Twilight was awoken from her exhausted slumber by the sound of panicked voices. She was lying on something soft, like feathers, but earthy, like soil. The warm sunlight shone down on her from all directions. For a few dazed moments, Twilight believed that she was in a dream, or had just woken up from a dream. Her mind was wrapped in a dense fog. Something had happened, but she couldn't quite identify the source of the terrible feeling in her gut.
Through the cloud of desperate voices surrounding her frame, she could her her name. Faint, panicked, growing louder and louder as the moments passed. Echoes urging her out of the ethereal dream state she was trapped in. She began to sense the world around her more thoroughly. She could begin to make out distressed words and rushed sentences, though none of them made much sense in her dulled mind. Aliens? Destruction? No, she thought, all of that was already over. They defeated those terrible alien invaders over a month ago.
Reassured by her mind, Twilight began to drift back into her slumber. Then, she began hearing the voices of ponies she recognized. She heard Applejack's southern drawl, Rarity's sophisticated accent, Fluttershy's quiet tones, all calling her name from beyond her understanding. Her consciousness bubbled and frothed as memories flowed in a slow trickle.
She recalled a monster rising from blue fire. She felt the debilitating fear of death as the monster threatened the lives of her friends, her mentor, her kingdom, herself. She felt the pain of searing loss as the monster destroyed the lives of innocents. Anger boiled her blood.
Then, she felt the shock of surprise as the monster saved her. She watched in confusion as the very thing that she had been trying to destroy rescued them from an even more terrible fate. She felt the pang of guilt as she witnessed what she assumed to be a creature of death become a harbinger of life.
She was overwhelmed by the emotion of defeat as the monster that saved the lives of all was taken captive by the true enemy. She felt the cowardice of leaving a hero behind to a fate unimaginable. She understood why the protagonists of the thousands of books she had read in her past didn't simply stand and fight against hopeless odds, why they often fled as cowards. Yet, the hero of that moment in reality defied the fear inside him. While she ran, another creature that she assumed to be a emotionless monster fought for her when all hope was lost.
Another flash. She saw the hero, on the brink of destruction. He stared into the face of pure wickedness, perversion, and death, unblinking. He was a warrior, crafted in a time of desperate peril, refined in the fire of battle, and made into the sword that pierced the evil bodies and souls of the race so bent on the destruction of the universe. She felt the indignant rage of the Covenant as they mocked his stand against what they believed to be their greatest journey.
She felt the shock and surprise of every soul in that wretched vessel as the warrior's previous enemies rescued him from his fate. She could perceive his wonder as the very creatures he destroyed saved him from the same outcome. She could feel his heavy guilt masked as determination. The warrior, she knew, felt he had a debt to repay.
She sensed the horror of the massacre around them. Ambush after ambush resulted in death after death of close friends. Beings whom Twilight believed would remain by her through thick and thin ceased to be. Their loyalty, generosity, kindness, honesty, laughter, and magic...all silenced forever. Where was the magic of friendship during this slaughter? Had it simply abandoned them to their own demise? How could anything stand idly by while innocent souls perished far before their time?
She felt her own terror as she knew her time had come. What had she done to deserve this fate? What had any of the wonderful beings in this world done to garner this swift reclamation? Had they not saved their world time and time again from every wicked foe attempting to destroy it? Had they not spread joy into the hearts of many? Had they not built lasting friendships, brought the whole planet closer, maintained peace?
Then she felt the overwhelming wave of relief as she and her closest friends narrowly avoided their fate. Their survival was not their own doing.
Twilight thought she knew the definition of sacrifice. She had learned, perhaps, what the word meant on the surface, on the tip of the iceberg of courage. She believed that she herself had sacrificed much in the past. But no action she had ever performed, no enemy ever defeated, no friendship ever preserved...nothing matched what sacrifice truly meant. The only beings that Twilight ever saw demonstrate true sacrifice through actions were her mentor, and her once-monster.
She felt the crippling sadness of abandonment as her mentor sacrificed herself to save another. She felt deep shame in not doing the same. For in that moment, her mentor proved that she had courage.
She saw her mentor, standing in blinding fire, surrounded by wreckage and destruction. Her once pristine white coat was charred by the purple flames. Her once flowing, regal mane burned crisp as the evil vessel tore itself apart. She saw her catch sight of the warrior. His armor was punched and pierced in multiple places. His face was battered and bleeding. He was on his knees in humble subjection to his fate. Yet, on his face was an emotion neither of them expected. Joy.
She was filled again with guilt and sorrow. Why did this outsider fight for them? Why did he risk his life for beings whom had so horribly treated him time and time again?
Twilight watched as her mentor began to rush to the warrior's aid, only to be crushed by a cylindrical piece of wreckage the size of a large cart. Pinned to the ground, her bones crushed, her beloved mentor, leader, and warrior used all of the magic she had left to create a shining golden aura around the dying human. In a beautiful golden flash of light, the warrior was rescued from his fate.
Time slowed as the alien vessel finished its course. Pieces of purple and black metal fell away into the abyss, explosions erupted in showers of blue and white flames.
Twilight watched as her mentor closed her eyes in acceptance of her fate. She watched as she recounted all of her actions over her long life. Her birth, becoming a princess, establishing her kingdom, banishing her sister, becoming a mentor, being the friend that all could count on. Twilight could feel her mentor's pain and sadness overrun by the same joy experienced by Noble Six, by all heroes. At the end of her life, she was able to answer that simple, infinitely powerful question that drives us to fight for our brothers and sisters every sunless day.
"Did I help?"
Twilight watched as Princess Celestia's pained face grew peaceful. A somber smile. Then, darkness.
In the ethereal darkness, in the lonesome stillness, Twilight's remorse and sadness grew into dignified rage. What had Celestia done to deserve this? What had Noble Six done to bring this fate?
"Why! Why did this happen?" Twilight screamed into the darkness.
"What kind of justice is this? Where is the friendship?"
There was no answer from the darkness.
"Very well. If the magic of friendship won't bring justice, then I will. The lives of my friends will be repaid. The sacrifice Celestia made will not be in vain. I will not only bring the world back to what it was, but I'll make it better!"
Glistening tears streamed down from Twilight's cheeks as her words became echoes in the nothingness.
For a long moment in time, there was no light, no senses. Then, in the distance, Twilight saw a faint white speck. As time passed, it grew closer and closer, until most of her vision was overcome by pure, blindingly white light. Twilight lifted her hoof to her tearful eyes as the light became more and more stunning. Then, the light dissipated slowly away.
From where the light faded, a shimmering voice, like shining silver, spoke,
"I am proud to call you my student and my friend. Never stop being who you are."
Twilight brought her hoof away from her eyes. In front of her, floating in the black stillness, was her beloved mentor.
"Celestia..." Twilight said, her tears of sadness replaced by tears of joy.
Celestia glowed with a pure aura that surrounded her regal frame. Her white coat glistened brightly against the nothingness. Her flowing mane danced energetically. Her dazzling eyes were filled with both sadness and joy. She moved elegantly a foot away from where Twilight stood awestruck. She placed a loving, motherly hoof on her shoulder.
"I have been here for you since you were young. I've watched as you have grown into the young mare you are today. With little influence from myself, you have taken the magic of friendship across all of Equestria. You have shown the ponies of this kingdom what it truly means to be a friend. I couldn't be more proud of you."
"No matter how bleak the situation, no matter how hopeless the world around you seemed, you and your friends have come through in the end. You have faced every evil thing the universe could throw at you and come out on top every single time. I know that you can bring justice to this land again."
Celestia looked deep into her student's eyes. They were determined but fearful.
"There are times when the magic of friendship seems to vanish. I know that all too well. But one thing I know for certain is that fire is never truly extinguished. It's in you, Twilight. It's in your friends, it's in every being across every dimension of the universe. All we have to do is let it out."
"Time to wake up, Twilight."
Twilight's senses flooded back into her in a rush of feeling. She could feel the earthy soil beneath her hooves, she could sense the warm sunshine all around her, she could hear the panicked voices of her friends all around her frame. Her conscious became sharp, she remembered everything that had transpired in the past. Finally, she could open her eyes.
Yellow sunlight blinded her for a moment. As her eyes adjusted, the world slowly grew into focus. She found herself on the top of a green hillside dotted by red roses and covered in short, crisp grass. The cloudless sky above was a deep blue. Small sparrows flew overhead, chirping merrily as they went. For a moment, Twilight again wondered whether or not she was trapped in a dream.
Then she saw the expressions on the ponies' faces surrounding her. On every mare and stallion was a look of fear and panic that seemed all too familiar. That expression was most apparent on the closest to her, the Elements of Harmony.
As Twilight clumsily began to rise to her hooves, Applejack quickly grabbed hold of her, saying in a concerned southern drawl,
"Thank heavens you're awake, Twilight. We were starting to wonder if you were all right."
Twilight shook the rest of the fogginess away from her mind as a cool breeze wafted from the east. She set her face in a determined expression, saying nothing for a few moments. Her closest friends watched anxiously, pondering whether or not Twilight was truly fine. Then, while looking at nopony in particular, Twilight spoke, rather monotonously,
"Do you believe in justice?"
Her friends looked at each other with confused expressions. For a few seconds, none of them knew what to say in response. The rest of the crowd of panicked ponies stopped what they were doing to witness the odd situation. After a few moments, Rarity precariously responded,
"Of course we do, Twilight...what do you mean?"
Just then, raised voices could be heard from down the hill. Without hesitation, Twilight trotted swiftly in that direction. Still very confused, her friends followed closely, wondering both about Twilight and this recent development.
As Twilight ran down the steep, lush hillside, she saw the destruction her brother's err in judgement had brought. In the distance, perhaps a mile or two, was the crumbling ruin of Ponyville. The once proud, colorful buildings had been transformed into charred, jagged messes of stone and burning wood. Some of the outer structures had survived the initial blast, as Twilight could see. For example, Fluttershy's tree house continued to stand proudly, escaping destruction by only a few dozen feet.
Feeling again crept into her heart. The feeling of rage.
She looked up at the blue sky. The five damaged UNSC warships continued to hover above the ruins, seemingly examining what was left of the town.
As she ran, Twilight grew nearer to the ponies who had been causing the commotion. The two hundred or so Royal Guards appeared to be debating with Shining Armor, who was standing on a large brown stump in the middle of a field.
One individual unicorn, a more elderly but entirely capable sergeant in shimmering bronze armor, angrily hurled an accusation at him,
"Look at what you caused, Captain Armor! The town is completely gone!"
Many of the other Royal Guards grunted in agreement. Shining Armor stammered, replying defensively,
"What I caused? This wasn't my fault, it was those wicked warships in the sky!"
He angrily gestured towards the group of frigates with an accusatory hoof. Those Guards who agreed with this statement turned to argue with those who held a different opinion. Swiftly, the voices rose into a cacophony of jumbled sentiments and indicting statements. Arguments turned to hoof-on-hoof combat as the entire situation broke down. Unnoticed, Twilight trotted to the front of the group and pulled herself onto the stump Captain Armor had previously been standing on. She looked over the rebellious group with that same determined expression set in stone. With a chilling voice, she called over the noise of the fighting,
"Enough!"
The mock battle of the Royal Guard halted even more comically than it started. Every single pony warrior simply froze exactly in place from where they had been fighting, as if time had been entirely halted. Ponies in the middle of a strike continued to hold that exact position indefinitely while their eyes fixed on the imposing, and somewhat terrifying mare on the stump. The rest of the panicked and anxious ponies on the hillside began to trot down to where the action was taking place.
For a few awkward moments, nopony dared to say a word. Twilight continued to stare both at and away from the group, her thoughts seemingly distant from her body. Then, with icy tones that chilled the bones of the frozen soldiers, she spoke,
"Take a good look at yourselves. We have just survived not one, but two major catastrophes, and here you all are fighting like children! We are ponies of Equestria, are these the standards we hold ourselves to?"
Every voice fell completely silent. The Guard continued to remain fixed where they stood.
"You can't simply blame one pony for the calamities we have found ourselves in, because we are all to blame. We've all made mistakes over the past month, myself included. None of that matters now, what's done is done. We must look to the future if we are to survive as Equestrians."
Twilight gestured to the fleet of warships with a determined expression,
"You see those...whatever they are...I'm not sure if they're on our side, nopony is. All I know is that Noble Six, the warrior who saved all of our lives, is on board. Whether they're friendly and simply retaliated to a mistake, or evil and have come to destroy us, all our hopes rest on Noble Six, and he's trapped in there! It's up to us to give him the justice he deserves. I'm not asking you to come with me, but I for one am going to save him."
The crowd of four hundred or so stunned ponies had no reply for a few agonizingly long moments. Then, Twilight felt somepony place a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight turned to see her friends standing right next to her, their faces etched with that same determined expression she had. With her hoof still reassuringly on her shoulder, Rainbow Dash said,
"We're absolutely still your friends, Twilight, and like it or not, we'll be coming with you to that warship."
Applejack straightened her stetson hat, and said with an excited tone,
"For sure! We'll follow you to any end."
The rest of her friends nodded in agreement. Twilight smiled with reassured joy. She had forgotten over the past month just how far her friends were willing to go for her.
They all looked up at the menacing warships hanging in the sky. It was a daunting task, to say the least. Twilight's face set again in a mix of fear and determination.
"Then to any end is where we will go."