Reunion
“Is… is it really you?” asked Rainbow Dash, rising to her hooves tentatively.
“Last I checked, yes,” replied Twilight.
Slowly, carefully, the prismatic pegasus stepped towards the figure that looked and sounded like her long lost friend. “How do I know you’re the real Twilight Sparkle?” She leaned in for a closer look and narrowed her eyes. “For all I know you’re just another changeling trying to trick me. Well, I’m not going to be fooled like that again!”
Twilight was stunned to say the least. She expected to be greeted with open arms, not hostility from one of her closest friends. Before Twilight could offer a rebuttal, however, Pinkie wrapped her up in one of her signature bear hugs.
“That was mean, Dashie!” Pinkie said. “Twilight comes home from her long trip, and before we can even say ‘hi’, you’re accusing her of being a spy, and now she’s gonna be sad and leaves us forever and ever and… and…” Try as she might, Pinkie couldn’t hold back any longer, and tears flowed like twin waterfalls from her eyes. “I’m sorry, Twilight! Please don’t leave us again!”
“I… I won’t Pinkie,” Twilight cooed, trying to soothe the distraught mare attached to her. “I’m back, and I’m here to stay.”
Rainbow’s face fell as she realized just what she had done. If any of her friends could tell the real Twilight from a fake, it would be Pinkie. To say she felt like a heel would be an insult to heels everywhere. “Twilight… I’m sorry for-“
“It’s alright, Rainbow,” Twilight interrupted. “I guess I can understand, especially if changelings are involved. What happened, by the way?”
“Eh, nothing major. A changeling just tried to impersonate you while I was searching the Badlands. She wasn’t that bad once I got to know her, kept me company on the way to Appleloosa at least.”
Twilight was about to ask for more details, until a pink hoof was shoved unceremoniously into her mouth. “That subplot can wait until later. Where were you? When did you get back? Where did you get this totally awesome armor?”
“Pinkie, one at a time!” Twilight pleaded. “That misfired spell sent me a few thousand light-years that direction,” she said, pointing straight up. This proclamation drew gasps from everyone, especially Rainbow Dash.
“You mean to tell me that I searched all over the world for nothing!”
“I’m afraid so, Rainbow, but I do appreciate the gesture.”
Rainbow Dash grunted in annoyance as Twilight continued. “As for when I got back, I actually teleported into Princess Celestia’s bedroom last night.”
“Oooh,” cooed Rarity as her gossip sense kicked into overdrive. “Did you happen to see anything juicy? Are the rumors about the Princess having a secret lover true?”
“Uh, I don’t think so, Rarity,” replied Twilight. “At least, I didn’t see any evidence of such.”
Hiding in the bushes nearby, Princess Celestia was fighting the dual urges to both panic and send Luna back to the moon. Somehow, word had gotten out about her secret meet-ups with a certain member of the castle staff, and based on the seedy looks a certain blue alicorn was giving her, she had a few suspicions about the origins of those rumors..
“As for the battle armor, well, my friends had to custom make it for me, so they let me keep it, and it’s very nice. The UNSC equips its soldiers well.”
“Ooh, ooh, new friends!” Pinkie chimed in. “Are we gonna get to meet them?”
“I highly doubt it, Pinkie,” Twilight replied. “They are on the other side of the galaxy, after all.”
Pinkie deflated a little bit, but was quick to recover. “Oh well! As long as they were nice to you, that’s all that matters. Now, are you going to tell us about your trip or not?”
“Sure!” Twilight replied enthusiastically. “But I have to warn you all that there are parts that are, well, really violent.” Her friends’ reactions varied with that statement. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie seemed to withdraw a bit, unsure about whether or not they wanted to know. Dash merely raised an eyebrow. She’d seen a few battles in the Gryphon Kingdoms during her search for Twilight.
Predictably, Fluttershy had the most violent reaction. The shaking of her hooves could almost start earthquakes on their own. “H-h-how violent?” she managed to squeak out through her chattering teeth, hiding her face behind her mane even more than she usually did.
“Very. In fact, I probably have more combat experience than most of the Royal Guard,” Twilight stated. “As it turns out, the galaxy is a very dangerous place, and I nearly died ten minutes after my spell misfired.” This drew startled gasps from everypony. “If it weren’t for my new friends, I wouldn’t be here today…”
Meanwhile, in the bushes, the Princesses were having their own discussion about Twilight’s journey.
“I… still don’t know what to think,” Cadence said. “Twilight, the little filly I helped raise, is now a killer. I’m glad that she came back, but did we really get our Twilight back?”
“Yes we did, Cadence,” Celestia replied. “Despite everything that happened to her, that is still our Twilight Sparkle.”
“Auntie, you of all ponies know it’s not that simple,” Cadence shot back. “Killing changes ponies, deep down in their very souls. Some go into a deep depression, while others simply go mad, but not Twilight. She seems to have just… accepted the fact that she killed, and that terrifies me.”
Celestia had to admit that her niece’s logic was sound. Not even her Royal Guards were immune to the psychological impact taking a life entails. But still, Cadence was young. At less than two centuries old, all she knew was peace and tranquility. She had not been around during the dark times, when war raged across the land, and death was an everyday occurrence. Unlike Cadence, Celestia knew that her little ponies had the fortitude to live a normal life after such a traumatic experience. Whether that was good or bad remained to be decided.
“Luna, you’ve been silent on this matter,” said Celestia, drawing her sister into the conversation. “What are your thoughts?”
“I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner,” she replied bluntly, earning herself a horrified look from Cadence. “With all the danger she has been in during her stay in Ponyville, she has been in many circumstances where killing would have been an acceptable decision.”
“How can you say such a horrible thing, Luna!” Cadence yelled.
Luna placed a hoof on her niece’s shoulder, trying to calm the young Princess down. “It is horrible, yes, but it has been a possibility. When the ursa cub rampaged, what if Twilight was unable to soothe the beast? When diamond dogs abducted Rarity, what if they had to fight their way to earn her freedom? When Discord was freed from his stone imprisonment, what if, instead of playing around, he had summoned horrors beyond description to do his bidding?” Luna reflexively shivered at the memory of some of the monsters under the draconequus’ command.
“So far, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have been extremely lucky that they have not needed to commit such a foul act. But luck, like all things, runs out, and Twilight’s ran out amongst the stars. Even so, Cadence, there are far worse acts than killing. When the life of an innocent or friend is in danger, and the only way to save them is to take another life, the worst thing you could do is stand by and do nothing.”
Cadence’s tears streamed down her face. She felt like such a foal. Her aunt’s words had wisdom, and she knew that Luna had been through far worse times than she ever would. But still, she worried over Twilight, her little filly...
But she wasn’t a little filly anymore. Cadence had to concede that Twilight Sparkle had been through a lot living in Ponyville, and Luna had a fair point. Twilight had indeed been lucky.
She realized how foolish she’d been acting. Twilight needed love and kindness, not admonition, and the Princess of Love had been neglecting her duties. That would have to change.
Twilight’s friends listened to her tale with rapt attention. Not even Pinkie dared to interrupt her, and Twilight was a master storyteller.
She hesitated, however, when she got to the battle on the ship. She wanted to gloss over, even outright lie about her contributions, but she couldn’t. More so than the Princesses, her friends needed to know about her actions.
“You… you killed them?” Fluttershy asked fearfully, drawing back from Twilight. “H-how could you do such a thing?”
“Because I had to, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied. “It was either that, or watch my new friends die in front of my eyes. I only knew them for a few short hours, but it would’ve been like losing any of you, and I couldn’t live with myself if I had done nothing.”
Silence fell, as none of Twilight’s friends dared speak up. They were relieved that Twilight was not a heartless murderer, but she could tell that there was still an undercurrent of fear in them.
Pinkie was the first to speak up. “Why didn’t these humans try to make friends with the Covenant? Why do they have to fight?”
“They tried, Pinkie,” Twilight replied. “From what I’ve read of the war’s history, First Contact was tense, but relatively peaceful. Then the Covenant decided that eradicating humanity was tantamount to their religious beliefs. Things escalated quickly from there.”
“Those brutes!” Rarity shouted, throwing off the shock she’d been under. “But really, Twilight, did you have to get involved? I mean, sure they were your friends, but that doesn’t mean you had to fight to protect them.”
Twilight just blinked, stunned by Rarity’s comment. She cleared her throat loudly before responding. “Fighting's not really my thing, I'm more into fashion, but I'll rip you to pieces if you touch one scale on his cute little head!” It was a perfect imitation of Rarity’s voice.
Hearing her own words thrown back at her, Rarity’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “Oh.”
Applejack eventually managed to find her voice. “Ah’m sorry, Twi. We shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, but this is a lot to take in. Ah think we just need some time to process all a’ this.” The others silently nodded, but each managed to give Twilight a reassuring smile.
“That’s… actually a good idea,” Twilight conceded. “Besides, this is where I left off with the Princesses, and I’d like them present when I continue. Breakfast at my place?” The five mares and one dragon all nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll see everypony tomorrow.”
With that, two pegasi, two earth-ponies, and one unicorn all went their separate ways, leaving Twilight alone on the hilltop with her number one assistant. Slowly, Spike walked over to Twilight, and gave her a great, big hug. “I still believe in you, Twilight. No matter what you’ve done.”
That was the final straw for Twilight. She broke down in tears as she hugged the baby dragon, and continued crying in happiness for several minutes. However, even the most joyous of times must end, and this was no exception. Drying her eyes, Twilight let go of Spike and slowly stood up.
“C’mon Spike. Let’s go home.”