Insomnia opened their eyes. They seemed to be on some kind of platform. Their head was pounding. Grimacing the pegasus sat up and felt the back of their head. There was a bump.
That's odd. They thought.
They looked around the room and realized they were in a very tall, very deep, very large, circular room. The light was coming from glowing mushrooms around Insomnia's hooves. The roof and the floor were hidden in darkness. There was only one exit visible - a door in the wall with a platform that seemed so impossibly far away.
Their heart pounded louder than their head. Their wings shook violently. They were trapped on a ledge in the middle of the large room with the only way out being to fly.
Insomnia tried to calm themselves but their breath was coming in short gasps.
"You can do this. You can do this. You just have to fly in a straight line...over the deep...dark... abyss..."
They took a shaky step towards the edge and froze. They cursed themselves.
"What kind of a Pegasus are you? Just fly!" But their wings wouldn't open. The harder they tried the more their wings seemed to stick to their body. Tears of frustration began to flow.
"Ugh! Stupid, stupid, fear!"
The mention of fear brought to mind Lucky's story about her nana. But the tree died years ago. This couldn't be the tree. Right? Insomnia wondered if the others were also trapped in their worst fears. They wondered what the other's fears were. Would they be able to break through and escape? Would they look for Insomnia and save them? Somehow the pegasus doubted it. They had only known each other for a day and were hardly close. Besides the only one who would be able to help would be Liberty.
I don't think she would help. Not with the way I've yelled at her all day. Well I wouldn't have needed to if she just focused on the class instead of balancing pencils on her nose or clawing her name into the desk.
Insomnia walked around the small platform they were on and accidentally stepped on a mushroom. They shook the luminescent mush off and watched as the glowing droplet flew over the edge. It continued until the light disappeared. Insomnia's stomach dropped.
They lay down on the platform, hugging it in terror. They covered their face as they began to cry.
"Please...some creature ...help me..." they whispered. Their voice echoed off the walls, sounding pathetic to their own ears.
Suddenly the sound of footsteps.
Insomnia looked up and around but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It seemed to be everywhere all at once.
"Hello? Who's there? ...Liberty?" They said hopefully.
"You called?" Came the sassy response. Insomnia turned and saw the Sphinx on the other platform by the door.
"Oh thank Celestia it's you." The Pegasus breathed.
Liberty smirked. "I didn't think you'd miss me. What are you doing all the way over there?"
"The stupid tree or whatever it was put me here. Must have knocked me out."
"Me too." Liberty replied, feeling the back of her head. "But I thought Hope said it was destroyed by Sombra."
"A lot can happen in 100 years. Besides we don't know it's the tree."
"Who else would trap you in your worst fear?"
Insomnia shook their head. "I don't know...wait, so you faced your fear already?"
"Yeah." The Sphinx looked around. "And I take it this is yours?"
Insomnia looked at their hooves and didn't reply.
Liberty flew over the chasm and hovered nearby Insomnia's platform. "Are you hurt?" She asked.
Insomnia shook their head.
The Sphinx frowned. "Can't you fly?".
Insomnia still didn't reply. They wouldn't look their classmate in the eye.
"What, did no one teach you?" Liberty joked.
"My parents did." Insomnia flatly replied.
The Sphinx cocked her head to one side. "Soooo what's the problem? Why can't you fly?"
"BECAUSE IM SCARED OF FALLING!" Insomnia snapped. "Every time I open my wings I feel terrified. Every time I see a deep drop I feel like I'm going to get pulled down and I know I'm a Pegasus but I just can't do it! Go ahead, make fun of me, but I'm not going to fly across that pit."
There was a somber silence for a moment before Insomnia felt Liberty wrap her paws around their waist and lift them up.
"What are you doing?!" Insomnia shrieked. They grabbed onto Liberties neck, staring into the darkness below with wide eyes.
"Just close your eyes and count to ten." Liberty said gently.
"I did not consent to this!" Insomnia said between hyperventilating breaths.
"Just do it grumpy hoodie." Liberty said.
Not wanting to keep looking at the pit Insomnia complied, squeezing their eyes tightly shut and burying their face into the soft fluff of Liberty's aviator jacket.
"1,2," Insomnia started.
"Slower." Liberty interrupted.
"1...2..."
"There you go."
By the time Insomnia had counter to ten, the two had landed on the platform with the door. Insomnia opened their eyes and saw the very thin pillar that had been holding the platform they were on. They clung to Liberty tighter.
"Ok, loosen up. I can't breathe."
Quickly Insomnia let go and jumped to the floor. "Sorry." They paused, akwardly rubbing their leg. "And...thank you."
"No worries. Should we find the others?" The Sphinx said, rubbing her neck.
"Yeah. Let's go."
The two walked into the dark hallway in silence. After a while lanterns lit with magic began to appear on the walls, lighting up the cobwebs that spanned the space.
Insomnia eventually broke the silence. "How were you able to escape your fear on your own?"
"It wasn't the first time I've had to face that fear. Took a while but I got the courage eventually."
"Do you mind if I ask what the fear was?"
The Sphinx smirked at the pegasus. "Only if you tell me why you're afraid of height's."
"I guess that's only fair." Insomnia took a deep breath. "But it's so stupid."
"Your feelings aren't stupid." Liberty said in a surprisingly serious tone. Insomnia felt some reassurance in that.
"When I was little and just learning to fly, I dreamt of being a wonderbolt like Rainbowdash, and doing a sonic boom. After I'd learnt the basis of flight I felt like I was invincible, so I set up a course to try my first attempt at a sonic boom.
I raced towards the ground, going as fast as I could. But I lifted up too late and crashed. I hit the ground from 70 feet high going at 15.5 wing power."
Liberty cringed. "Ouch."
"Understatement." Insomnia replied. "It was bad. Really bad. I was in the hospital for months trying to recover. I had multiple broken ribs, broken legs, head injuries...thank Celestia I only lost baby teeth. But the worst was my wings. They'd already been strained too much from the speed but then hitting the ground right after...it took years with a physiotherapist before I could extend them properly." They lifted their wing to show how shakey it was and how they struggled to keep it straight.
Liberty looked on with sympathy. "No wonder you haven't opened them all day."
Insomnia nodded. "Even now I can't fully extend them like I use to. But I think the mental scars are what keep me grounded really. Every time I open my wings I feel a sense of dread. I gave up my dreams of being a wonderbolt. Just living in cloudsdale is a challenge. Thank Celestia for the cloud lifts for disabled pegasi. Otherwise I would have never been able to leave."
A silence hung between them again before the blue pegasus nudged Liberty.
"Your turn. What was your fear?"
The Sphinx laughed. "Im a creature named Liberty. What do you think my fear is?"
"So you're claustrophobic?"
"Yeah...but that wasn't the fear I was showed."
"Then what was it?"
Liberty paused for a moment.
"I was adopted. My parents are a gay pony couple in Vanhoover. They found me in a box of fireworks during a pride parade as a baby. As you can imagine it's tough being the only Sphinx for acres. When I got older I went looking for my biological family. And I found it. Well, I found my mom. She wasn't happy that I came looking for her and told me she got rid of me for a reason and to never contact her again."
"That sucks." Insomnia said, unsure what else to say.
Liberty snorted. "Yeah it sucked. I cried alot after that. But I'm the end I told myself I don't need some stinky sphinxes approval. I have two loving fathers who mean the world to me, and I mean the world to them. I didn't find out who my father was nor why I was abandoned - bio-mom refused to elaborate aside from 'she had her reasons'. My worst fear is that my father will also hate me when I find him."
"You're still trying to find him?" Insomnia asked with surprise.
Liberty nodded. "I don't know if he knows I exist and if he doesn't he deserves to know. Best case scenario he didn't know and wants to get to know me. Worst case scenario...he doesn't. But if he doesn't, I have my dads. They'll always love me no matter what."
"Any clues as to where he is? Did your mom say?"
"No...nothing yet..."
Silence.
"Why do you think your mom abandoned you?" Insomnia asked, wondering if maybe this was pushing it.
Liberty shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have any birth defects I can see. I struggled in school but I doubt she knew about my dyslexia. I'm guessing she never wanted kids and figured the best way to get rid of me was leave me somewhere."
The blue pegasus scrunched up their nose. "What a horrible creature."
"Yeah."
"If I ever meet her I'm dumping her in the swamps of the Ever Free forest."
Liberty barked with laughter. "Not if I do first."
Insomnia couldn't help but smile.
Hope light was in a dark room. Even with her horn illuminated she couldn't see the walls.
"Hello?" Her voice echoed. She began to walk. Her hoof steps echoed too. For a moment she wondered if they were echos...or somepony else. "Is anyone there?"
No. Definitely an echo. She was alone.
Then came the whispers. When she heard it she swung her horn in an arc around her but there was no one there. Feeling on edge she cast a shield spell around herself, creating a shimmering light yellow bubble of light like a star in the dark.
"Show yourself." Hope said.
The whispering got louder and soon she began to recognize the voices.
"Mom? Dad? Is that you?"
"Such a disappointment." The voice said. Hope's blood ran cold.
"...ungrateful...waste of time...wasting our money...could be more useful.."
The unicorn shook her head. These weren't her parents. They would never say those things. And yet...why did it bother her so much?
I must still be in the cave under the school. She though. This must be the tree testing us with our fears like Lucky's Nana said.
I have to find the way out.
She began to trot, rationalizing that if she kept going in a straight line then eventually she would hit a wall. The whispers grew louder with her every step.
"Ungrateful...using all our resources...for what?...what has she done for us?"
Hope started to canter, as if she could out run the voices but they just got louder.
"Waste of time...ungrateful...useless..."
Tears started to streak down Hopes face. "You're wrong. Your wrong. You are not my parents. Leave me alone!"
Suddenly she slammed into something, luckily her shield took most of the hit. She looked up, expecting to see a wall but instead saw her mother, towering over her. In that same whispering voice she spoke.
"You were suppose to help us. Now you want us to pay for your schooling? Have we not payed enough to keep you alive?"
Hope backed away. "You're not my mom. She would never say that. You aren't my-" she slammed into something behind her and turned to see her father.
"You've been nothing but a burden on us. We have wasted years of our lives, sacrificed our dreams to raise you! When are you going to repay the favor?"
Hope crouched to the ground. "Stop it! You aren't real, you aren't my parents. I'm not a burden on them! I'm not!"
Her fake parents continued to whisper, circling around her. "Waste of time...ungrateful...when will you repay? When? When? When?"
"ENOUGH!" Hope sent a blast of light radiating from her and casting the darkness aside. The room was now illuminated and Hope could see that she was in a circular stone chamber with doors behind and ahead of her. However instead of heading for the exit, she sat down and cried.
"Pull yourself together Hope." She sniffed.
"It's ok to cry." The unicorn jumped. She looked up to see Double delight before her.
Oh no, he saw me crying.
Quickly she wiped her face. "Yeah but I'm not I'm just...tired is all."
Double delight sat down in front of her. "I saw bad stuff in the shadows too. It's ok."
Hope looked up into his deep blue eyes, so sincere. He pulled her into a hug. She tried to hold it in but eventually just began to cry into his shoulder. He didn't say anything. After a bit she pushed him away to clean her face.
"Ugh...I'm sorry, I'm such a mess right now." Hope tried to smile and laugh but it felt hollow. Double delight gave a half hearted smile. "The darkness messes with your head."
The stallion stood and offered a hoof. She took it. "We should probably get out of here." He said.
"And find the others." She replied.
As the two walked side by side out the door, Hope gave him a gentle nudge. "Thanks for not asking."
"It's not my business." He replied. "But if you ever need to talk about it, don't hesitate. Ok?"
"Ok." Hope replied. She felt her heart fill with warmth at his words. "But after. Right now we need to get back to the school with everyone safely."
Friend was running through gemstone encrusted tunnels, behind him a pack of Diamond dogs were barking at him.
"Run run little runt! We'll catch you!"
Terror pushed his legs onward. How did his old pack get under the school? Why were they after him? Did they expand their territory? Did they want to toy with him? Whatever the case he knew they would hurt him.
The tunnels were a maze and the smells were all messed up. Friend couldn't tell where anyone or anything was. He bumped into large crystals in the dark, and tripped over loose stones. Finally he found himself at a dead end. He turned back but they were already blocking the exit. Shivering with fear, friend turned and began to dig into the wall.
"You can't dig your way out of this." One of the dogs said.
"Yeah." Another agreed. "You've never been a strong digger."
"You've never been good for anything."
"Leave me alone! Friend barked at them in dog-speak. "I'm not a threat to you anymore! Just leave me alone!"
"Threat?" The pack replied. "You were never a threat. You were a play thing. And we want to play."
"Get a new play thing!" Suddenly Lucky burst from behind them, kicking at the hounds. They yelped in surprise but quickly began to rally against her, biting her legs and tearing at her sides with Crystal claws. One of the dogs was eyeing her throat and instinct kicked in. Friend dove at the enemy, sinking his jaws into their scruff and tossing them aside. He wasn't as strong as them but he wasn't going to let Lucky fight alone.
They struggled but eventually Lucky was thrown against the back wall. Friend jumped to stand in front of her. The fur on the back of his neck was raised into spikes like a porcupine and he growled at the pack.
"I will not let you hurt my friend!" He yelled.
The pack eyed him, seemingly hesitant to start the fight up again.
"So found your new pack huh? With pretty little ponies?" Said the pack leader.
"Yes." Friend replied. "And you are on our turf. Back off!"
All fear was gone to be replace by a protective rage. These dogs had hurt Friend since he was a pup. He knew what they could do. He wouldn't let Lucky, who stood up for him in the school, suffer through that.
The pack growled but they retreated back down the tunnels and disappeared.
Friend turned around and sniffed at Lucky.
"Hurt?" He asked in ponish.
"I'm fine. Just a few scrapes." Lucky replied.
Friend sat down and tilted his head then spoke in dog-speak. "You spoke dog-speak earlier. How?"
"Family friend in Abyssinia learned to speak Dog-speak during Spike's attempts at creating peace between them and the Diamond dogs."
"Aby-who now?"
"Cat creatures. Live in Abyssinia. Country South of Equestria?"
Friend gave her a blank stare.
"Have you been living under a rock the past 100 years?"
"I'm only four years and yes, I've lived underground until I escaped my pack in search of friends a few days ago."
Lucky blinked. "That's why you came to the school of friendship. You ran away from your pack."
Friend nodded. "My pack captured a pony one day and he spoke of the school and friends. I let him go and got in trouble for it. The pony promised to help me but..."
Lucky stood up and placed a hoof on the pups shoulder. "He went back on his word."
Friend nodded again. "But not all ponies are like that. Right?"
"No." Lucky gave him a hug. "You have a new pack now. And we will keep you safe. Ok?"
The pup sniffed. "Ok. Thanks Lucky."
"What's your real name?" Lucky asked as she let him go. The two began to walk back down the tunnel in search of an exit. Friend began to smell the others of his pack - Insomnia, Liberty, Hope Light and Double delight - and followed the trail.
"Friend." Friend replied after a pause.
"Your mom called you friend?" Lucky asked in disbelief.
"Nope. But friend is the name I choose to call myself." Friend replied. "So that anyone calling me knows I am a friend of theirs."
Lucky smiled. "I think that's a great name."
All six ponies reached the end of their respective tunnels at the same time. Insomnia was relieved to see they had all escaped their nightmares already. They thought seeing their worst fears may be too personal. The group found themselves in a large chamber. In the center was a very big glowing crystal tree. Its branches held up the ceiling and its roots covered the floor. The walls had carvings of ponies long past. The pillars, Celestia and Luna, twilight and her friends, and even Nana Yona and her friends. In the center of the tree's trunk was a large purple star.
"The tree of harmony." Double delight breathed.
"But that's impossible." Hope light replied.
"Nothing is ever impossible." Liberty reasoned. "Maybe a sapling escaped sombra, or the roots were so extensive that a new one sprouted like a mushroom."
Lucky nodded. "Mushrooms are the largest organisms on the planet. And considering there are other trees of harmony in other regions I wouldn't put it past this one to re-sprout."
"Wait there are more?!" Insomnia exclaimed. "Why wasn't that in the history lecture?"
Suddenly there was a shimmer and a purple Alicorn appeared before the group. All the ponies kneeled. Liberty and Friend, seeing this, kneeled too.
"Princess Twilight." Hope Light said with awe. "What are you doing here?"
"The time has come for new bearers of the elements to arise." Princess Twilight said. "You six have proven yourselves worthy. Friend, the element of honesty. Lucky, the element of kindness. Liberty the element of laughter. Insomnia the element of honesty. Hope light the element of generosity. Double delight, the element of magic." The six colourful gems appeared from behind the Alicorn and levitated down to each of the six. "This is a great honor and a great responsibility. You will be the heros of Equestria and beyond. Saving all creatures from the evils of this world. Ensuring that peace and harmony reign for your generation. I trust you to do this."
Insomnia felt a crushing wave of expectation, dread, and strangely annoyance. Didn't they have enough on their plate without being responsible for the safety of the world?
"No thanks."
Everyone turned to look at Lucky. Princess Twilight stared at her in shock. "Excuse me?"
"I said no thanks. I don't want to be a hero. I want to go back home to my garden and watch frogs jump on lily pads all day thank you very much."
"I second that." Insomnia said, relieved they weren't the only one thinking this. "I have my own plans too and I'm too busy with my own stuff to think about someone else's problems, let alone the whole world's problems."
"Well let's not be hasty." Liberty replied. "I mean. The chance to be an awesome hero? To be in the history books and go on cool adventures? Sounds like a lot of fun to me."
"It's not just about fun." Hope light interjected. "We could be the only ones who can save Equestria from evil. Can you really be so selfish as to put the fate of the world aside for your own interests?"
"Honestly?" Insomnia replied to the unicorn. "Why must it be my responsibility? Twilight," they turned to address the Princess. "I mean, your highness. Isn't protecting Equestria your job?"
"And don't you have a draconequis on your pay roll?" Lucky added.
"But think of all the good we could do! With the power of the elements we could really make a positive change in this world." Double delight said.
"What needs to change?" Lucky argued. "Princess Twilight has ensured peace for a century! Clearly she's doing the right thing."
"If you haven't noticed," Hope light said clearly annoyed ",Princess Twilight is asking us to do something right now. If you think she knows best why aren't you doing what she says?"
"Because that's not Twilight."
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.
"How can you know that?" Double delight argued.
"Because," Lucky approached the Alicorn. "When my Nana told me stories, she said the tree took the form of Headmare Twilight to talk to them." The earth pony swiped at the Princess and her hoof went right through. "Isn't that right tree of harmony?"
Princess Twilight nodded. "Indeed. I am the Tree of harmony. I took the form I felt was best suited to this task." The spirit of the tree looked down at Lucky. "Are you sure you will not accept this opportunity?"
Lucky seemed to pause for a fraction of a second before replying with confidence. "I'm sure."
"Then you may leave."
With a wave of her hoof the fake Twilight opened up a door and there was the rock pile leading to the vent entrance. Lucky looking relieved started towards it before turning to the others. "You coming?"
"I am." Insomnia said, following.
"Friend also." Friend agreed in ponish, running along till he was at Lucky's side.
Liberty looked between the elements and the group before eventually following them towards the exit. Insomnia gave the solemn faced Sphinx a light hearted punch. "There'll be plenty of adventures else where."
The Sphinx smiled. "Yeah, maybe we could find a curse artifact somewhere or travel to Saddle Arabia."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
Hope light looked up at the fake Twilight. Her heart fell with disappointment. Glumly she followed after her friends. Realizing Double delight hadn't moved, she looked over her shoulder at him.
"You coming?"
"Yeah I just wanted to investigate something first. I'll catch up."
"It's dangerous to stay here."
"Nah the tree will let me go when I'm done. Right tree?"
The spirit of the tree of harmony nodded. "You have passed my test and are free to leave whenever you wish."
Hope light wasn't sure she trusted the tree but Double delight flashed her a smile. "I'll meet you at the cafeteria tomorrow morning before class. Ok?"
Her spirits lifted at the prospect. "Alright. See you then."
With that Hope light left the cave, leaving Double delight to do his own research.