At Fluttershy’s Cottage

The next day as the sun rose on a new morning in Equestria, Fluttershy was awakened by the gentle singing of her flock of pet birds. She found herself giving a soft yawn as she climbed out of her bed, making sure to make it tidy behind her. As she entered the pantry of her cottage already she could find no small amount of her pets gathered waiting patiently for their breakfast.

“Don’t you worry dears, I’ll be sure to get your breakfast ready as soon as possible so you won’t be hungry for long.” She promised them before proceeding to do just that. Preparing fish for Harry and treats for Antoine and was just in the middle of cutting carrot slices for Angel when she heard the knocking on the door. Quite awkwardly for the poor girl as she was still dressed in her nightie, so when she crept to the door she opened it only a crack to conceal her modesty.

“Um hello, can I help you?” Fluttershy asked, her voice a soft whisper. Standing at the doorway she saw her oldest and most reliable friend Rainbow Dash. She was hopping on her feet impatiently until Fluttershy opened the door a crack. "Oh hello, Rainbow Dash can you wait a moment, please? I'm not really dressed yet but I would love to have a cup of tea and chat."

"Sorry, Fluttershy but we won't have time. Gear up, we've been drafted on a mission by Princess Celestia herself. All of us have to meet at the Castle of Friendship in half an hour, she's sent a letter to us with a mission." Rainbow Dash explained, causing Fluttershy to worry.

"Oh dear, do you think it's dangerous? Is it another dragon in the mountains?” Fluttershy asked as she began to shake in fear.

“Fluttershy you managed to stare down the last dragon up there, you can do it again.” Rainbow Dash reminded her, rolling her eyes. "Besides given what the six of us have defeated before Alicorns, Draconequuses and all sorts you really shouldn't be scared anymore at this point."

"But Applejack's still in Appleloosa so it won't be all six of us." Fluttershy pointed out, still shaking in her boots.

Rainbow Dash let out a long sigh. “You’re way too cool to be this scared Fluttershy. Look we’ll be fine… just meet at the Castle of Friendship and we’ll deal with this.”

Rainbow Dash flew off, leaving the anxious Fluttershy alone to worry about the future as she rushed to feed the rest of her animals and to dress in a comfortable woollen dress before heading to Twilight’s castle. Inside she found all her friends gathered around the map of friendship, each looking towards the other in confusion. Inside Fluttershy realized that she hadn't prepared for this mission as her friends had. Twilight was stockpiling a series of books with knowledge, Rainbow Dash had a rucksack packed, Rarity had many outfits folded at the table so that she could be prepared for any situation, and Pinkie was already outfitted in camouflage and a cardboard box.

"Oh good Fluttershy you're finally here," Twilight said putting down her books and rushing over to greet her. "Have you heard what's happening?"

"Um, no Rainbow Dash just told me that Celestia sent us a message," Fluttershy admitted, causing Twilight to nod.

"That's what we've been told too, but we haven't actually been told what's happened yet. Just that one of our friends would explain." Twilight said as she led them back to the table.

"I wonder what it could be." Fluttershy wondered, tapping a finger to her chin.

"I guess that's my cue." Came a somewhat timid voice that drew the attention of everypony in the room. Spike stood at the doorway with a letter in his hand and a nervous expression on his face that drew the eye of everypony there.

"Everything alright buddy?" Rainbow asked, her arms folded as she laid back in her seat, but her eyes betrayed a level of concern.

Pinkie's head poked out of her box with a frown. "You look pretty frowny Spikie."

Rarity too seemed concerned, but almost to the point of freezing in place and Fluttershy couldn't blame her. Spike seemed worried, and that caused Fluttershy's insides to squirm. Twilight however seemed worried in a different way, as if Spike was making some kind of major mistake. "What is it, Spike?"

Spike, with the letter in his hand, let out a long sigh. "There's something I need to tell you all. I've told Twilight, Starlight and Cadence already but I need to tell you all too."

Fluttershy couldn't help but notice how Spike's eyes were avoiding Rarity, which was so uncharacteristic of him. Normally he couldn't keep his eyes off of her, what with his adorable crush on her. She felt the need to reassure him. "Whatever it is Spike you don't need to worry. We're your friends and you know we’ll always support you no matter how bad it is."

"Yeah, buddy nothing to worry about," Rainbow Dash told him with a self-assured grin. "Don't worry you worry wort it's not nearly as bad as you think it is."

"Well okay then." His eyes shifted to Rarity, though Fluttershy noticed he wasn't looking her directly in the eye. "Rarity do you remember when I gave you those gems? Those ones you said were really high quality, and when we went exploring for the same cave we couldn't find them."

"That was a brief while ago but yes I remember Spike. Those gems were absolutely fabulous Sapphire Shores was delighted to see them upon her dress. Absolutely splendid darling." Rarity said, her eyes shimmering like the diamonds on her cutie mark.

"Well, I didn't actually find those diamonds in a cave," Spike admitted, earning a few glances around the table.

"You didn't steal them did you?" Rainbow asked, her eyes narrowed. But Fluttershy could tell she wasn’t serious.

“What no of course not. I’d never do that. It's different, it's well.” Spike took in a deep breath. “It was when I was exploring a cave looking for gems when I came across it. It was well I guess it was like a root of a tree made out of crystal, and there was a hologram of Applejack standing beside it."

"Huh, but Applejack's in Appleloosa, and she's a pony, not a hologram. Maybe she has a hologram twin sister? Does she have a name? Does she like parties? Why have I never heard of her? Is it a conspiracy?”

“Pinkie let him finish his story.” Rarity insisted, grabbing her by the shoulder. “Please continue Spike.”

“Thank Celestia Pinkie didn’t get the power,” Spike mumbled to himself, too quietly for the others to hear. “Um yes anyway well this hologram of Applejack told me it was called ‘The Root of Honesty.’”

“You think it could be connected to the Tree of Harmony?” Rainbow asked now looking very interested.

“Yep, that’s what the hologram said,” Spike admitted, twiddling his thumbs. “But that’s not why I called you all here. The hologram said that by finding the roof I would get special powers, and well it seemed to be correct.”

“Well, why are you so upset then? If you got special powers that sounds awesome.” Rainbow said snickering at Spike’s timidity. “Or are you feeling guilty that you totally stole Applejack’s power?”

“Rainbow Dash.” Rarity shrieked her voice one of righteous anger, storming up from her chair and jabbing a finger into her friend’s chest. “How dare you accuse Spikey like that? He is a noble drake and would never do anything of the sort.”

“Jeez calm down Rarity it was a joke,” Rainbow replied, raising her hands in surrender. “But you have to admit it makes sense. It’s the Root of Honesty and Applejack’s the Element of Honesty.”

“Huh, I never really thought of that,” Spike admitted scratching the back of his head.

“So Spike what is this new power? Can you fly? Neeeow. “Or can you shoot lasers? Pew pew pew. Or can you turn people to stone? Zzzrg.” Pinkie suggested rapidly, miming the motions for each of her powers.

“Actually it’s a bit different than that. You see whenever I ask a yes or no question then the answer always becomes yes.” Spike explained. “Even if reality itself must bend to make it so. So with those gems Rarity, I just asked if the bag was filled with super rare gems.”

Fluttershy was in awe, she didn’t think such a thing was possible. Neither did their friends though they were sceptical rather than in awe. Rainbow was having none of it and burst out laughing. “Yeah okay, you really had us going there… I mean… wait you’re serious?”

“I mean I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t Rainbow,” Spike said and all the girls went quiet.

“Wait you mean to say you could change anything? Anything at all?” Rainbow asked her voice in disbelief.

“Well yeah, but you wouldn’t notice unless I specifically ask if you would,” Spike explained twiddling her thumbs. “So will you all notice the next change I make?”

Their eyes all drifted to each other, as Spike prepared to make a change. “Um, what should I change?”

“Oh oh.” Pinkie squealed jumping up and around the room with an eager smile. “Make it so I can shoot confetti out of my hands.”

“Err why?” Spike gasped, backing away as Pinkie got close to his personal space.

“Because then I’ll be able to shoot confetti out of my hands,” Pinkie replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Can Pinkie shoot confetti out of her hands?” Spike asked in defeat, and soon Pinkie was shooting ribbons of confetti out of her hands.

“Wow, it really worked. POW! POW! POW!” Pinkie giggled, much to the astonishment of her friends. As Pinkie played with her new power, Fluttershy saw Rainbow’s mouth drop to the floor, but she found herself quite surprised by Twilight’s and Rarity’s reactions. The former had adopted a worried calculating look, one that implied she was frustrated with Spike for some reason and Rarity seemed at war with herself. Her face clashed between worry brought by shame and sinful greed.

‘Then again’ Fluttershy thought to herself. ‘Rarity has told me of her crush on Spike. Perhaps she’s thinking of certain acts. Oh! Bad girl Fluttershy suspecting your friends of such tomfoolery.’

“But wait a minute,” Rainbow added, her face becoming one of childish giddiness. "If that's the 'Root of Honesty' then shouldn't there be one for the other elements?"

"Yeah, that’s why I called you all here. I sent a letter to Celestia, and this is her reply." Spike explained, placing the letter in his hand on the table. The five ponies gathered around the letter and read the letter from their serene monarch.

Dear Spike,

The news you have sent me regarding this 'Root of Honesty' is of some great concern to me and requires great attention. The power you now wield is of course great and must be handled responsibly. It would be wise to avoid making any great changes that could have unforeseen consequences but I believe you've already considered this and acted wisely. I would recommend that you inform your friends so they can support and aid you, as trying to keep this power a secret and handling it yourself will only be overwhelming. If there is any dragon I would trust with this power it would be you. You've proven yourself a great and noble dragon and your willingness to step down as dragon lord proves you can handle this power responsibly.

But I would like to draw your attention to a fact you may have overlooked. As this is the Root of Honesty, and connected to the Tree of Harmony it stands to reason that they'd be similar roots or something similar for Generosity, Magic, Kindness, Laughter and Loyalty. Whilst you are sure to not **** this power, others might not be so selfless, gather your friends and find these other powers and secure them before others might find them. I shudder to think of what might happen if a similar power to yours falls into the wrong hands.

Keep in touch.

Yours Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

"Welp. You heard the Princess ladies." Rainbow said, placing two hands on her hips and standing on the table as if she was a superhero. "Gear up. We got to find these other roots stat, we'll go in teams of two. Dibs on the loyalty root."

"Who put you in charge?" Twilight asked frowning in indignation.

"Well, do you have a better plan?" Rainbow asked and Twilight sighed.

Rubbing her hands together nervously Fluttershy spoke up. “Technically Princess Celestia only said to secure the other roots so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“Shh. Fluttershy I want superpowers.” Rainbow said sharply, placing a finger on her lips.

“Oh, you said teams of two right? Well, I’ve got the hat.” Pinkie exclaimed before brandishing a top hat from who knows where and sprinkling pieces of paper into the hat with all their names. “I’ll pull out two names at a time and those two ponies will go together and we’ll find the roots. Got it?”

The other ponies and dragon nodded in agreement as Pinkie reached into the hat. "The first pair will be"

A/N: AND… it’s a tie. Well, here it works out well as I can easily combine the two options here it works out fine. But in the future, I’ll just have to act as a tiebreaker if the two ideas can’t be combined. Anyway suggestions are welcome, which will mean that I’ll commit to what each of the roots will do. I have some ideas for these already, and some great suggestions have already been given:

Magic: The wielder of this power can master any magic by just observing it once, even magic they shouldn't be able to use (like a unicorn using pegasus magic). With none of the side effects that would be expected of that power and can do so even better than those, they learned it from.

Generosity: People would be willing to give the owner whatever they want to absurd degrees of their generosity, even none physical things like 'bust size' or their skills. The wielder can also do this in reverse if they choose.

Loyalty: Those who trust the wielder become fanatical in their loyalty and obey them no matter what they request.

Laughter: A sort of normality effect, that allows one to do anything as it will be laughed off.

Kindness: Similar to laughter, but any act that is meant for someone else's benefit will never be questioned, and others will always aid them.

By the way, I've dropped the rule of one power per pony. But I'm still not giving all the power to Spike or any one pony. Also, it doesn't have to be the mane six or even a member of the harem who gets these powers. And though I didn't mention it in the previous chapter Starlight and Cadence will both be going on the mission.