The Root of Honesty, of course.

Isaac got up to his feet, his eyes fixated the whole time on the glowing... branch of sorts at the end of the room. So much so that it took him a while to realize that the ground he had landed on, was now stepping on, was all crystal, not mere dirt and rocks. A crystal cave, with a long crystal "branch" sticking down from the ceiling, the end of it glowing with mystical orange light.

"What the heck is this...?" Isaac murmured to himself.

"The Root of Honesty."

"GYUHUH!" Isaac whipped around in a massive flinch at the voice that had manifested right behind him. Just a foot away from his own face was the smiling pony-woman face of... the ghost of Applejack?

It was Applejack, through and through - Stetson, blonde ponytails, freckles, green eyes, flannel and denim clothing, big sturdy boots, muscular physique, well-fed country girl curves, wide applebucking hips - but also... not. She was transparent and faintly glowing, and looking at him with a pleasant but placid expression that had an almost machine-like patience to it, never blinking, just watching him - no, monitoring him.

"A-Applejack...?" the human asked tentatively.

The ghostly figure closed her eyes and shook her head in a very precise manner, but said nothing more by way of explanation or exposition.

Isaac lowered his hunched-up shoulders, since he appeared to be in no immediate danger. He looked back at the orange-glowing branch and then at the Applejack hologram once again. Even in this moment, his eyes couldn't help darting down to the earth pony mare's chest, ample enough to bury his face in... Isaac swallowed hard and fought to keep eye contact, focus on the immediate issue. "What's this Root of Honesty, then?"

"For there to be Honesty," the hologram replied precisely, "there must be Truth. For every basic question, there must be a Yes and a No. It is how reality defines what Is and what Isn't."

Isaac tilted his head. "That's... vague."

"The Root of Honesty is the container an' conduit of Truth and Honesty in this universe," the hologram elaborated, some of Applejack's accent slipping in. "Cultivated an' protected by the Tree of Harmony at the start of existence. But it has gone too long without a holder, a wielder, to define what Truth is."

On some level, Isaac understood what all of these words meant. He was partially college educated and had a background as a writer, after all. But he was clearly missing some context clues. "I thought you- er, Applejack was the bearer of the Element of Honesty."

Once again, the Applejack hologram closed her eyes and shook her head very simplistically, in sequence. "The Harmony Bearer emblemizes the value of Honesty in the power of Friendship. The Root of Honesty determines what is Honest. They are not the same."

Isaac felt like he was running down a video game dialogue tree. "Okayyy... How does the Root 'determine' honesty and truth?"

"That is up to the holder to decide." A frustratingly short answer followed by patient silence, those green eyes just staring back at him.

"Gah, I'm just trying to understand what I've stumbled into here," Isaac groaned, rubbing his forehead. He gestured back at the branch, the 'Root.' "Is that the Root? It's just sitting there, attached to a crystal tree. How is it deciding truth right now?"

"You are correct, that is the Root. Right now, it is doing nothing. The first person to touch it will become the holder of the Root of Honesty's power, and be able to determine the Honest Truth of this world."

Finally, Isaac felt like they'd grazed off the side of important information. He slowly lowered his gesturing arm as it sunk in. "Determine... truth? How so?"

"When the holder of the Root of Honesty asks a basic Yes or No question, the answer will always be Yes." The hologram kept on answering him in that same flat, patient tone, smiling pleasantly with Applejack's face no matter what she was saying.

"But... what if it's wrong?"

"It will never be wrong. Honesty and Truth will change to fit. If it was wrong before, it will be right after."

Isaac started to sweat a little. This was beginning to sound like a power fantasy scenario from various stories he'd read. But a lot of those stories were also cautionary tales about hubris. He had questions. Many questions. And they were all assuming that what he was hearing was even real and not just a hallucination from a terminally deadly fall. He pinched his arm. It hurt. Still awake and real.

"So... what's the limit? What can't be changed?"

"Nothing. All Truths of this world become malleable to the holder. From the personal to the grand."

"But like, what if I- they try to do something physically impossible?"

"Then the Truths of physical reality will adjust."

"...Is it EVERY question that triggers this?"

"Only basic Yes or No questions. Truth is sometimes more complex than Yes or No, so questions with longer answers will not overwrite Truth."

"Does someone have to hear it, or can you just ask, like, a mirror or an empty room?"

"The universe and all of reality are always listening."

"Sooo that's the latter. Can it be... y'know, turned off?"

"Only by changing the Truths of the Root of Harmony itself, which is not advised."

"Okayyy... But, I mean... this is reality changing we're talking about, right? Will anyone else notice or remember the changes?"

"The Root of Harmony is a tool for determining the Truths of reality. Time and History are among many of those malleable Truths. Every other living thing will immediately abide by those Truths. Only the holder has the ability and responsibility of knowing what alternate, obsolete Truths came before."

Isaac rubbed his forehead some more. The word 'truth' was getting close to sounding fake. And this magitek-robotic Applejack was starting to freak him out a little. "But... Okay, so reality changes when the holder asks a Yes or No question. What shapes that change? Does it come down to the wording of the question, or does the intent of the wielder speaking it determine it?"

"Depends on the question."

Isaac facepalmed. "Fuuuuuuck, okay. Um. What about repeats and overwrites? Can the holder change the same truth twice, or is it one and done?"

"To the holder of the Root of Harmony, all Truths are malleable, and can be changed as many times as required."

After a few seconds of silence, all he could do was fix the hologram with an incredulous look. "And you're just... gonna let the first guy to stumble into this amazing power just... have it?"

Despite being placid and peaceful all this time, the hologram narrowed its eyes a little and focused more squarely on Isaac, which made him flinch a little again. "The Root needs a holder. It cannot languish for much longer, or all Truth will begin to unravel." Then her semi-serious expression reverted to that peaceful patience again. "It is not my role to judge. Only to make sure the holder understands the importance of the power they wield."

The hologram finished answering and fell silent again, just like all the times before, and Isaac was left to ponder in the silence of the crystal cave. He ended up staring at the glowing orange Root, tension rising in his body as he considered whether he was going to actually do what he was thinking of doing...

"So... how does somebody become the holder?"

"Just touch the Root, and the power will be marked on your existence."

"Can it be taken away or removed?"

"Only by the holder's own will, and only with clear, determined intent."

"Is there a time limit? How long does it last?"

"Until the holder willingly relinquishes it, or until the holder's soul fades into nothingness."

"So... wait, does that mean 'beyond ****'?"

"Yes."

Isaac put a hand on his damp brow. "Geez, fuckin'..." he muttered under his breath. This was heavy. Potent, exciting, powerful, but heavy. If he was to believe everything he'd just heard, touching this Root would essentially make him a God in this world, with practically no one able to stop him. It was irresponsible, downright evil, to want that.

And yet... A month ago, Isaac lost everything he'd ever known. He'd spent week after week being quietly shunned by his new community. He was on an alien planet with no way home and nothing to his name but the clothes on his back. What was he supposed to live for now?

Maybe... Maybe with this Root of Honesty, he could make a new purpose for himself. Finally achieve the life of comfort he'd failed to earn back home.

And if there was truly something this powerful just laying around, he damn well preferred himself having it than whatever total stranger fell down into this cave next time.

Isaac reached out and grasped the Root of Honesty.