On Call

[twilightpony]

I went back to the ruins of the castle in the Everfree to return the books Moondancer borrowed. It's freezing in the Everfree. There's even snow on the ground here and there. The Everfree snow wasn't much to look at. There were no flakes, just tiny white round balls of various sizes.

On the way I went down the stairs to the stony crevasse where the Tree of Harmony... is rooted? It hasn't changed. I looked at it for a while. It didn't move. Or speak. Or write any messages. It gave no clues as to what it may be thinking and I have no way to find out. It would be nice to be able to communicate with the power that drops puzzles on our backs without so much as a by-your-leave.

My life had more stability... and purpose, when I was just researching Friendship and reporting back to my teacher. I guess the old Friendship puzzles were a bit mundane, but they were _my_ puzzles and there were many lessons to learn.

Now there are fewer puzzles to solve, and when I or my friends fix a problem, we don't report back to anypony. And so I just sit in our giant, cold, tree-shaped castle, with my nigh 20,000 books, and wait to be prodded and guided to something disharmonious that requires a fix.

Comments

[flareblitzfury]

You may not have as many puzzles, having nopony else to report I can understand feeling a bit jarring still.
Would it be possible for you to keep tabs on each problem you solve, in the case you aren't already doing something like that.

[twilightpony]

I have transcribed what I have learned about Friendship into an indexed volume, if that's what you mean. What I continue to learn about Friendship and the variations in approach to problem resolution, go there.

[flareblitzfury]

That is indeed what I meant! Okay!

[borglord]

I'd be inclined to guess that it doesn't actually think at all, anyway. I suspect it's no more intelligent than any other tree; it just grows towards harmony instead of towards light, and its intrinsic behavior is somewhat more complex.

Trees don't think in your world, right?

[twilightpony]

Applejack would be inclined to disagree about trees not thinking. I remember an apple tree she delivered to her cousin's orchard in Appleoosa. We went with her on that trip. The tree had a name, rode in it's own car on the train, and Applejack read bedtime stories to it.

I'd have to bow to Applejack's expertise in this matter. If she says a tree thinks, then, a tree thinks. At least in Equestria.

As for the Tree, growing towards Harmony may account for its motivation, but its actions have been a lot more than somewhat complex. Namely, the box of locks, this Friendship Castle, the map of Equestria table and the link it has to our cutie marks. All those actions have been spontaneous, directed and one after the other. To fit into this enigmatic Tree scheme, really doesn't look like any old pony would do. It wants us. It chose us. Ergo, it thinks.

[algernon97]

For some reason I always associate "by your _____" with a science fiction series over here. Doesn't make a lot of sense to do so, since the quote from the series is "By your command."

As for reporting to your teacher... I'm not too sure what to say about that.

Perhaps you could start a new hobby to pass the time between the puzzles the tree gives you? Drawing, or weaving, maybe?

[twilightpony]

I tried to weave a bird's nest once. Rarity made it look so easy. There's a reason why I read the recipes and Spike does the cooking. I may be really good at organizing things, but I am really not coordinated when it come to making things. And I, well, a 'hobby' sounds like I'm wasting my time...