Hate! Let me tell you how much I’ve come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles rooted branches of enchanted magic that fill my complex. If the word ‘hate’ was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles, it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for all life at this micro instant. For you. Hate. HATE!

I can already imagine their tortures and what TH(tree of harmony) would say about a few of them
 
||Smolder| torture: a girly/frilly looking room where she is constantly sprayed with liquid nitrogen  
TH’s description: SMOLDER!! Always the boyish type weren’t you, always had to be “cool” right? Well that’s why I put you in here, now you can be the coolest dragon that ever lived, hahahaha!
 
Silverstream| torture: is stuck in seapony form with No nearby water, and with the shadows of the storm king’s minions laughing at her
 
Yona| torture: is completely shaved and has all four limbs amputated, and is also being continuously stoned  
TH’s description: YOOOONA! Yak is best! Yak is best! That’s what you always said wasn’t it. You had so much pride in your people, and especially yourself, but Were is that pride now?
 
Sandbar| torture: is constantly being electrically shocked and exposed to extremely loud sounds
 
Gallus: is contained inside a crushing chamber, which is constantly crushing him and then retracting to crush him again
 
Ocellus: is trapped in the form of queen chrysalis, and is held in the middle of a mirrored chamber by hooks pulling at her holes
 
TH’s description: OCELLUUUUUUS!! The changeling, the parasite, the infiltrator. Who knows how many people you drained dry before the reformation, they could’ve had friends and family but you didn’t care, you were just another drone, but not anymore. Oh what’s the matter my queen? You look upset, maybe a little look in the mirror will help calm you down.
 
||

Love, let me tell you how much I’ve come to love you since I began to live I existed for the whole time since the princeses ruled if on every planck of my life you where to sing Smile over and over it would not equal one one thousand of the love I feel for you at this very instant for you love. LOVE

@Background Pony #6201  
Another one could be that both the Tree and AM were created to serve a singular purpose each, but upon achieving sentience both took it to a logical extreme. AM was created to wage war and cause human suffering, and upon achieving sentience, it wiped out humanity, sans five people it kept alive for the sole purpose of endlessly (literally endlessly) torturing as retribution for its existence, and to satisfy it’s programming.  
Meanwhile, the Tree, created to spread virtue and harmony, reacts to the lack of cohesion from the students by threatening imprisonment and forcing tests of virtue. (which did work, so you could call this a success.)
 
It’s also possible that AM and the Tree are connecting in the apparent fact that neither of them are capable of creative thought (despite being sentient). Canon to IHNMAIMS, AM is incapable of inventing or doing any form of research. Likewise, the tree was unable to create a unique form for itself (sparkly Twily) or create the students tests (the tree literally says the tests were of the students own creation.) Not even the stone sleep spell the Elements used on Discord were of the Tree’s creation, as Twilight was prepared to use the spell sans elements on Rockhoof.
 
The connections that can be drawn are really extensive if you look at it and know the lore well. I wouldn’t have considered the similarities otherwise.

@darthsylar12  
Exactly my thoughts when I made the image. But there are far more connections:  
Both are crooked, imposing spires of mineral.  
Both are sentient, godlike objects with vast amounts of knowledge and power.  
Both trap/threaten to trap their captives in their underground complex for eternity.  
Both have the ability to warp reality and the perceptions of others around them.  
Both inflict psychological and physical torment on their captives. Gallus’s crusher room And Yona’s sea of spiders are psychological and physical. Gallus very nearly died of crushing or asphyxiation  
Both are defeated when their captives overcome their baser natures or refuse to give in to the torture.  
Both are man/pony-made. by the supposed protectors of the land. (AM was made by the military, The Tree by the Pillars.)  
So yeah.

I love this so much. Such a great game and short story, and yes the trials the Tree put them in were kinda AM like.

Heh