Tree of Harmony
Chapter 4
Back at the Tree of Harmony
"Twilight, you must turn every pony in Equestria against Flame Striker!" Celestia exclaimed from her spot on the floor. Twilight stared at her mentor, or the horse that used to be her mentor. What was she talking about? Twilight hesitantly asked,
"Why Celestia? She seems like a perfectly good pony. She didn't do anything bad." Celestia and Luna stared at her. Celestia's eyes went wide with rage,
"She thinks she can take our kingdom...she is wrong! Twilight, you must understand. Flame Striker is used to the old ways. She never learned anything about politics. Her families only job was to protect the Sun and Moon. Her sister, Krystallos, died because she couldn't defend the moon. She will protect this kingdom from anything she thinks will threaten its well-being. Including us." Twilight was confused. Flame Striker was a perfectly good pony . . . Luna spoke up,
"Twilight, the prime reason I turned into Nightmare Moon was because Krystallos died defending the moon from the darker spirits. With her gone, the darker spirits were able to take over the moon . . . Which also meant taking over me. Flame Striker hadn't been able to get there in time and her parents were dead . . . Supposedly. Flame Striker had continued to guard the Sun and the Moon with her sister for a long time..." While the two Alicorns tried to convince Twilight that Flame Striker was evil, the rest of Twilight's friends just stared. To them it sounded like Flame Striker had done much more for the Princesses than the Princesses realized.
As Twilight, Celestia and Luna argued Flame Striker made her way back to the Tree of Harmony. Flame Striker knew she wouldn't be able to handle the political side of ruling and was hoping that Celestia and Luna would be able to take care of it. As she entered the 'cavern' again she heard,
"Celestia. Flame Striker is not a bad pony. She's just an ancient one, accustomed to other ways. You can't blame her for that. It was you after all, that prevented her from having any normal relationships with other ponies!" She heard Celestia bite back,
"You don't know her Twilight! How can you defend her and abandon your Princess and once mentor?" As Twilight began defending her again, Luna butted in,
"Twilight. Flame Striker is going to destroy the kingdom. She never grew with the kingdom the way we did. It's not possible for her to rule the kingdom. She is too set in her ways." Flame Striker was growing angry. And to think, she was about to give the two Alicorn sisters another chance. Flame Striker stepped back into the room and used the 'Canterlot voice',
"THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU WILL NOT ARGUE ANYMORE. I HAVE COME TO A DECISION. NOW BE SILENT!" Every pony fell silent as Flame Striker gazed at the two Alicorn sisters. "I was about to offer you a place back in Canterlot. Now I see that is not an option. You will merely poison every ponies view of me. For that, I will banish you to your respective celestial objects. You will defend them, as my parents have done, as I have done, as my sister had done." Celestia and Luna started to protest but Flame Striker cut them off, "This punishment will last for five thousand years. The amount of time I spent guarding a tree that you thought needed protection. The difference? You will be guarding two celestial objects that will actually need protection. You will not be allowed to visit each other and you will not be allowed to help each. You may communicate but that's it." With all that being said and done Flame Striker cast a spell on each sister. Surprisingly, both spells were a different color. The one that hit Celestia was red, while the one that hit Luna was blue.