite simply not true.

The pegasi control the weather in Equestria- clouds, rain, snow, lightning, and by extension the temperatures necessary to make all those things happen. Not only is the weather under our control, the seasons are similarly prepared and executed. The sun and moon help things along, but we can certainly make due for something as temporary as eternal night."

Twilight looked at Celestia like she grew a second head. "'Temporary as eternal'... What?"

She just nodded. "The Elements of Harmony have not been destroyed. They have not been sealed. They have not been cursed or hexed or even so much as spat upon spitefully. They have only been hidden, and therefore, Luna will never have truly eternal night."

The mane six were feeling quite reassured at this point, but one thing was niggling the backs of their heads. Applejack brought it up first, naturally.

"What about light? Equestria's plants need light to grow, don't they?"

Celestia suddenly put on a big smile. It looked wonderfully strange on her, Twilight decided. "For that, my friends, the Equestrian earth ponies have invented a most creative solution."

All six leaned in.

She almost did a happy dance, right then, right there. She had already done one when first receiving the news, but she was alone at the time. "A colossal sunflower which produces its own light!"

The curious, wonderful news was enough to draw out laughs from the six. It couldn't be real!

Twilight was shaking her head. "You're kidding! You're kidding me!"

Both Rarity and Fluttershy were lost in the idea- One was suddenly inspired, but the both could not wait to see it. Each talked on and on about their fantasies, not hearing anypony else.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie couldn't wait to see it either, and were busy making it known as loudly as possible- One thought it would be awesome, and the other thought it would be fun.

Applejack was the happiest about it, however, shouting at the Equestrian unicorn elite that she told them so, and that earth ponies can pull their weight just fine.

As things calmed down once more, Twilight embraced her mentor- Though Celestia was not expecting it. "Thank you princess. I knew you'd come up with a solution."

"Twilight Sparkle, I could not have come up with something so creative if I had tried."

The unicorn started to feel a little awkward about the premature hug. "You didn't come up with this?"

"Certainly not, Twilight! Nor could I have come up with the method to grow enough for each town, city, landmark and wilds in Equestria. My talent lies in raising the sun and in leadership. I rarely come up with ideas- I just put them where they need to go!"

"Um... Oops." Twilight let out a little nervous giggle and backpedaled to the rest of the group.

"Wait," Rarity said, taking a brief moment to gracefully pull a section of her mane out of her eyes. "We could not have possibly been shrouded in darkness for long enough that the earth ponies could have had time to discover the problem and produce the flowers, could we?"

"Hard work and hard brains, Rarity. That's the earth pony way." Applejack responded with pride.

Celestia corrected the two- "Neither of you are wrong- While I had expected the six of you to ultimately defeat Luna with the Elements, I had prepared for this circumstance the moment I heard of the prophecy from Twilight. I sent a call-to-action to all the finest earth pony scientists and farmers informing them that the sun may soon be wrested from my control.

They had hundreds of years of agricultural study to work from already, but for the solution to come so quickly is certainly a welcome surprise- especially given its nature."

Applejack looked disappointed. She would have really loved to be one of the ponies figuring out those sunflowers.

Alas, as much as she enjoyed it, the ruler of Equestria could not simply sit and chat with her student and get to know her friends. Despite the creative solutions and the willingness of her citizens, times would still be tough until the sun was returned to the sky, and her little ponies needed her to be strong.

"It was most enjoyable getting to meet all of you, dear bearers- But for now I have orders for you."

Celestia, having been laying down with the group of friends, got up to full standing height once again.

"Twilight, I understand that having been through such an ordeal with these five that you would dearly wish to stay with them. If you wish, I will make sure your obligations in Canterlot are handled as you take up home in the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville."

Twilight looked back at her new friends, smiling in disbelief. "Do you really mean it?"

"Have I ever neglected your happiness, my st- OOF!" Celestia was interrupted as Twilight wrapped her in another (but much better timed) hug. The other ponies may have awwed as they hugged.

Releasing the embrace, the princess of the sun continued. "As for every one of you, when you return to Ponyville, let the citizens know that you've tried to fix this, and let them know that you will continue to try as long as there is a way.

If they look to you for strength or guidance, give it. If they look to you for comfort and assurance, give it. Do everything you can for them, but when next you are summoned, drop everything and go, because you are about to become very important to the future of Equestria."

Celestia turned and was about to take flight out of the ruin (heaven knows how she would manage in the dark), but Twilight stopped her one last time.

"Princess, why are you calling Nightmare Moon Luna?"

The princess of the sun turned to look at her student, a distant sadness held in her strong, calm expression. "Because, my student, it is her name. Beneath the monster you fought lies a confused and betrayed pony brought to desperate and foalish measures by her sister who could not see the problem. Don't ever forget that."

A single, silent flap and she was gone. The six emotionally rocked friends, worn out and defeated at the moment, slowly made their way home to Ponyville.

'~*~'

Harmony finished reviewing his memory. It had been a week and one day since the occurrence, and it had taken him that long to learn how to put his thoughts to words. He had always thought and considered, but it was far easier to do so with language on his side. He began to emanate to himself once more.

It is as Celestia says. I should have informed her of Luna's plans for the Elements so that she could hide them properly until the correct time. Perhaps in another world she had properly considered it when I could not... But such musing is pointless.

I still have the bearers. From what thoughts I read of her, Applejack was first and foremost concerned for home and all the ponies for which her occupation provided. She made no statements otherwise- Honesty sits within her like a firm rock- unmovable and faithful.

Fluttershy had much to grieve for- few acquaintances, even fewer friends, and the worry that her failure would cause her to be cast out brought her to tears- a worry not completely unfounded. But despite all she had to cry for, her first concern was for her friend, similarly grief-stricken. Kindness radiates from her as warm as the heat of the sun.

Pinkie Pie plays the comedy relief, but it is clearly just as much for others' benefit as it is for hers- no, immensely more. Since discovering her, I have never seen her truly depressed. She adds so much energy and spring to the step of her friends- If this is not the Element of Laughter in her, than I cannot find a better pony.

Rarity, however, is impressive! Her heart hosts a war between her want to get and her want to give, but the generosity within her is so strong that even as she knew the lack of sun would drop confidence, and the confidence drop sales, she worried first about what would become of her ability to give.

And Rainbow Dash, for all her harsh edges and aloof nature, as lazy as she is capable of being, the spirit of loyalty burns inside her like molten gold. She prefers nothing more in the world than to be with and protect her friends- Even so far as throwing out her dreams to do so.

But how Twilight has grown. She still knows so little of friendship, but even so has become the glue to bind the six together. Among them, only three have past connections with each other, but all of them have her in common.

And Twilight has led them beautifully, completing the group just as Magic completes the Elements.

If it were still possible, I would have delighted to remain silent, never speaking, sitting here within the Everfree as an unseen force and a mystery and a puzzle. Harmony laughed to think of the idea.

But it is not. And I will not let my past mistakes become a millstone.

And if things were to be different, then the Tree of Harmony had to also, Harmony resolved.

Using the magic housed within the tree, Harmony fueled its transformation.

No longer would The Tree of Harmony appear as a hidden treasure, but instead a beacon of hope. The ground shook as the mighty crystal broke off like a shell to reveal a young tree- Its leaves were blue, its trunk a darker shade, and from it hung six simple large nuts, each bearing an indentation where an element of harmony would rest.

It looked like a very blue, oddly disproportionate walnut tree. Harmony stopped to take a peak at its housing and couldn't help but chuckle.

It's so tiny and weird! I'm certain the crystallized look it bore previously looked much better than this!

This was true, and this new design was not yet to purpose. It was time to up the ante... Perhaps to the eleventh numerical.

The ground shook once again, but this time, it got stronger. Harmony drew from his full power (of which there was a lot) and put everything into the transformation.

Rainbows flew out from the tree in all directions before converging back on the trunk. The blue discoloration disappeared instantly as the wood snapped, crunched and grew.

Eight feet. Sixteen feet. Thirty two feet. Fifty feet.

It peaked at one hundred feet- A large bush sitting on top of a huge trunk- And a new wave of rainbows spread and converged on the whole tree.

The artificial youth of the trunk was stripped away as knots and grooves began to form on its surface. The trunk widened until ten ponies linking forelegs could not stand around it, and the nuts disintegrated as the grooves instead resurfaced into ornately carved sockets circling the base of the trunk.

The leaves exploded outward and downward, flitting every empty section with branches and beautiful, rich greens that glowed warmly with their own light. The leaves were big enough to fashion large hats out of and almost felt like they had a soothing subsonic hum to them- The hidden might of the tree manifesting quietly and gently.

No single part of the tree looked breakable, or even so much as touchable by anything that would hurt it. If anyone had never seen it otherwise, it could have been like this forever for all they knew.

But Harmony was not finished. What is a good tree without the roots to support it?

Another section of rainbows- much bigger and prettier this time- shot out and converged below ground. The earth shook like never before as a massive taproot drilled its way almost as deep as the trunk was tall. Other roots spread out from it, pushing aside earth and stone and smaller trees, and even arching over Everfree's river.

The massive roots flattened out to produce roads, safe paths to take to the tree from all the Everfree Forest's noted locations, and even from just outside Ponyville.

Under different circumstances, the Tree of Harmony would never have needed to be this strong. Sans the elements, it would have sat hidden and kept Equestria safe from almost every threat, and when it would have received them once more, the bearers would amplify its might through their very spirits.

But even though the ponies under Harmony's charge could make the weather behave and set the seasons, even though they could bring enough light to grow the plant life and feed themselves, they could not conjure up the same protection the sun had provided from the things that like the dark.

Harmony realized his active role was not only necessary in an uncertain future, it was also necessary to understand the threats and head them off, to inform the bearers and guide them to do what he could not, and to be there to provide hope in a future without the Elements.

He was no longer an observer in a preset destiny. There was no preset destiny. He had to become active, and to do it now.

Harmony began thus: Using his incredible power as an active force, he spoke to the hearts of Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.

Here is your summons, bearers. Drop everything and go.

Nothing seemed to happen.

...Ahem. Harmony emanated into their hearts once more. He was almost certain they didn't hear him the first time.

You know how it is. Sometimes a tugging on the heart gets ignored for whatever reason- A party... Work... A particularly intense game of ping-pong...

Ponies get distracted.

But they really should have been here by now.

Nope, still nothing.

After a couple of seconds, Harmony then realized his bearers would obviously have to walk to get to the tree, that they would be a bit busy reeling from the shock of a tree growing up suddenly in the Everfree forest, and that if a weird, echoing voice spoke into his heart, he'd be a bit scared of it and uncertain about obeying it too.

He resumed musing to himself, and a thought crossed his mind-

They don't even know what the Tree of Harmony is, do they? I love a good introduction!

Harmony began to prepare a speech.

From the desk of Fair Paints, a selected artistic rendering of an occurrence in the adventures of the Equestrian heroes Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkamena Dianne Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

I enjoy being privy to these stories, and with permission from Twilight and company, have taken the liberty to publish a selection of the resulting renderings I have found noteworthy.

Capturing the finer points of Applejack's vulnerable expression as she masticated her accessory proved to be quite difficult, especially when she was reluctant to state the occurrence had even happened. I would certainly have not known anything if it weren't for Pinkamena's input.

After-Oopsie

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And now for something completely different from the musings of a magic spirit inside a glowing tree. Specifically, what exactly has become of Ponyville now that the seeming permanence of "eternal night" has come to light?

Well, with Twilight and company having just come back from their misadventure, things were going somewhat horribly wrong as usual. While there was no rioting or deliberate destruction of property (as was almost universally the case during any Ponyville disaster), there was stampeding, shrieking and yelling, accidental destruction of property and all in all not very organized chaos.

Some poor young mare had even managed to get herself stuck in a windsock of all things (The big surprise being that it was not a pegasus with a blond mane and tail, grey coat and bubble cutie mark, but a unicorn with a striped white and light green mane and tail, green fur and a lyre cutie mark), but that was only one facet of the current chaos-

Of which the Mane six were very shocked to walk into town and witness.

"What in the name of Equestria is going on here?!" Twilight demanded to nopony in particular. The fur on her back had sprung up a little as fight-or-flight instinct laid in wait, ready to respond at a moment's notice.

Applejack heaved a sigh, ears drooping in the same annoyance that expressed itself in her half lidded eyes. "Well, if ah were ta guess, probably Roseluck, Daisy and Lilly had somethin' ta do with it."

Almost as if in confirmation, some mare shrieked shrilly from across town- "THE HOROOOOOOOR!!!!!" It seemed to echo as the chaos kicked back into gear once more.

"Which one was that, then?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Rose," all five other ponies responded in unison.

Twilight giggled (nervously, of course), looking to the other five for some sort of cue or call to action. Save for Fluttershy who was looking very concerned for the well being of Ponyville's citizenry, the others only observed the chaos with detached interest and un-amused glassy stares.

Rainbow Dash yawned. Didn't even make a big show of it.

Twilight tried to bring up the chaos once more. "Uh... Shouldn't we... I dunno... Do something about this? I mean-" A loud thunderous crash was heard somewhere in the direction of the town hall- "They're breaking things."

Rarity walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her back. "Just give it a minute, Darling. They will get it out of their system eventually."

Twilight was a mare of action, but she also knew very little about Ponyville, and did not want to cause undue harm by taking action when she should not. So she stayed with her friends, a bit high strung over the ensuing chaos just a few yards ahead of her- a barely safe distance to watch- and itching to do something.

Three thunderous smashes and a furious rooster were heard, followed by several more shrieks. The other mares were finally starting to show some emotion other than bored interest as the chaos failed to stop after a minute.

Fluttershy alighted on the ground close to Twilight- The worry hadn't left her face. "Um, Twilight? I think we can do something now..."

Twilight INSTANTLY went into full alert, causing Fluttershy to let out the teeniest tiniest startled squeak- "ThankyouFluttershythatwasallIneeded now RAINBOW DASH, find the mayor and see what she needs us to do for her, then find me and let me know!"

"You got it, Twi!" Rainbow saluted and took off like a shot.

"Fluttershy, I'm not asking you to try to calm down anypony, but if there are animals in this mess then I need you to get them out! They are more dangerous because they understand less and are probably very scared!"

"okay!" Fluttershy nodded and took of like a softly falling feather.

"Rarity, Pinkie Pie, this will be hard but I am asking you to try and calm down as many ponies as you can! Pinkie, stick by Rarity and do as she says- If you're too hyperactive, it could make things worse!"

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie responded with a smile and a little hop on each syllable before picking up a protesting Rarity by the waist and disappearing into the town.

"What about me, Twi?" Applejack stood at attention.

"Applejack, you're coming with me and watching my back while I go find Spike! When Rainbow Dash gets back to me, I might have to send a letter-"

Rainbow Dash got back already, stopping on the ground with another salute. "Twilight! Mayor Mare's safe but she's way in over her head!" She put her saluting hoof back on the ground. "She says that because we don't have our Helianthus Colossus yet everypony's panicking because the plants are gonna die before then! I don't know what a Helianthus Colossus is but she wants us to contact the royal guard so they can set up a speech-"

"A SPEECH! Rainbow, you are a genius!" Twilight jumped up and grabbed Rainbow by both shoulders.

"What? Uh, I mean, yeah! I'm kinda cool that way!" Rainbow shined a hoof on her chest, attempting to be casual and accept the praise she knew but wouldn't tell anypony she didn't deserve.

"Applejack, change of plans! Escort me to the town hall and make sure I get to the top! Oh, man, I've always had plenty of notes before but this is so exciting! I've got a chance to make a big speech that's purely improvised and necessary for ponies to hear! Oh, what am I going to say? Something inspiring? Something simple? How much metaphor should I use? Should I use any metaphor at all?"

"Who cares, Twilight? Just get everypony's attention and talk from yer heart! Now let's get goin' before all of Ponyville's turned flatter than an uncooked pancake!"

"Right!" Twilight giggled nervously yet again before tearing off full speed into the chaos. Applejack wasn't quite ready for it, but after a half second of confusion she caught up quickly.

It looked even worse on the inside. Somehow 90 percent of the Ponyville houses and stands had some kind of hole or collapse as multicolored mares, stallions, fillies and colts of all walks of life rushed about in a panic that some weren't even sure of its origin. One young mare Lyra Heartstrings had managed to extract herself from the windsock and resigned herself to sitting between two smashed buildings and crying. Oddly, a small cottage, cloud house, boutique, bakery, farmhouse and tree library remained untouched by the chaos and Twilight thanked her lucky stars for it.

They wasted no time heading to the town hall. Twilight's expression was firm and focused on the landmark as she tripped, stumbled, and on occasion, teleported along. Given the nature of the situation, she was actually doing pretty well as scaffolding fell down onto the cobblestone streets and ponies moved and turned unpredictably- Especially as nothing was lit, something frankly quite stupid in "eternal night".

Applejack had her work cut out for her as she pushed and shoved panicked ponies away from Twilight and towards safety, all the while saying "Pardon", "Scuse me" and "Sorry y'all" to each and every one she did so. At least twice she needed to tackle Twilight out from under something dangerous, and at least four times Twilight herself teleported them both out of harm's way.

But at last after only a few minutes the team managed to make it to the Ponyville town hall and ascend the stairs to the very top spire. Twilight produced a small stack of note cards from some hammer-space Applejack didn't bother to question and began weaving together a complex spell.

"Twi?"

"Nnnng- Yeah?"

"Ya want me ta get their attention instead?"

Twilight stopped the spell and blinked twice- Looking positively adorkable as she did so- "Oh, sure. I was going to see if I could remember the principles behind Celestia's voice amplification and weave them into a spell for myself, but if you think you can, then be my guest."

Applejack gave a light nod. No need to work harder than necessary.

The farm pony took a deep breath and then shouted her announcement with all the practice of an Equestrian military commanding officer and all the bite of a rough-and-tumble country girl.

"ALRIGHT, Y'ALL STOP CRASHIN' AROUND AND LISTEN UP! THIS HERE'S TWILIGHT SPARKLE, STUDENT OF THE PRINCESS AND PROB'LY SMARTER 'N SIX PONIES PUT TOGETHER! SHE'S HERE TO TELL Y'ALL WHAT'S WHAT!"

The chaos stopped miraculously as everypony began to filter into the town square. Some were still shaking slightly from the panic, but other than that, nopony seemed to be hurt.

"Thank you, Applejack," Twilight gave her a nod and a little smile.

"Weren't nuthin'. Now I thought you weren't usin' notes?"

"I made them on the way here," She smiled gleefully once again.

AJ was absolutely impressed. "Ya didn't tell me ya were a multi-tasker..."

"Oh, well, multi-tasking is actually a myth- What it refers to is actually a skilled division and compartmentalization of tasks and cycling your focus between them quickly so as to give the necessary attention to each task as is due despite the division of focus- It's a very hard thing to do once you exceed three tasks and I should probably give the speech I promised shouldn't I?"

"Eeyup. Sorry I set ya off. Now talk to the ponies." Applejack gave her a "go get 'em" smile.

Twilight turned to face her audience, flitting through the note cards before deciding "to hay with it" and tucking them away.

"Citizens of Ponyville, as you are all aware, we have been beset with eternal night by Nightmare Moon, a pony few ponies even understood to be anything more than fiction, but what you likely do not know is that after the interruption to the Summer Sun Celebration and abduction of Princess Celestia, I and five others- Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash set off in pursuit of the Elements of Harmony to stop her."

She cleared her throat. Out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie bounded up and quietly, but joyfully offered her a glass of water.

Twilight accepted it thankfully and left it on the railing. "As we already knew finding all six would be difficult, we were prepared to spend quite some time searching the Castle of The Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest, but Nightmare Moon had absconded with and hid them before she even made her public appearance. We had failed before we even began."

The silence was still there, but the ponies below now looked crestfallen. Twilight swooped her ears downward in empathy as she continued.

"This is disheartening news, but there still lies hope in what the six of us have discovered of ourselves. We did not even know how to wield the elements once we had found them, but in the trials Nightmare Moon set upon us to chase us away and break us apart, we discovered that each element lies within our hearts as our greatest strength.

Applejack bears the element of honesty. Fluttershy, kindness. Pinkie Pie, laughter. Rarity, generosity, and Rainbow Dash, loyalty. And though it took some time to discover, my desire and love for my friends makes me the bearer of the element of magic, the sixth element which nopony remembers."

"So too in our failure did we realize our place and responsibility to Equestria and those living in it," Twilight continued speaking, now remembering the things her mentor had told her. "As the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, we must continually attempt to secure the safety of Equestria and maintain it, but our first duty is to you- To be an example, to be leaders, to be comforters, guides and motivators in the face of this time of uncertainty.

We do not know this time where the Elements of Harmony have been taken. We do not know how or where to look, but be confident that we are searching for a way, and we will find it and bring the sun back with all the haste that is due."

Twilight took a sip from the glass of water and prepared her big finish. "Until such time, enjoy life in Equestria for what it currently stands to be.

Love the moon.

Love the stars.

Love each other.

Love your work, play, rest and food and trust in each other. Take each day as it comes, dark though it may be, and use it to your best, and surely then harmony will flourish before the elements are found- up to when they are found- and ever after they have been discovered and Princess Luna is returned to us once more after a thousand years."

She thought of the phrase "Keep Calm and Carry On", but decided against it- Somepony might have already used that one. Instead-

"United in harmony, we cannot fail. Let us do our best to keep it that way."

Twilight gave a little bow and a polite "Thank you", then turned to descend the stairs of the town hall's spire.

When she reached the bottom and started back towards the library, there was no grand applause, no whooping or hollering- They only put on brave faces and joyful smiles as they let her through the crowd. While the crowd mostly dispersed to help one another fix the extensive damage, those closest to her offered words of encouragement, hugs, hoof-bumps and hoof-shakes, words of praise and thank-yous.

Her new friends were waiting at the end of the line as they wrapped her in a big group hug- Fluttershy gave her a tender nuzzle and a sweet smile.

"You killed that one, Twi," Rainbow Dash stated with pride, "But I was hoping they'd cheer for you a little more than... Not at all."

"Me too," Twilight agreed.

Rarity sighed delicately in understanding. "Don't we all, darling? But what you get from a speech isn't so important as what you give with it- And you got something beautiful from it regardless."

Pinkie was grinning from ear to ear, and Twilight could have sworn that her tail was wagging just like a dog. "I love their smiles! Those smiles are the exact same smile I smile to make ponies smile!"

"And that ain't all, Pinkie-" Applejack announced, excusing herself from the group hug to point towards the pony citizens, "Lookit what else they're doin'! Yer speech musta done somethin' Twi, cuz that's the first time I've ever seen everypony pitch in ta help fix the town after a mess!"

Twilight wondered if Ponyville really was as uncaring as Applejack made it sound, but realized that this was a wonderful sight. Ponies all around were helping each other fix holes and replace fallen pieces, using their special talents as much as they could and all the while laughing, chatting, smiling and encouraging each other.

Just then, the Mayor came out of the almost-never-used cellar of the town hall, her grey mane a mess and her formal tie completely undone, glasses askew on her muzzle and dirt embedded into her brown fur. She looked for all the world like a PTSD victim and could very well have been one after this crazy panic.

"Uh... Mayor?" Twilight ventured.

"DON'T YOU DARE PANIC! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THE PANICKING I TELL YOU! ENOUGH!" The mayor lurched forward and came nose to nose with the bookish unicorn.

"Uh, mayor? You're a bit close-"

Mayor Mare turned around with a zip and started pacing very fast. "I should never have campaigned for Ponyville! I'm not fit to be a mayor! My cutie mark is more fit for secretary work anyway! But nooooo! I thought I had the charisma and ease of mind to run Ponyville! But even though I manage to keep most everything organized on a good day, I don't have the good, strong leadership needed for ponies to depend on me like I need them to! So they go running around and shrieking for no good reason and SMASH ALL THE HOUSES UP TO BITS AND NOPONY IN EQUESTRIA CAN EVEN CALM THEM DOWN FOR ONE SECOND-"

"Mayor-"

"LEAVING THEIR FLIMSY, INCAPABLE MAYOR TO HIDE IN A USELESS CELLAR AND HOPE EVERYTHING STOPS SOME TIME THIS CENTURY BUT IT NEVER DOES! I SWEAR, ON SOME DAYS I WISH I COULD HAVE THE FLOWER TRIO ARRESTED BUT NOTHING THEY'RE DOING IS EVEN ILLEGAL- ALL THEY DO IS SAY 'THE HORROR' AND IT GETS EVERYPONY RILED UP FOR SOME INEXPLICABLE-"

"MAYOR. We are all done with the panicking. I took care of that."

The Mayor looked like she was about to cry and at the same time like a puppy who had just been kicked. "You did?"

Twilight winced with concern for the poor mayor. "Yes, I did. We did. Everypony's working hard to try and fix the mess now, and things would still be crazy if it weren't for my friends."

Mayor's head drooped in defeat. "Thank you, Miss Sparkle- And my thanks to your friends as well. I just wish I didn't have to rely on my own citizens as often as I do."

Fluttershy was instantly at her side. "Oooh, there there... You're not a bad mayor... You're a good one if you know when to ask for help like you do..."

As this continued, the other girls huddled together to form a plan of attack and make sure the repairs would stick. Willing and able as the citizens were, they were not prioritizing anything important, jumping willy-nilly from repair to repair, leaving many things half done for quite some time before they got finished.

"Okay, Applejack, what are we looking at here?" Twilight asked the country mare. Her expertise in do-it-yourself repairs would surely come in handy.

"Well, right now I'm seein' more than half the roofs in town still broken as everypony's fixin' to clean up the dirt in their houses and put up their signs. What roofs are fixed ain't fixed well- They're usin' the old, broken thatch layin' around in the road instead of getin' new thatch. So first I suspect we're gonna need to get some ponies on that an' to stay focused on it."

Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow- I'm sorry for making you fetch so many things today- Could you go and ask the Apple Family if they have any spare straw for thatch?"

"Well, Twi, I was actually thinking about it- Maybe I should be up clearing the sky so no rain gets into the broken roofs?"

Twilight smiled- "Can you do it in ten seconds flat?"

"It's kinda dark up there- Okay it's very dark- But if I had a flight lamp I could do it in fifteen!"

Twilight giggled at Rainbow's enthusiasm for speed. "Okay, just do it quickly."

"Gotcha!" Rainbow saluted once more before taking off down the road at low altitude.

Just as Twilight was about to ask about fetching straw once again, Pinkie suddenly gleefully announced "I'LL GET THE STUFF!" and tore off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

This left the three ponies that remained to figure out other ways to be useful. This was easy enough for Twilight- She quickly established herself as the Ponyville Post Ruckus Organizer (Honorary and temporary title) and redirected the well-meaning ponies to fixing walls, repairing floors and mending roofs. Applejack slotted herself into the harder labor jobs, hauling, pulling, pushing, lifting and throwing as necessary, and on occasion directing some of the smaller tasks here and there.

Rarity, however, quickly became the mastermind of the operation as she directed ponies on materials to use and how to use them, and her attention to detail was quickly making the chaos that had occurred only hours before seem like it had never happened.

This inevitably led to some squabbling between Rarity and Applejack over quality of work versus appearance, but Twilight managed to shush them up by asking "Why not both?"

Then, in record time for any disaster in Ponyville, the town was restored by noon. The project had taken a grand total of three hours, and everypony working on it was quite thoroughly exhausted, although satisfied with a job well done.

Mayor Mare, having long since recovered thanks to Fluttershy's kind words, reminded everypony that today was still the Summer Sun Celebration, a national holiday, and stated she would not think of anypony any less if they decided to take the rest of the day off.

The market in the streets by the town square re-opened anyway, as ponies heading the stalls attempted to adjust their eyes to the dark and sell their wares like usual. It was an awkward endeavor- Ponies had to guess the names of their customers in the dim light and bits were miscounted just as often as wares- Some ponies even found themselves at an unfamiliar stall, having been set up in a place far from usual.

'~*~'

Twilight and company were not feeling the same work ethic, however. Applejack left her stall at home as Rarity closed her boutique, Twilight closed her Library and Pinkie took the day off. The other two had already finished their work obligations for the day- There wasn't a lot on their plate.

They were currently situated in the nearby plains by the schoolhouse overlooking Ponyville, watching as workers from Canterlot busied themselves removing earth to plant a very large glowing sunflower at the town's edge. Even before it was rooted and properly growing, the massive flower's light more than suitably covered the town in a warm yellow glow that seemed strong enough to chase off evil of all sorts.

Nopony's internal clock was working right- All six of them knew they should be fully awake, but between the darkness and all the crazy stuff that had happened that day, they were all yawning periodically, exhausted and feeling quite ready to turn in.

"It's still surreal." Twilight announced with a subdued kind of quiet- The kind you have after a long and confusing day. Nopony had been talking for quite an expanse of time- Almost thirty minutes- and it caused them to jump a little. But nopony wanted to break the current atmosphere, so nopony jumped at the chance to respond.

Rainbow had a small scowl. Nopony knew at what, not even she. "Duh." She said. Simple, monotone, quiet. Given what Twilight knew about Rainbow Dash and the others, this quiet was not normal for any of them.

Twilight was starting to grow kind of concerned. At least Pinkie would have broken the silence by now. "...Bit for your thoughts?" She offered Rainbow.

Rainbow took off the scowl for her friend. "I... I dunno. ...The flower looks... Nice."

"It does."

The silence was still freaky as all six of them kept looking at the giant sunflower.

"You're not thinking about the flower, though." Twilight hit it right on the money.

"You're right, Twilight. It's just... It's not fair to anypony."

Getting somewhere now, although Twilight was only going to proceed as far as she let her. "What's not fair?"

"This darkness. It's not fair to us, it's not fair for Luna and it's not fair for..."

"Our predecessors, of whom were never told of their wrong?"

"And us. We weren't around then. ...And Luna shouldn't have ever thought she couldn't trust her sister with this."

"When did you get so sagey?" Pinkie interrupted with curiosity.

Rainbow chuckled- A bit of a relieved sound quite distinct from her normal laugh. "I got a bit of Twilight on me when she talked in town."

"Hey now," Twilight objected, although she somehow knew the cyan pegasus said it in only the best intentions.

"Well, Rainbow, I'm actually quite surprised- I didn't think it would even stick!" Rarity cleverly countered in Twilight's stead.

Everypony shared a laugh for that one- Rainbow with a bit of a blush- But things quieted down to an awkward level again as the Canterlot work crew made the finishing touches to the flower's foundation.

"Seriously though, Twi... I really don't think like that very much, and I think I should."

"Rainbow, if you think all the time like me, then you'd never get anything done."

"What are you talking about? You do stuff too."

Twilight sighed. "This is actually very rare for me. Before I even came to Ponyville, I was a filly always obsessed with her books and her studying. I lived for it, and I didn't cherish or sometimes even value the friends I had there. I knew everything from A to Z but didn't live any of it- Is it any wonder I know so little about friendship?"

Applejack gave a disapproving huff. "Don't beat yerself up like that- Ain't nopony in our group here who does, Twilight. You ever see how we do things for a livin'?"

"But I know lots about friendship! I'm friends with everypony! I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"Were ya good friends with any of 'em?"

Pinkie, formerly bouncing up and down in her objection, stopped and put a thoughtful hoof to her chin. "Uh... No... Not until you girls... What about Rarity?"

"I would think there's a significant difference between my being a good hostess and a good friend. Applejack is still right."

"...Fluttershy?"

"I love animals, but they're different from ponies... I don't talk to ponies very much..."

"Rainbow?"

"It hurts, but AJ's right. I have fans, but not many friends."

"...Huh."

"As it turns out, Twilight, We could all use a bit of learnin' 'bout Friendship. So what? It is kinda touch-and-go, but We got each other to do it. ...And as for the thinkin' stuff, I don't think I've ever seen you not doin' somethin' that needed to be done cuz of it. We fixed Ponyville in three hours thanks to you! And weren't you gonna take off on yer own for the elements before we found you? That, Twilight, takes guts. You may have a lot of brains, but you've got guts too."

"Thank you, Applejack. I needed that."

After that, the six started talking about small nothings in their life- Their pasts, their current lives, their futures, small things to get to know each other.

Rarity confessed that on some mornings, she wished she could just completely cut off her finely stylized mane and tail-fur just to save the trouble, which led to Pinkie saying she had to fluff up her hair every morning- Fluttershy brought jealousy on all but Twilight and Rainbow by saying she did nothing to her fur except wash it.

Applejack was reminded of the time her little sister tried cutting her own mane just before picture day, and the topic got to families.

Rainbow was the only one without siblings (Mom and Dad were both still in the picture, although a bit older than the national average) as even Fluttershy had an older sister who was somehow even quieter than her (Nopony dared ask how that was possible).

"You know, I always wondered what it would be like to have a sister or brother," Rainbow Dash mused, reclining on the soft tall grass in thought. But as she opened her eyes, she saw a young set of purple ones staring back at her (but not too close).

They belonged to Scootaloo, an admittedly pretty cool little filly Rainbow Dash always saw speeding down the roads in her scooter who was a fan of and amazed by all things Rainbow Dash.

She didn't move- Her position was decidedly uncool at the moment, what with all four hooves sitting relaxed just above her. "Uh... Hi, kid. What's up?"

A look of awe was plastered on the filly's face. "Did you really fight a manticore in the Everfree Forest?"

Rainbow shot up on all fours looking as bold as possible. "You bet I did! I think I really gave it what for!"

"Yeah, and then it whooped yer sorry flank like the rest of us."

Rainbow Dash objected with a brilliant move of surprising subversion. "Aww, come on, AJ! Be fair! It couldn't even TOUCH Fluttershy!"

"I think that me in your fur is gonnna stain, Dash," Twilight said with mock worry, imitating scrubbing an imaginary stain on Rainbow's chest in a very teasing sort of way.

Scootaloo looked very lost.

The two's eyes jumped from the confused filly to each other, and back again before they let out a fresh round of embarrassed and self-amused giggling.

Rainbow Dash turned back to the filly amid slight giggles. "Aheh heh heh! Sorry, yeah. We did fight a manticore, and then Fluttershy went up to it and calmed it down and pulled a thorn out of its paw! I mean, I've known her since flight camp, but I never thought she'd have the guts to just talk to a manticore!"

"Um, it wasn't really talking... It was more like convincing and soothing..." Fluttershy offered helpfully.

"Kinda the same thing, 'Shy!"

"I'm... I'm sorry..."

Rainbow ignored the apology- it was no skin off her nose anyway. "So kid," She turned back to the filly once more, "Whatcha doing here, anyway? Not that I mind, but, isn't there school today?"

"Cherilee never has us go to school on the Summer Sun Celebration- When I heard you went to hang out here, I just came over to say thanks to you guys and... I hope you find the Elements soon."

Recognizing the sad, yet hopeful tone in the filly, Twilight deemed it appropriate to say what all six were thinking. "Well, uh... 'Kid'..."

"Scootaloo." the so-named filly corrected.

"Scootaloo, thank you very much, and believe me- Nopony wants to find the Elements as much as we do."

'~*~'

There was a loud racket coming from an alarm clock on a cloudy nightstand as a single, very tired cyan hoof struggled to silence the infernal contraption, its owner buried beneath the covers of her bed and very certain it was still too dark to get up.

She swung once and missed.

Twice, and hit the nightstand loudly and uselessly. "OW."

Third time's the charm? Nope. With a very loud metallic THWAP, her third swing hurled the clock across the room where it sat semi-broken and ringing seemingly louder than before.

"AhaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! I HATE waking up at night, I HATE alarm clocks and I HATE ETERNAL NIGHT!" Rainbow Dash poured every ounce of her wrath into the pillow her head was nestled into, completely failing to intimidate the fluffy object.

She loomed upward into a sitting up position. Her mane was an utter mess, eyes baggy and tired and seemingly recessed in her skull, and neither ear could agree which position the two of them should turn.

If she had a happier expression and mood (and by happier, it is meant "unreadable and blank"), this would have been a normal morning- But as it stands, her eyebrows had carved out a vicious scowl to match an unrepeatable frown, and the combined effect of all this made her look like she are become death, destroyer of words.

The alarm clock was the only thing that she knew really would suffer today, though.

She trundled out of bed and lightly (with much better aim) turned off the evil clock, punishing it to the pits of "that corner over there" for its crimes against ponydom. Waking up to the sun would have been much nicer for her- It was her routine after all- But even with eight days, counting this one, she still had not yet gotten used to the dark sky, or for that matter, how the beautiful- er- awesome giant sunflower shined right in her bedroom window all night.

Breakfast was a simple affair, as always- One bowl of generic oats and milk before weather work for that day. These days, weather work was strange. Ponyville's pegasi were asked in addition to their duties to bust up specially made clouds full of warmth around Ponyville and the surrounding area. It was very important to take the cold out of the air as there was no sun to warm anything up.

Rainbow continued chewing on the bland (as preferred) cereal as she mused to herself. A lot of small, yet significant things had happened in the past week. Ponyville, despite (or perhaps because of?) the lack of sun, had gained an even more communal atmosphere... Or Pinkie was doing a great job cheering everypony up.

By some unseen consensus, prices in stalls and stores were reduced as a show of confidence in troubled times... Or Rarity was boosting spirits through her generosity.

Everypony even seemed to be nicer... Or was that Fluttershy's doing?

Okay, I guess we've been doing a lot here. Rainbow Dash smiled. It was true- with Twilight's encouragement, the six of them had been really boosting spirits wherever they could midst research where to look for the Elements (Research was always the answer). Rainbow herself even put on a few impromptu acrobatics shows to distract the fillies and colts from worry.

Yeah, it stroked her ego a bit, but nopony could deny the good reasons she had for doing it either.

She got up, threw the dirty dishes in their usual pile, and slid on her saddlebags ready for work when an IMMENSE, RAINBOWLICIOUS EXPLOSION erupted from the heart of the Everfree Forest.

After recovering from the shockwave, Rainbow darted over to the nearby window and looked out with a curious fear.

Nothing else happened.

...Okay, freaky... She thought. She tightened the buckle on her saddlebags and attempted to ignore it as she fluffed up her wings to take-

BOOM! AGAIN!

"WHAT THE HAY?!" She yelled out the window almost to scare the source of the explosion when a very large bush rose high above the forest on an even bigger wooden pole.

"...What?" The "what" would have been flatter if she weren't nearly terrified- She still put on what she thought was a brave face as she looked out.

Another EXPLOSION and the bush sprung into multitudinous, huge, glowing leaves as the wooden pole aged and expanded to a thick, ancient, gorgeous tree trunk.

She stared at it, horror plastered on her face and barely registered the third EXPLOSION whose aftermath pushed around a few trees.

Then the voice of a terrible god echoed and rung in her head- Here is your summons, bearers. Drop everything and go.

She dropped everything possible for her to drop- She dropped her saddlebags, she dropped her ears, she dropped her tail beneath her legs, she dropped the color from her face, she dropped her heart into her stomach- She even almost dropped the contents of her bowels right there.

It was quiet.

Too quiet. Was she dead? Rainbow seriously didn't know.

AHEM, the voice shook her to the core with a fury unmatched by anypony before or after it- Celestia could not invoke such wrath, Nightmare Moon seemed sweet as a cupcake compared to this voice, and Rainbow Dash was certain not one of the thousands of horrible creatures locked away in Tartarus could match its fury.

Before in times like this, Rainbow Dash had nopony to turn to except herself (Well, maybe Fluttershy, but that was kinda rare, especially since she was usually more scared). But this time, it was different.

It was time to regain a sense of security.

It was time for a sense of clarity.

It was time for peace and solidarity.

It was Twilight Time.

'~*~'

Just above Ponyville, a ROYGBIV missile burst out of Rainbow Dash's house and went screaming towards the Golden Oaks Library.

Yes, screaming. Screaming Twilight's name, to be exact. With a desperation like no pony before her-

Well, that wasn't exactly true...

'~*~'

There were no alarm clocks in this room- Just a ridiculously precise internal one that defied all sense and logic beyond it belonging to Pinkamena Dianne Pie.

She rested blissfully, her dreams a strong tapestry of happiness and hyperactivity quite closely resembling her waking, working life.

And then POIOIOING! She shot up out of the covers at exactly 8:00 AM (Which if you must know clocks Rainbow's waking time at 7:32:31 AM and post-breakfast terror at 8:02:04.91 AM), whipped them back into a neat condition (lovingly patting her favorite pillow), and sort of glided on her hooves up to her bedroom mirror.

A very cheerful filly who she did not recognize stared back at her with a little smile- Her pink mane rested flatly, evenly and neatly on her head and had a whole different kind of enthusiasm from Pinkie- Almost optimistic rather than simply blissful.

"Ha ha! Bed-mane!" Pinkie giggled before giving her reflection a winning smile.

In typical Pinkie fashion, the reflection did not mimic its owner, but rather stared at the lovely grin and let out a giggle of its own. It plugged its nose with both hooves and blew, causing both manes to puff out into the typical style before giving her a hopeful smile.

Pinkie gave it a nod and a wink, then took off for the door, through the hallway and down the banister (on her head) and into the brightly lit Sugar Cube Corner shop just getting open for business.

8:01 now.

"Hi Mr. Cake!" Pinkie popped up behind the baker and startled him with her enthusiasm. He dropped the plate of cupcakes he was holding in his mouth with a yelp, but Pinkie flashed her hooves like lightning and caught them all- six per foreleg, right-side up and unharmed before putting them back in place on the tray (which she caught with her teeth) and deposited them in the display case.

"Pinkie Pie, you scared me!" He held a hoof to his heart dramatically. "How do you keep doing that?"

"I dunno, maybe if you were standing in the same place every time when I popped up behind you every morning you would know where I was and wouldn't get scared! What do you have for me today, Mr. Cake?"

"Well, I'm good right now, but maybe you should get in the kitchen and talk to my wife- She's got an-"

Suddenly an IMMENSE, RAINBOWLICIOUS EXPLOSION erupted from the heart of the Everfree Forest- But Pinkie didn't see it.

"...Oven problem?" Pinkie asked with a head tilt.

Mr. Cake finished cringing. "No, but whatever that was I really don't wanna know."

"Okay then! When you wanna know just let me know and I'll ask you and you'll know and you'll tell me!" Pinkie said as she bounced away into the kitchen- Leaving Mr. Cake quite confused in the wake of Pinkie Logic.

"MmMMMm! That smells good! What is that, Mrs. Cake?" Pinkie said as she seemingly materialized out of thin air to sniff the pastry that sat on the counter.

Mrs. Cake gave her a big proud smile- "This, Pinkie dear, is the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness Miniature Mock-up's bottom layer! -It's going to be a big cake when we actually make it- but getting the three main ingredients to stop fighting is very difficult to do-"

Half of the freshly prepared bottom layer of the mock-up disappeared (It was a very clean cut) as Mrs. Cake confusedly tracked it to Pinkie thoughtfully smacking her lips.

"I think you have a little too much Mascarpone. Try a quarter cup less- The tart tanginess is making my lips go a liiiittle scrunchy and won't let me taste the rich creamy goodness and smooth, silky sweetness of the Marzipan and Meringue."

Mrs. Cake looked at the cake,

Now back to pinkie,

Now back to the cake,

Now back to pinkie,

Then tried a bite of what remained.

"My goodness, Pinkie, I think you might be-" BOOM! AGAIN! "R-R-RAINBOWS!"

Pinkie missed the explosion yet again. "Don't be silly, Mrs. Cake! My name's Pinkie Pie! Now what do you need me to do?" She asked sweetly.

Mrs. Cake blinked in shock, then shook her head to chase away the Pinkieness. "Well, uh, Pinkie, we're all running a bit slow today so we need sixteen Chocolate Drizzled Blueberry Tarts and another twenty seven Vanilla-Lemon-With-a-Little-Something-Special brownies, but after that, we'll just restock as necessary- We're opening in less than twenty minutes but don't rush dear-"

Another EXPLOSION and everything stopped. Pinkie finally saw the Rainbows and the source of the Earth-shattering-ka-boom.

"...Uh, Pinkie? That was... Another... Very big explosion... Again." Mrs. Cake shuffled on her hooves, ears still flicking from the volume of the noise.

"...It's so pretty," Pinkie said in a state of almost blissful hypnosis. Her eyes were glued to the source and were watering just above her huge smile.

"I... Maybe?"

Pinkie jumped up onto the counter almost like a cat and looked out the window with riveted focus. "I think it's gonna do it again..." The same bliss never left her voice.

"I... Hope not-"

The EXPLOSION that followed proved her right. She simply twirled her tail, not even reacting to the noise. "...Yay!" She cheered quietly.

"Pinkie, Dear, I think we're being attacked. Could you get off the counter and follow me to the basement where it's safer?"

"OH MY GOODNESS MY HEART'S TALKING TO ME!" Pinkie announced loudly and suddenly before beginning to paw at her chest with curiosity. "Heloooo in there! My name's Pinkie Pie! I'm not sure you know that because you're not a brain, but you might!"

Mr. Cake, who had been observing the activity in the kitchen for want of a distraction from stocking the display cases, trotted in and put a hoof around his wife. "Well, dear, I think she's finally gone bonkers," He declared sadly.

"I MUST GO IT MADE AN AHEM AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!" Pinkie announced yet again before somehow zooming in a straight line for the door without so much as wrecking one thing.

'~*~'

Applejack's tale of this morning is very simple. 5:00 every morning in the summer she got up to start working the fields and the orchards. She didn't say anything as she got up- just did her mane and tail, affixed her stetson to her head, and began her quiet trot down the hall and out the door.

Her sister Applebloom peeked out her room with a tired "it's-way-too-early" kind of curiosity at Applejack.

Applejack, awake and ready to work as usual, gave her a nod and a smile. "Mornin' sis," She greeted warmly without stopping her pace.

Applebloom had no early-morning chores, so she just slunk back to bed.

Heading out the door, Applejack picked up a head lamp (recent purchase) and met up with her older brother Big Macintosh. They stood there as the younger took a deep breath of the farmyard air.

"Big Mac," She greeted.

"Eeyup," Big Mac Eeyuped. For what it mattered to them, it was a greeting.

There was a brief pause.

"Pigs fed?"

"Yup."

"Chickens fed?"

"Yup."

"Sheep happy?"

"Yup."

"North orchard?"

"Yup."

"I do south?"

"Yup."

"Weedin' the fields?"

"Nope."

"I'll double check."

"Yup."

"Anythin' else?"

"Nope."

"Later, Big Mac."

"Yup."

Things were quiet and normal. Applejack moved around doing this and that in the dark of Eternal Night (Sure, the town sunflower provided enough light to nourish the trees, but it wasn't quite enough to see in), made sure things were running smoothly for the apple trees in the south orchard and checked the fields for weeds (She found all of two- They did a good job the day before)

Breakfast at 7:00 was uneventful- The same usual talk of how things were looking out in the fields and orchards and how Applebloom was doing in school over a meal Applejack helped Granny Smith make, and then it was back to working once more. AJ was full, happy and almost unstoppable.

As Applejack worked, the four booms way off in the Everfree were a non-concern to her. She knew to leaf that forest well enough alone, especially when freaky things happened in it.

Then somepony hiding in the orchard spoke up.

"'There's my summons? Drop everythin' and go'? Who the hay does this pony think he is? Well he'll think less when he says 'hello' to my hind hooves..."

"AHEM," the voice said with mock impatience.

Applejack got very scared- She couldn't pinpoint its source. Was something wrong with her? Maybe Twilight would know something about it?

She apologized to Big Mac and then made towards Ponyville and its library like death itself was after her.

'~*~'

Rarity got up at exactly the wrong time. The first explosion's shock-wave, despite the Carousel Boutique's distance from the Everfree, tore through her like Sweetie Belle through a milkshake.

She wasn't exactly coherent for the rest.

The filly mentioned ran into her sister's bedroom after the chaos and found Rarity lying on her back, all four hooves sticking up and twitching. If Harmony's message made it through (which it unquestionably did), the fashionista was unable to register it due to the trauma of the experience.

"Rarity! Get up! Are you okay?!" Sweetie's squeaky voice broken up with fear.

Rarity jumped up with a very loud scream. "AAAAAAAAaaaaugh!! What was that unspeakable racket?! At this day and hour of all times too!"

"...It's Monday," Sweetie deadpanned. Everypony knows Mondays are awful.

"Oh ho hooooonooooo I am such a wreak! I can't start working like this until I KNOW what that noise was! I can just feel my hairs splitting every second I endure this stress!"

"Your hairs splitting? Nopony can even see that with your mane-"

Rarity turned with a dramatic flourish towards her sister. "SWEETIE BELLE, I simply MUST be off!" Then subdued and mildly- "I've got plenty of cereal in the cupboard and fresh milk should be on the doorstep. Make sure you get to school on time and stay out of trouble, okay? Love you!" She gave her sister a little nuzzle (Uugh! I'm gonna smell like her perfume for the rest of the day! Sweetie thought) and headed out with a determined stare towards... Well she wasn't quite sure where.

Twilight's house?

Yes, that should do it!

'~*~'

Fluttershy dreamed that a small, impatient bunny-rabbit was bouncing on her head.

She woke up to find that this was, in fact, exactly what was happening.

She mumbled and let out a sleepy little giggle before brushing off her pet Angel and getting up.

Fluttershy, when she rose, did not so much shine as she glowed warmly. Sleepiness was still very much in her eyes, but her life was a relaxed and quiet one, and for all the work she did for the pets of Ponyville and the local animals, she looked forward to every second of it.

Fluttershy was also outside the norm for ponies because she wore a faded purple robe to bed and, though she never understood why, almost never considered sleeping naked in her bed at home- As much of a non-concept nudity is for the Equestrian ponies... But this is only an interesting observation and quite off topic.

She rolled out of bed and looked into the small mirror on her bedroom dresser. Clicking her tongue at the slight mess that was her mane and tail, she gave both a flick and the hairs lined up naturally.

Angel tugged her tail.

"Okay, Angel, I'm coming." She said reassuringly, then descended the stairs to find that, to her delight, all her animal friends were already awake and greeting her.

One quick feeding session later, she looked over the pets Ponyville's owners had brought to her and determined them healthy and happy once more! She was quite excited to contact their owners about it- But not now. It was 6:00 AM and a lot of ponies weren't awake yet like she was.

It really didn't matter to her. She was a morning pony at heart (And not by necessity like Applejack) and very much enjoyed the relaxed pace to getting herself ready for the day.

First a quick shower (in which she mused to herself quietly about her plans for the day), then a very Fluttershy breakfast of grapefruit (Lightly sugared) with toasted and buttered white rye, all washed down with a cup (or maybe two) of tea.

Taking it slowly and relaxed as she was, leafing through the paper to find out all the big social events she would be avoiding, sipping her tea, and indulging the occasional squirrel which stopped by for pets, she softly killed time until 8:00.

Then the scariest things in her ENTIRE LIFE happened not a MILE AWAY from her cottage!

She flew out of her seat as the first EXPLOSION hit her like... Well... Nothing else. She timidly pulled her head out from under the table where she had hid and courageously made her way to the window looking out into the Everfree.

Oh, dear, She thought. My poor chickens are so scared! That was scary! I hope it doesn't happen again so I can calm them down...

It did happen again. Fluttershy was under the table again, but at this time was seriously reconsidering the peace-of-mind her shelter offered her. Clearly, however, the animals indoors were not taking it well.

"Um... Uh... It's okay? Don't be a-a-afraid?" She attempted to console them all without moving from her position.

Another EXPLOSION and she made for the pantry and hid in it. The animals were very rapidly loosing their control- Even as Angel attempted what his master could not.

The fourth one took the cake, though. Fluttershy flew with incredible speed and buried herself back in her bed where she started crying and wishing she hadn't gotten up that day. The animals totally lost their cool and fled out of the cottage, away from the forest, avoiding Ponyville and heading for the nearby wilds.

She couldn't stop crying.

Yes, she tried, but come on. This is Fluttershy we're talking about- Just about everypony in Ponyville was scared of the massive explosions (With notable exception of Pinkie for some baffling reason), and it's unlikely that a pony who's scared of her own shadow wouldn't be.

Between every scared, shuddering hiccup and vain attempt to dry her tears and gain composure, her brain threw out a potential excuse she could use to stay safe at home all day.

I've got the pony pox, or or the feather flu! Nopony wants to catch those so they'll leave me alone!

hic!

I wasn't able to get out because I had an anxiety attack! But that would mean the doctor would come in and prescribe me with something I don't even need oh no OH NO OH NO-

sniffle!

Angel-bunny fell in the mud! It was really sticky, really messy mud and I couldn't clean out the stain! (Okay, she might have liked that idea a little more than she cared to admit)

Then all of the sudden, amid tears and intense fear, a gentle, authoritative voice spoke inside her- It sounded exactly like she imagined huge, towering ancient trees would talk, so she listened.

my... my summons? Is this what Princess Celestia was referring to? Did she even know she was referring to it? She had to have known. If this is my summons, then I have to go.

But where? I saw all those Rainbows in the Everfree Forest, but the Everfree is not a good place for anypony to meet with anypony- I mean, I live right next to it, but once was enough for me-

The voice seemed slightly impatient to her (Still very polite about it), so she pulled herself out of her hiding place and resolved to tell Twilight exactly what she thought was going on...

If she didn't mind, of course.

'~*~'

Twilight had been up all night studying, researching, checklisting, reading, musing and performing general studious behavior in a now evidently desperate bid to find clues for the location of the Elements of Harmony and was exhausted.

She had torn through the Golden Oaks Library at least three times looking up all the possibly relevant information to Equestira's particular number one conundrum with such titles as-

The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide

Predictions and Prophecies (The free, considerably thinner paperback version which "foretold" its owner would purchase the larger, hard cover version)

Doom and You: How to Cope With and Eventually Solve a World Ending Disaster (You'd think it would have been useful, but the title was misleading- It was actually a motivational book)

and Where the Hay Did I Put That? 60 Nifty Tricks to Find the Thing the Little Blue Mares Forgot to Paint (Little Blue Mares? Never heard that one before... And Sixty tricks? She was a bit skeptical.)

-Among many other countless titles which she had forgotten the names of.

Needless to say (But let it be said anyway), Twilight Sparkle, the Bearer of the Element of Magic, was completely exhausted, asleep, and almost no force in Equestria could have possibly woken her up. ...At least she made it to her bed this time.

The explosions and the speech do not need to be spoken of. Twilight wasn't awake or even being interesting in her sleep. In fact, nothing of particular interest went on in the library this morning to speak of at all. That might have been interesting to note in itself, this non-reaction in the wake of yet another very scary occurrence which panicked the townsfolk (Who to their credit handled things super), but really, what happened afterwards is more interesting.

FUMP! Some very large bird hit the window and startled the stupored and studious unicorn awake. She turned her head lazily to find out just what.

Clearly, it was something large, blue and rainbow colored that was pawing at the window desperately and pleading for her help, but it wasn't worth her time. She let her head plop back down onto the pillow with disinterest as the something started yelling even more desperately for her to get up or something...

Maybe about opening the window? Whatever. It was clearly not even worth her attention if it suggested something as silly as waking up-

Wait.

Waking up.

Why would I wake up? Is it important? It sounds important- Maybe I should open the window- OH ROAD APPLES IT'S RAINBOW DASH AND SHE IS SCARED OUT OF HER WITS I NEED TO HELP HER!

Twilight surged with wakefulness as she bounded out of bed, slapped her disheveled mane into shape and undid the latch with her hoof (She wasn't thinking about her unicorn horn just yet).

Spike noted with tired disinterest the colorful pinwheel blur of cyan, rainbow, purple and just a slight touch of pink that tore down the stairs and hit a bookshelf with a resounding thump. He helped Twilight study all night despite her insistence that he go to bed and just didn't care.

Twilight was under three things then- Under the influence of sleep deprivation, under a newly fallen pile of books, and under the scared-est looking Rainbow Dash she had ever seen. She was heaving each and every breath like she was trying to steal all the air in the room before anypony else could use it and was covered in cold sweat.

The unicorn attempted a sincere, kindly smile, but it came out as a deliberate attempt to hide the way she was very much freaked out by the brave pegasus' fear. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"TREE! FOREST! BOOM! FOUR TIMES! ANGRY! VERY! HELP!" Rainbow gesticulated wildly and then clung to Twilight like the safety of the universe depended on it.

Twilight was having a hard time breathing- But instead of doing the immediately logical thing like teleporting out of her grip or asking her to let go, she instead considered Neighton's Third Law and produced an equal and opposite reaction to Rainbow Dash's action by clinging just as hard.

Naturally, this action, though it was intended to be a method of self defense which would theoretically reduce the amount of space she took up and allow her to breathe was grossly misinterpreted as a hug.

This... This is okay, I guess. Twilight thought. She probably needs a hug right now anyway.

Rainbow broke it off before things got awkward (Though she cut it awfully close). "I'm sorry Twilight. I don't know what happened. I'm supposed to be a brave pony- I mean, I make big explosions sometimes- Why would four of them in a row scare me? It's just a big tree in-"

Twilight smiled comfortingly, genuinely this time. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. When has anypony been acting like themselves this week? I understand. ...But maybe you can help me out with these books while you tell me about it...?" She noted, looking towards the shelf full of books that had laid strewn on the floor.

Then the door burst open and everypony else was in the library clamoring for Twilight's attention.

According to many ponies present, Twilight's off-the-cuff oration was truly one for the history books. I cannot say that I too was there, as I herald from Canterlot as an earth pony in a loving unicorn household and had not met at the time, but Twilight was eager enough to give me a copy of what she had told them.

Upon reading, I was inspired to create this picture. It is simple in composition, but I like to think that in its subtlety it displays a lot of emotion.

When a Tree Talks, You Listen (or Maybe Just Question Your Sanity)

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"AAAAUGH WHAT?!" Was all Twilight managed before three familiar faces got really close to hers and started yelling loudly about something all at the same time- Where was the fourth? Keeping a polite distance and having a hard time attempting to restore order.

"-A gargantuan explosion-"

"-Scared mah metaphorical pants off-"

"-My heart was talking to me-"

"Girls..."

"-I'd imagine it's an inconceivable mess-"

"-Makin' THREATS-"

"-And it AHEM'D at me too-"

"Girls..."

"-I can't imagine how Sweetie Belle must have felt but I can't work like this-"

"-Must be wrong in the head-"

"-I don't know what it MEEEEANS-"

"Girls..."

"I MUST know what that was! Is it a concern-"

"Know any good psycatrawhatems? I don't feel right-"

"-WHAT DOES IT MEAN-"

"EV-RY-PO-NY BE QUIEEEEEET!!!" Rainbow Dash, having quite suddenly gained her composure, shouted far too loudly for the current time of day. While it did cause everypony in the library to quiet down, an old stallion nearby took strong exception to the noisiness, uttering something about "kids these days".

While Rainbow had everypony's shocked stares and silence, she continued. "Twilight wants to speak!"

"I do?" Twilight asked.

"...Please?" She begged, puppy eyes included although very well hidden from the others.

"But I don't know what the problem is!"

"...How could you not?"

"I... Spent all night trying to find clues about the locations of the Elements of Harmony. Again."

Rainbow Dash delivered Twilight a very well executed and crippling eye-roll. "Twilight, do you want to work second shift? Because this is exactly how a second shift worker sleeps! Now talk to the mares!"

Twilight submitted to that argument, despite the fact that she found it grossly unfair and highly aggressive. "Okay! Okay! Uhhhh... What's... The matter?"

One by one, each mare gave an account of what was upsetting them so, and as Twilight began making observations, Fluttershy started backing into a corner, out of sight, out of notice, and out of any options for her general comfort besides to hope that the other girls figured it out on their own.

"So Rainbow woke up like usual, felt four booms and saw a tree grow, but she heard a very scary voice right afterwards..." Twilight softly spoke as a quill scribbled on a scroll she was using to write observations.

Fluttershy continued to back away.

"But Pinkie felt... Two booms, saw a bunch of rainbows and... Her heart? Her heart started talking to her... ...Kinda doubting the authenticity of that one..."

Fluttershy continued to back away. Still unnoticed. So far, so good.

"Applejack... Didn't feel any but heard four... And stated hallucinating. Still not seeing any strong connection."

Fluttershy winced, both because her rear bumped into the corner and because Twilight really was not putting two and two together very well. She then noticed the large pile of books on the floor and chose to burrow under them.

"Rarity only heard one boom... Though she thinks there might have been more..."

Fluttershy was now successfully underneath a very large dictionary, a large atlas, two very large encyclopedias and a very large thesaurus. She was confident nopony would find her. There was a flaw in that confidence, however.

"Nopony's heard Fluttershy's reason for being here, though... Was she even here at all this morning? Have you girls seen her?"

As the other four shrugged, Fluttershy held her breath, flattened herself and achieved perfect camouflage-

"What's an atlas doing with that thesaurus?" Twilight noticed.

"What are ya talkin' about, Twi? Does it somehow not work with yer... Uh... Pile-o-books sortin' method?" Applejack asked, more curious about the big mess in the library now that she had taken the time to notice it rather than worry over an auditory hallucination.

"No no no! Everything was in order with the Dewey Decimal System before Rainbow Dash and I crashed into it, it's just that there's no way the trajectory of the books could have possibly worked out such that these informational books would have landed this way! In fact, two of these books were in the kitchen so I would remember to restore them later and I know we didn't land there!"

"...Wow... Eggheads are kinda cool..." Rainbow Dash complimented very quietly so as to not hurt her image.

Twilight didn't hear that. She was focused on staring knowingly with frustration at the spot she was dead certain Fluttershy had chosen to hide. The other ponies followed suit, although quite a bit less certain and without any frustration.

"...I think I see that particular part of the pile breathing too..." Twilight announced.

Were Fluttershy an unkind pony, she would have thought something unkind like Yeah yeah, rub it in, will ya?, but she's not that kind of pony. Kind ponies reveal themselves to their friends when caught doing bad things such as hiding from responsibility.

She slowly shoved the book that was covering her head off of her when Pinkie chose that exact moment to boggle everypony's minds by bursting forth from underneath her, carrying her high in the air in her forelegs and putting on a grin that should not have been possible for all the teeth showing.

"I FOUND HER! I WIN! I WIN I WIN! WHAT DO I GET?! LET'S PLAY AGAIN OKAY IT'S MY TURN ONE TWO THREE GO!" Pinkie announced/asked/suggested/announced again and ran off into the kitchen where she hid the entirety of herself within a cookie jar- For what it can be said, this is a much better hiding place than Fluttershy's. NOPONY would think to look there.

But Fluttershy wasn't playing Hide-and-Seek. She was playing Please-Don't-Hate-Me, an intense game many shy ponies participate in and get a lot of practice with, and a game that, at the time of playing, always seems to be one played for keeps.

Fluttershy was a champion at this game. She swallowed slowly as her eyes moistened slightly, then took a few tentative steps out of the mess of books until she was out in the open. She looked left and right as though she wanted out of the situation very badly (which she did) and let out a sad, small sigh, flitting her wings out from her twice in slow, tense circles. At least 70% of the muscles in her body were telling her to run- another important part of this game- And her ears twitched nervously.

"I knew, but I didn't want to say because then you all would hate me..."

Success. Twilight's look of frustration morphed into one of confusion. But Fluttershy still thought she was playing for keeps.

"Please don't hate me, but... Everypony heard a voice, right?"

"Don't remind me... Please..." Rainbow shuddered.

"Mean pony in my head? Sure did." Applejack looked sideways.

"Of course! My heart wasn't beating silly, it was talking!" Pinkie reassured.

Rarity was absolutely confused. "What voice?"

Twilight's face contorted even more with confusion. "...Where are you going with this, Fluttershy? What voice? I'm still confused back at the explosion parts."

Fluttershy recounted her tale, then again in a slightly higher volume so Twilight could hear her. Once sure her friend had finished writing it down, she continued to explain with much less certainty, now hidden behind her mane and slowly compressing into a compact, easy to move square area.

"What did it say?" She nearly whispered.

Silence. Nopony seemed to remember anything about it.

Why me? Fluttershy thought mournfully. She really didn't want to be the bearer of any news, and was quite worried that this would be received as bad.

With one deep breath, she gritted her teeth, flattened her ears, screwed up her face and steeled herself to bear the news anyway, come what may.

"The voice sounded to me like it was talking about the explosions in the Everfree Forest- The ones with all the rainbows- And it also sounded like it was saying the explosion was the same thing as the summons from Princess Celestia that we were all waiting on or maybe that Princess Celestia was referring to the explosion as a summons not coming from her but maybe from something in the Everfree Forest so I was thinking we should send a letter to her and ask about it but also go back into the forest and find out if the explosion was important so maybe we should head back there after we send her a letter...?"

Twilight scrunched up her face in concentration, trying to parse out any meaning from the barely audible run on sentence.

It was impossible. Just plain impossible. She really wasn't even sure that was native Equestrian.

She gave Fluttershy an apologetic grin. "?" Was all she managed. It wasn't even a word, but really, what word could you use to respond to the most awkward and quietest explanation you've ever heard?

Fluttershy over the course of her long winded explanation had gone back to making herself tiny. From beneath her mane and tail as she laid curled up on the ground, she slowly and fearfully pulled out a single hoof with great effort and pointed it at the Everfree Forest. It stayed there for about a minute before something clicked in Twilight's head.

"The Everfree?" Twilight asked.

A slow nod.

"You want to go there?"

A head shake.

"You need to go there."

Another head shake.

"Uh... we need to go there?"

Another nod. She started shivering.

Twilight was getting apprehensive. "...Now?"

One more nod and a timid squeak.

The room got noticeably colder. All five other mares looked ghostly white (yes, even Rarity) as the news struck them.

Applejack began chewing on the brim of her stetson again. Seriously, where did that nervous tic come from?

Fluttershy was, for the briefest of moments, having the worst day of her life. This feeling was dispelled as she made what she thought might have been a stupid decision by peeking out from her mane at the five who were previously staring at her. No, she wasn't sure how Pinkie had gotten back into the room.

Her worry and concern for her self disappeared from her face and was replaced with worry and concern for her friends. "Uh... Girls? I... Did say... Now... But I guess we don't have to go now..."

"Yeah," Applejack replied dumbly. She didn't move other than to open her mouth and cause her stetson to fall to the floor.

"...Shouldn't we be going now?"

"Uh-huh." Rainbow replied dumbly.

"Because it probably has something to do with The Elements..."

"Yes..." Rarity replied, you guessed it, dumbly.

Curiously, Fluttershy was not similarly petrified with fear at the thought of entering The Everfree once more. She looked from pony to pony, noting the strangely white faces and blank looks of horror with far greater confusion than concern now, and stumbled upon a very reasonable observation.

She approached Rarity. "...We were just in there. I don't think it could be all that bad."

Rarity snapped. "NOT THAT BAD? Darling, must I remind you how many times we almost died last time we were in the forest? First there was the cliff! If it weren't for Applejack's excellent reflexes, Twilight WOULD BE DEAD! Oh, let's not forget about the manticore! Those creatures EAT PONIES, Fluttershy! Whole! No seasoning!"

"But he just had a thorn in his paw-" Fluttershy reasoned only to be cut off by Rarity again.

"And what if it decided that that thorn was making it a little MORE angry than it had decided then? I don't think we would have gotten the chance to pull it out! Oh, and don't forget what we DIDN'T run into in the forest! You name it, The Everfree has it!"

"W-what about chupacabra? I d-don't think we've ever had any chupacabra in-"

"I WOULDN'T SAY 'NEVER EVER' IF I WERE YOU! And do I need to remind you that once we had gotten to what we thought were the elements, we were attacked by a MAD GODDESS-"

"She's not even a goddess-"

"Of whom already had at her disposal more than sufficient transformation magics so as to morph into such an abomination that we would have never stood a second chance!"

"Wait, how would you even KNOW that, Rarity? It's not like we saw her set up those traps!" Twilight interrupted.

The anger-fear disappeared from Rarity's face as she knew she didn't have a good explanation. Naturally, she went with the bad one. "Well... She fits the bill, doesn't she?"

"Okay, I won't doubt that she is the most dangerous threat Equestria has faced in over a thousand years, but she's also in hiding. Where would you first look for Luna other than back where she hid in the first place? I guarantee she's not there anymore. Fluttershy's right. It's not so bad in there. We've been there once already."

"Yes... What... Twilight said..." Fluttershy affirmed.

"And it will be much better because we'll have the time to pack! First-aid kits, flora and fauna guide books, emergency supplies, plenty of rope because rope is always good, quills, scrolls and the like for taking notes-"

Fluttershy felt a chill go down her spine. Her next statement would not do her any favors, but it had to be said. She flew over to Twilight in a desperate bid to stop her, slapping the supplies and saddlebags out of her magic aura. "No! NO! Twilight! I'm sorry but the voice said 'drop everything and go'! We can't pack!"

All the remaining objects dropped to the floor noisily as their manipulator visibly drooped. "...Oh. We... We can't pack... Of course..."

"...I'm sorry, Twilight."

Twilight turned back to Fluttershy and attempted to reassure them both. "It's okay Fluttershy, It's just that-"

'~*~'

"It's a bad day for everypony when somepony tells me I can't pack my research material! The Everfree is a veritable gold-mine of information, and when properly prepared, one could learn so much! But no! Don't pack anything! It's not like you could DIE in here!"

"We get it Twi." Applejack responded for the umpteenth time, clearly annoyed but also clearly having given up on trying to earnestly make the unicorn stop complaining.

The six new-ish friends found themselves back in the Everfree Forest once again, but this time, they had an even less specific idea of where to find The Elements than last time, and it was grating on everypony's nerves in a multitude of ways. After all, going from "Find the elements in an ancient castle in the forest, you can't miss it" to "Follow the sound of the terrifying voice and look for the big glowing thing" was something of a major step down.

As it stood, they were trotting along slowly down an oddly solid, oddly wooden path, pointedly trying not to think about the current circumstances and failing. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, as it happened, were feeling extraordinarily grumpy, and as such were way ahead of the rest of the group and as distant from each other as they could be. Rarity was in the back with Pinkie Pie, hoping for some moral support, and Fluttershy was in the middle with Twilight hoping desperately that she would be forgiven for her grievous mistake of telling everypony how it is.

"Well yeah, but do you really? We're all in a lot of danger for not getting any supplies and the circumstances are vastly different this time around! There's no rush! This might even be a false lead!"

"But Twilight... There is a rush! That's what I was trying to say!" Fluttershy reasoned.

"Oh, certainly! Let's all just obey every single schizophrenic voice we hear and follow it blindly into our or somepony else's danger!"

Fluttershy was starting to tear up with concern that her friendship would be dead forever. "But everypony heard this one! It's real!"

"I didn't hear jack squat!"

"Four ponies did! And five heard the explosions!"

"One of them was Pinkie."

"I... I-I thought w-we were all f-f-friends, Twilight! Why would you say that about her?"

"Look, Fluttershy, Pinkie is a sweet, lovable, perfectly acceptable mare, but how could you possibly know the difference between her being serious and playing along? I don't think she even knows!"

"You're... You're being h-h-horrible!"

"Well I DID SAY it was a BAD DAY for EVERYPONY when-"

"WE GET IT TWI." Applejack shouted from way up ahead.

Twilight shut up in a huff, but Fluttershy simply refused to move. In fact, she had quite enough, and that was proven by the angry tears streaming down her face and the deep, intense and absolutely terrifying stare she held against her. All four of her hooves were planted firmly in the path as her head was held up in defiance, and she easily looked quite a bit bigger at that moment.

Twilight hesitantly ventured a question. "Fluttershy, aren't you coming?"

"No." She answered.

"Why... not?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you've apologized to everypony."

"...I'm sorry Fluttershy-"

"EVERYPONY."

Twilight stared fearfully.

She only received deathly silence as the other mares in the group stopped to see what was going on, all in various states of worry, concern and a touch of fear.

Twilight's sleep-muddled brain was not doing her any favors. It wracked itself for a solution to the conundrum she was in and only came up with a similar scenario found in one of her Daring-Do novels.

Spoiler alert- it involved punching the scary thing in the face.

Twilight did not want to punch the scary thing in the face, so instead tried to seek inspiration from her surroundings.

...Her surroundings were implying that she had to punch the scary thing in the face with their general hostile and threatening appearance.

No no no! Don't punch the scary thing! Why am I thinking about punching things? She thoroughly rebuked her brain. It redoubled its efforts to find something actually helpful to the situation.

Don't punch...

Don't knock out...

Huh... Knocking out...

Like knocking out...

Like getting knocked out...

Like falling asleep...

Sleeping...

Sleep...

Hmm...

Sleep! Of course! I need more sleep!

And with a triumphant grin, Twilight collapsed to the ground into a deep, comatose sleep, leaving the betrayed, hurt, and very, very, very disappointed Fluttershy only confused.

"Twilight?" She prodded Twilight with a hoof.

"..." Twilight responded.

Fluttershy looked to her friends for some kind of help- Thankfully, Applejack stepped up to the plate.

"'Bout time she got a nap. I could swear some days that this pony don't sleep a lick. Help me lift her, 'Shy?"

Fluttershy did just that (with enough struggling and apology to make Applejack wish she had picked Rainbow instead).

Situating the unicorn on her back, Applejack started making her way forward like nothing at all happened.

She spoke up again after a little while. "I don't know about y'all, but I think that was half an apology at least. What do you think?"

Silence. There probably wouldn't be any speaking for a while.

'~*~'

Everything was dark.

It wasn't a bad kind of dark, mind you. It was a very peaceful dark.

A sort of dark you would be perfectly safe in because nothing knew you were in it.

Twilight drifted in this darkness, blissfully aware of not needing to use her brain for anything. No Elements of Harmony, no prophesies of doom, no surprise tests or homework or studying sessions or required reading, just her, the darkness, and the lovely soft, thick, lush grass she was laying on.

...

That's strange. I did make it to my bed this time, didn't I? What am I doing on the grass? She mused, but the darkness she drifted in kept being pleasant and shushed this musing quickly.

She drifted some more, not caring she was in the grass, just enjoying it.

She felt the sunlight touch her fur. It warmed it nicely and teased her eyelids, asking politely for them to open rather than forcing them.

She liked the sunlight too. It wasn't something she got that often these days, what with eternal night and all.

She wondered what made it decide to peak out now. Obviously, Princess Celestia had something to do with it, but they could have won already... I mean, they were half way there. They had the princess, just not the sun. That was half way, right?

No. That's not right. We don't have the Elements yet.

We don't.

as in, present tense, and not past tense.

...I think I'm sleep-

Before she got to the "ing" portion of her thought, her brain kicked the rest of her back out of sleep and proved itself to be quite functional. She was in a thick sort of grass- a species typically scattered among the various other undergrowth of the Everfree which sometimes dominated clearings when one of the trees decided it had enough of standing up and decided it wanted to lay down.

Her surroundings glowed like day, but though the source was warm, it was very close and quite a bit more green than yellow. She heard of and even studied plants that glowed, and a lot of Equestrian species that glowed happened to glow green, so she could easily surmise that this light source came from a plant.

A very big plant.

Then she noticed Applejack laying next to her at a comfortable distance away wearing a relieved smile.

"Afternoon, sleepyhead," She got up and adjusted her stetson.

Twilight rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "...Afternoon?"

"Well, not really, just ten-o-clock by my guess. Sleep well?"

"Yeah... I guess... I'm... I'm not mad about the supplies anymore."

"Good ta hear, Twi. I was gettin' tired of hearin' it myself."

Experimentally rolling her ears, Twilight slowly pulled herself up onto all fours and observed her surroundings.

Rainbow Dash, who had been flitting about most decidedly not worried about her friend and just eager to move on already, even if nopony believed her, was the second to notice their de facto leader had ceased to be comatose. "Hey, look at that! She's finally up! Maybe you can do your egghead thing now with this tree?"

Rarity, who had been discussing something with Pinkie Pie (whatever it was, she was not making any headway and didn't seem to care) turned to look. "Rainbow, mind your manners. One must not speak ill of the undead," she said with a pitying gaze at Twilight.

The subtle nature of the joke made it fly over Rainbow's head.

Twilight rubbed her eyes a little more. "That bad, huh?"

"Yes- You do look horrid, but as long as you are feeling better then that's all we ask."

"...Huh."

Pinkie, for her part, hadn't noticed the exchange take place- She was busy having a passionate and surprisingly intelligent discussion with one of the thicker blades of grass. Nopony knew exactly how she got started on that.

Twilight turned her attention to the absolutely immense glowing tree that dominated the clearing (simultaneously being surprised how she forgot about it so quickly with her friends inquiring about her) and pulled from everything she knew about flora to identify it.

The closest she got was "shiny walnut tree".

The intellectual in her was dissatisfied. Getting up quickly, she began an easy trot around the trunk and proceeded to stare at it while her brain interrogated it and her subconscious for answers.

She had no doubts that this was the most interesting landmark of their second impromptu journey into the dangerous forest, but a lot of folks in Ponyville (given what she had heard so far) mentioned that The Everfree contained, was and did some weird things, so despite something being interesting or weird in The Everfree, it didn't mean all the time that it was important.

More interesting, however, was the landscape around which this tree had quite literally sprung up. It hadn't just grown from the ground, but rather had grown from the ground in a cave of sorts and punched straight through the cavern's ceiling, bringing up the ground around it to a level area, as was to be noted by all the many very small rocks scattered wherever the huge roots weren't. This was conjecture, of course. She had no idea what the landscape had looked like before, but it was indeed interesting.

But what was the significance of the carvings in the trunk? It had seemed like they were almost conditioned into growing the way they did- evenly spaced, ornate, and each one had a six-sided faceted indentation save for one which had a six-pointed star indentation. She was reminded of the Elements of Harmony as shown in both Predictions and Prophesies and The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide, but to presume a connection would be further conjecture.

But what was it about this tree that was important? Surely the voice was important as four ponies heard it for certain (and six would have if one wasn't terrified and one wasn't sleeping way too late), and the tree's growth was certainly worth looking at, but besides the ambiance of peace in this clearing and the odd, very low harmonic hum that came off of the glowing leaves, nothing seemed too much worth noting.

Fluttershy was worth noting, as Fluttershy was impossible to not note once a unicorn who was not looking where she was going got a face full of her by surprise.

Fluttershy was worth noting because Fluttershy had unfinished business with a unicorn.

Twilight backpedaled out of her friend's chest fur and stood nervously. Everything came flooding back. She hadn't really apologized for her outburst, just found the source and assured it wouldn't happen again any time soon. Also, the fact that she felt it might have been slightly justified was not doing her ease of mind any favors-

But there wasn't any look of disappointment in those eyes. Only concern and a great deal of understanding... And that was somehow worse.

She wanted to avoid those eyes. She couldn't look into them because they somehow knew everything that was going on, and there was a lot she didn't want known about the past week or so pertaining to her, so she turned her head away to gaze absently on a perfectly average and insignificant blade of grass.

"Hi 'Shy," She half mumbled, half whimpered. The integrity of their friendship had come under fire earlier that day, and to be honest, still seemed kind of up in the air. Fluttershy was kind- She wasn't necessarily attached yet.

Fluttershy was unafraid. She was not angry. She was not submissive. She simply cut right to the chase and Twilight had to bear all of it- Slowly, softly, and gently. It was both merciful and as painful as getting a "band-aid" ripped off slowly.

"I know you're sorry, Twilight... Your face right now is saying it all... And Applejack, while you were asleep... She told us that this has been hurting you the most..."

Fluttershy stood closer- A comforting gesture that Twilight appreciated yet shrunk from regardless.

"She had been helping research, and when she saw you... She saw a little bit of herself... Stubborn and determined not to let anypony down... To keep to her word... Even when it became too much..."

She positioned herself so Twilight couldn't look away- to see the understanding and concern she had for her. Twilight made no move to avoid it.

"Everypony has helped when they can. Even Rainbow Dash. And they know how much this means to you- to find a solution not just for Equestria or for the princess, but for your new friends who have suddenly started looking to you for answers."

As Pinkie now ignored the intellectual grass blade in favor of paying attention to this, Fluttershy continued. "You've never gotten the chance to say 'I can't take it' until the very worst possible moment and I am so sorry, Twilight. This is new for everypony. Nopony has been acting like they should because we're all scared, and were all saying the wrong things and doing the wrong things and acting strange and never even thinking about you... Because we all trust you to have the answers."

Silence drifted over the clearing. Twilight remained unmoving as she next spoke.

"I don't want to lose you over anything... But I don't know how to keep friends. I've never had any before the Summer Sun Celebration. Save for my brother and my foalsitter, you all are the first. And... I don't know how to keep my friends..."

Silence, again. Thick enough you could cut it, tense as a bowstring, and so chock full of uncertainty that a passerby could be caused to doubt that they had a left hoof just from its fallout. But in that silence, as the tree hummed its harmonic hum, the sturdy rope that connected the friends together was being replaced with iron chain as all six of them came to the same conclusion. None of them had any friends as close as this, and none knew how to keep them. They would surely need a lot of help, and collectively and silently, as they looked at Twilight and Fluttershy standing there, they all decided they would try to stick with each other for the long run.

They would make this work. They had to.

The silence was broken as Twilight hugged Fluttershy. She said what all were thinking. "Will you help me? Help me become a better friend so I can help you? We're not good at this... We've only just started. This is worth it and I don't want to lose it.

Everypony, please...

Will you help me?"

What followed was a group hug- One that showed an unbreakable bond, one which kept no secrets, one which expressed a special tenderness, one given jovially, yet given from the very bottom of their hearts, one which had a special magic to it, and certainly one which was to be the first of many.

Tears were shed. Quite a lot, in fact, as all ponies though they knew nothing of the why and the how of their friendship, they knew of the what. This was true. This was certain. This was strong. And this had purpose.

And the Spirit of Harmony finally found his moment to speak.

'~*~'

Just as suddenly as before, a voice emanated- but not from the hearts of the six, but from the tree itself- and with a power and a presence and magnificence as not heard from so far away like before. It spoke with a wizened, elderly tone born from much thinking and reflection, and almost seemed to carry every admirable trait a pony could have with it. It did not carry nearly as much terror for some as it had, but certainly a great deal more confusion.

Dear Twilight Sparkle, Jacqueline Apple, Rarity Belle, Pinkamena Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy Petalwing, my bearers of the Elements of Harmony, you have my utmost gratitude for trusting me when you knew nothing of what I was.

You stand before the guiding spirit of harmony himself- The unseen, unspeaking, silent guardian of ponies, horses, yaks, deer, and many others such who align themselves with the ways of harmony, be they ungulate or otherwise. I have freely given the Elements of Harmony to Celestia and Luna, I have guided them in their use, and I have chosen you six as their next bearers. As the bearers of the Elements of Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic, you all are looking so adorable in that group hug right now that I could just eat you all up!

All six blushed heavily and parted.

Harmony was silent- Awkwardly so, for a moment. ...Right! Yes. Got a bit distracted. Where was I? Let's see... Full names, my name, my purpose, your elements, ah! Yes! The reason I called you-

"Wait wait wait wait woah woah woah!" Rainbow Dash got right up in the tree's face- Or at least she so presumed, "Don't go into your big speech before you've explained who the heck you are!"

...Pardon? Harmony emanated.

"You heard the mare, mister big boomey boom boom voice!" Pinkie agreed.

Applejack was slightly offended. "Oh come on, y'all! This here glowey tree-"

A little more than that, but correct on many accounts, Harmony inserted.

"This, uh, more-than-just-glowey tree, I guess..."

"Is obviously the source of the voice and summons received earlier" is what you were saying?

"Yeah! That! An' he probably knows more about what's goin' on than us! Maybe we shouldn't interrupt!"

Twilight jumped in- "I don't know, Applejack. He certainly did cause a bit of a ruckus earlier. Don't you think it's fair we get some answers?"

Pinkie nodded. "I like the word 'fracas' better, but she's right. He does sound like my wise old great grandpa, but that doesn't mean he doesn't need to explain things!"

"Speaking of, Pinkie..."

"Oh, that! I was just bored! Made up Hubert the Plato-plant on the spot! But this big one talks- much cooler."

At this, it's hardly surprising that Pinkie received every single "what the hay" look possible from her friends, ranging from "are you kidding me" to conmused: confused amusement.

She reveled in it, clearly delighted in the fact that she could make her friends life that much more interesting.

The "big plant" everypony's attention was focused on was a bit lost for words as Pinkie finally broke down rolling with laughter as her friends joined in- none were sure what was funny, but it clearly was funny.

You know how it is.

Harmony waited until things calmed down a bit, and then, pleased to see the tension of the six had all but melted away, started talking again.

Such a shame. I do love big speeches- Or at least the idea thereof. I've yet to make one as it so happens. But a Q&A session will certainly get the point across. Let's start with the big one, and then you all can ask away.

I am Harmony, as stated before. The quiet, powerful, nearly omniscient force behind the Elements of Harmony, and I have big plans for you. As time passes, you will all grow in your understanding of friendship and teach and learn of it, you will help restore peace to the world on several occasions, and eventually, Twilight Sparkle, you will be ready to become Equestria's fourth princess- That being the princess of friendship.

He paused for dramatic effect, observing the six with their mouths agape and taking joy in the bombshell that he dropped, only to dwarf it with what came next.

Or so I was, and so I had. Your friendship letters, those of which you would have written to Princess Celestia, could only be assigned if first you discovered the Elements, were able to wield them, and were able to restore Princess Luna to that which she truly is rather than the ghostly obsessive and hateful shade she stands to be at present.

This future would surely have come to pass if Nightmare Moon had not outsmarted me.

Boom, made the bombshell. Twilight had only learned of the Elements and the general force of Harmony just over a week ago. The fact that it was not an it, but a he, that he had everything planned out from beginning to end, and that the end was her transformation into an alicorn was mind breaking.

And then he revealed that that was what could have been, rather than what truly was.

"I was going to be a princess?"

Yes, of Friendship, much like Cadence is that of Love, but I no longer know anything of the future- It is all up in the air. ...Perhaps it might be for the best, however... Your castle was going to be quite the eyesore.

"Wait, castle-"

Yes, castle, no, probably not anymore. But hey- Golden Oaks might not be destroyed this time! Yes, you to my right, jumping up and down waving your hoof wildly, the one with the fluffy pink mane?

"Why did you 'ahem' at us?" Pinkie asked.

Ah, well! Just chalk that up to a simple misunderstanding of the equestrian's need to walk from point A to point B. See, I do not have legs or even a body. I sort of stretch my awareness to whatever point it needs to go, which certainly eliminates the need for legs- or wings as some of you have. I had not considered the possibility that might have been rude. You with the rainbow mane?

"It's Rainbow Dash."

Indeed it is! Great to have you, kid! What's up?

"Well I've noticed nopony's asked anything actually important yet-" Rainbow delivered a withering glare to Pinkie and Twilight, both of which shrunk at the same time- "So I've gotta ask- Why the growth spurt?"

Miss Dash, all these questions were important- They all ask my motivations, something of which you do need to know, regardless of how small the action is. But to answer yours, The tree of harmony as it formerly appeared was a crystalline hunk shaped like a tree hidden away in a cave. In my original plans, this would have been far better for everyone. As this tree was hidden away, nothing malevolent could get to it- But as you can see, it is already in danger, and in the dark of night, evil forces could certainly start looking for it and maybe even find it successfully and it would be without the protection the Elements would have provided it. As nothing is certain, I must change its purpose just as I have changed my methods.

The tree of harmony now stands tall as a beacon of hope, and I have fortified it to be untouchable. This does mean other things will suffer for it- I cannot learn the new future now that my power is focused on protecting the tree from this future, and my silence is impossible. You make a beacon for anyone, and even those who you do not intend it for will be aware of it. I cannot be silent and work behind the scenes. As a matter of fact, any plan I have will be quite obvious, and those who oppose you will know far more of you than you of them. It is certainly why Celestia was able to tell you that you would be summoned- Even before my growth spurt, as you so aptly put it, I had already drawn myself out into the open enough that a powerful being like Celestia could take notice of it.

"Yeah, well why 'drop everything and go'? I can't see the benefit of going into the Everfree without being properly prepared." Twilight had clearly put a bit of thought into her next query- "A bit" meaning several hours of thinking and sleeping on it. She was still a bit grumpy that she couldn't have her notes.

If I allowed you to take notes, you would have been expecting a test. As for the others, putting together supplies would not have put you into the correct mindset for this meeting. You would be too concerned of your next course of action to listen to what I have to tell you. If I am to understand you as the bearers of the Elements, you have all been doing your part to seek out solutions as often as you can. If I were to then give you the next piece, the conditions of this crisis would cause you to run off in its pursuit and consider none of my warnings- You do not respect me as much as Celestia, and were it her giving you the solution, you would wait until she's done.

You will have to forgive me for manipulating you like this.

Fluttershy flew over and gave the tree a hug. "Oh don't worry... You have my respect! Trees are always very, very wise."

I do not claim to be wise, but it is nice to hear you think this of me.

As Fluttershy let go of the tree, Harmony began again. By the looks of things, I have not yet alleviated your concerns, so I suspect you have further questions for me. Applejack? We have not heard from you in a while.

"Sorry, just thinkin' 'bout stuff."

...'Stuff'? Care to elaborate?

She shrugged. "Don't know how. There's a lot of it."

Very well. I can certainly take questions while you chew on your thoughts-

"Why us?"

Harmony did not know how to respond to that. Was it because of the Sonic Rainboom that caused them all to get their cutie marks at the same time? Could it have simply been their particular personalities that assured him they displayed enough of the represented virtues of the Elements in order to bear them? He had put them all together and was certain they'd succeed. But why? Why them?

In truth, I must at this point confess to a gut feeling- Something even beyond that- From my top to bottom, from my core to the very edges, I was and am convinced that you are right for bearing the elements. There is no better reason I could give without fabricating a lie. All I know is you are very important.

Princess Celestia, of whom I admire very much, certainly thought so. There is no doubt in my mind that she was tweaking events from behind the scenes when it came to Twilight's acquisition of new friends, but that's a different story for another, less desperate time than this.

...Perhaps miss Rarity has something to ask?

Rarity glanced at the others briefly, then gave a shrug. "Well, I suppose I do happen to have something, but you'll have to forgive me if it doesn't have nearly as much thought put into it as the others-"

"No problem, Rarity! I didn't think about my question either!" Pinkie interrupted.

"Yes, uh, anyway, I find myself drawn to the intricate carvings at the base of the tree's trunk. What is their purpose, exactly?"

Ah, an important question! A most important question indeed, but one that I will certainly be covering during your briefing. Before that, however, anypony else have anything at all to add?

They shook their heads. Applejack's hat fell off, which is only noteworthy because it doesn't seem to be sticking on as well as it used to.

With that, Harmony's general intonation of voice (if you could really call it that) changed to something far more business like rather than casual. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, preparing himself for what was to come.

Then, noble equestrians, by the authority so graciously given unto me of Princess Celestia and for the well-being of Equestria, all its rulers and all of whom would seek to follow its ways, I declare you knights of the three realms of Earth, Annwn(1) and Tartarus. Where chaos seeks to reign in terror, there you shall be to dull its edge. Where harmony's ways are abused and exploited, there you shall be to set it right. And where the elements are to be found, there you shall also be to gain them.

As knights of the three realms, your mission is to bring back the light of the sun, and bring back the mare in the moon. Do you accept the responsibility for all its joys, sorrows, burdens and privileges?

"We will do whatever it takes," Twilight answered for them. That's okay though. They agreed with her.

Listen deep, then, to my vision. My sight is tainted by the darkness of night and is confused and lacking, but its truth cannot be crushed. Hear then my vision and seek in it its truth.

"Honesty is truth to thee, and truth to many more- This element is to be found 'mongst books and scrolls and lore.

Tho' unassuming these ruins are, they're maddening, deathly, dark. For all who dare to enter them, they exit with a mark.

The worst to find is deep inside- A people rightly rot- But if they catch your sound or move, your pony flesh is sought!

They know it sits among them there, they know you seek it deep- With silvery tongues and lying teeth into your hearts they'll creep.

Kindness is so hard to find- This suffering's hard to pin. But all alone within their home sleeps someone- ragged, thin.

She is alone but dangerous- She's dying breath by breath- but merest air alone might for you cause untimely death.

Dare you save her? But you must! She hides the Kindness Gem- And when awake, her wisdom's great, she'll teach of all of them.

But friends you'll make? I cannot say. The answer's probably yes- For when you save a person's life, they tend to feel blessed.

Laughter's found where it's not sought- These ponies drown in grief. Lives and joy, all took away, by what? A master thief!

A toxin spreads from sky to ground, but toxin it is not- It is a state of mind they think this horrid life's their lot.

Misfortune is their constant true, all cause this evil one will feed upon their happiness to grow their strength to sun.

Cruelty is their first name, and spite is their name last- Upon their neck a brooch so dark is tied around them fast.

The fourth one lays unlikely where an act is paid with act- Muscle, mind or magic strong, there always is a pact.

Tiers and classes- no room for love- within this 'perfect' tree, for who would ever want to leave such wondrous 'harmony'?

It's only lies from slave to slave- debts and ties unbreached- but you, O dear equestrians, gen'rocity will teach.

You'll do them well, you'll teach them true, you'll save them 'cause you could, and then you'll find they'll cease as slaves and do as best friends would.

And fifth to find is Loyalty- Away, so far away! It takes a year to get to best, but surely not a day.

Within these strange and unknown lands, equestrians don't roam, yet beasts the likes of diamond dogs- but different- claim home.

To get the Faithful Stone in hoof, a side is what you'll take, For they're in twain and nearly warring- A real king and fake.

They're divided on Equestria, 'Must we this power tame?' But to your princess you must be true, yet help them all the same.

Sixth is Magic- Yes, that's true! Magic makes its home within a test for all six friends- A labyrinth you must roam.

I wish to say 'take left' or 'right', or 'walk across the log', but in the wake of prophecy, that future is a fog.

All that's to say is when you have the Gems of Harmony, use them all the best you can, then take them to the tree.

Place them within the carvings there when restored is the sight of Luna and Equestria, and brought back is sol's light."

"...You totally rehearsed this, didn't you?" Rainbow asked.

You bet your spectral pony tail I did!

Fair Paints? Where are you?

Oh for pony's sake. she went gallivanting off again. That mare always did have the heart, mind and soul of a researcher. She's probably going to make a billion more bits on another textbook illustration again.

Well, there's nothing for it. I guess I'll just start providing references to readers. There's a specific formula to it.

(1) This is the only reference in this chapter. It refers to Welsh myth- This is their word for the other world, and I've taken it for use as Equestria's heaven. You can, of course, get there just like Tartaurus.

Harmony was Mistaken

by Daaberlicious

The Big Oopsie

After-Oopsie

When a Tree Talks, You Listen (or Maybe Just Question Your Sanity)