Grieving
I only own my OC's and the plot of this story. Everything else belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Enjoy!
The Adventures of the Elementals
Chapter 34: Grieving
A week had gone by in Equestria since the dreadful day of the exploding airship. The news spread like wildfire from one edge of the country to the other. The reaction was pretty much what was anticipated. Very few were saddened, most other cities like Manehatten or Applewood didn't really care because they had no idea who the Alamantians were in the first place, and as for the majority of Canterlot, they smiled at the news, happy they were gone. Some of its residents, such as Octavia, Shining Armor, and the princesses, were disgusted by that.
Of course, Ponyville was the one town who was inflicted with a heavy dose of despair and bereft once word got to them.
Once Applejack returned home and told her family the news, they were heartbroken. Applebloom couldn't stop crying for losing her friend, Big Mac was more silent than usual, and Granny Smith wasn't very chipper at all, which was a very rare thing for her. She did ask Applejack if she was alright. The orange mare said nothing and turned around to go back to work on the farm. Seven days straight and she had barely said a word. Her face was emotionless and deadpan the entire time. It was obvious to everyone what she was attempting to do.
The speed and attitude Rainbow Dash was so renowned for had vanished all but completely. Her fellow pegasi on the weather force had noticed a considerable drop in productivity on her end when it came to doing her job. She was slow, not very motivated, and she hardly yelled at anypony like she used to. Even the lazy stallion, Thunderlane was getting off easy with her. Everypony in the weather team had seen the headlines so they didn't dare ask her what was up. Because there was one thing the ponies of the weather team knew. If Rainbow Dash wasn't going fast, something very bad happened.
Pinkie Pie was the one who showed her emotions the most. Her dim coat and flat mane were a sign to everypony that something terrible had happened. She had lost someone close to her. The last time she had shown this kind of behavior was when she was under the impression that her friends didn't want to be her friends anymore. The Cakes could barely get a word out of her. She only ever came down from her room to eat dinner and even then she kept completely silent and ate slower than the rest of them. By the time the Cakes were done with their meal, Pinkie wasn't even halfway there yet. Those facts was barely even scraping the surface on the list of things different about her.
Breaking the news to Bobo was probably one of the most difficult things Rarity ever thought she would have to do in her life. Of course, the giant clam was devastated by the loss of his best friend in the world and hardly ever spoke anymore. Then came Sweetie Belle. It wasn't surprising that Sweetie was shocked and saddened by the news but the degree of how sad she was DID shock her a bit. When she asked the filly why she was that sad, Sweetie told her a new fact that Rarity had been oblivious to in the entire time Agua had been living in the house with them. Sweetie Belle of course would often go crusading with her friends and once a day sometimes more, they always ended up back at the boutique in search of the water mover asking him to heal their wounds so they could go on crusading. Even if he was in the middle of doing something else, he always took time for them to make sure they were okay. Once again, Rarity was surprised by the level of nice Agua could be even though his exterior clearly was that of a jerk. If anything though, it only made her feel worse about him being dead.
Fluttershy was of course known for being quiet but now just hearing her speak a single syllable seemed rare. She only ever came out of her house if she needed to buy groceries for herself or her animal friends. Being outside most of the time wasn't a huge help for her. Whenever she felt a breeze pass against her body, she would always begin to slightly hope that maybe, just maybe, it was Typhoon conjuring it up trying to signal her. Every time she turned her body to check, the pink pegasus she had grown to care for like an adoptive sister was never there to be seen. All the animals under her care had grown to feel sad as well even though they didn't know what they were sad about. Fluttershy's own grief was just starting to rub off on them. Even on Angel bunny who now spent every waking minute by her side trying to make her smile like doing a little dance or something. The butter cream mare would just simply nod, and give a small compliment to the rabbit. But that was it.
As for Twilight, the first thing she did when she arrived back to the library was put a sign on the door that read in all capital letters, "CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE". The windows and doors were all shut, barely any light was allowed to shine through the cracks. Then she locked herself inside her bedroom and refused to come out. That left Spike in charge of the household chores on his own. He saw the same thing but that didn't stop him from attending to everything Twilight needed whether she asked for it or not. He went shopping for food, cleaned the entire house, cooked all of Twilight's meals for her, and so much more. Twilight didn't lift a single hoof to assist him. She had completely sealed herself inside her house away from the rest of the world. Not only was she sad about Pyro, she was fuming mad at Princess Celestia. She had tried to send Twilight a few letters in an attempt to communicate but there was never a response written. Twilight would just throw the letters into her lit fireplace and let them burn as if she never got them.
It was one of the toughest time periods the harmony bearers ever had the displeasure of going through. There were others feeling grief. Such as Rose from the flower shop who cried a bit after learning of their demise. Specifically about Pyro though. The Cake family had to put on smiles for their customers but everypony could tell they were fake. It was well known that Cryo lived with them during his time in Ponyville and that he got to know the Cake family very well.
Scootaloo was sad herself though it was in a slightly different fashion. She was upset over the Alamantians sure but mostly she felt bad because every single one of her closest friends were devastated and she couldn't think of a single thing to try and help them. And if that wasn't enough, the emotional turmoil she had been seeing had made its way to the schoolhouse in not only her friends. But also her teacher.
The bell for morning class to begin rang as usual calling the students into the building. Once they took their seats, Cheerilee turned around to face her class.
"Everypony take your seats and class will begin." Cheerilee said in a somber tone.
All week long the class had noticed an obvious drop in the cheeriness and pep of Cheerilee's voice as she taught them. Most of them knew why but none of them really thought it was their place to ask and confirm it.
"Miss Cheerilee? Have you been sad this past week because of the Alamantians?"
That changed when Silver Spoon asked that question. Taking a deep sigh, Cheerilee looked at the grey filly and nodded.
"Yes, Silver Spoon. I am sad about them. I got to know a few of them over the time they were here with us and it pains me to know they are gone."
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle let their heads hang down, their eyes pointed only at the wooden surface of their desks.
"And I know some of you were closer to them than I was and I can only say....I'm sorry for your loss."
The two of them looked up from their desks ever so slightly thinking that maybe this day wouldn't be as bad then the previous ones.
Then a certain pink filly wearing a metallic head ornament opened her mouth.
"I really don't see what the big deal is here. The six of them were just an accident waiting to happen with those freakish powers of theirs."
That was considered to be low on her scale of mean. But for Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, they were in no mood to hear even on slightest bit of it.
"No they weren't!" Applebloom kept her voice at a level where it couldn't be considered shouting. "The six of them helped to PREVENT accidents!"
"Do we have to keep reminding you over and over again that at their welcoming party they not only fought off those evil black ponies but also SAVED YOUR LIFE?" Sweetie Belle added in. "If it weren't for them, you wouldn't be here!"
"If they also hadn't come here in the first place, my life wouldn't have been threatened at all. We're better off without them."
Diamond was not relenting one bit. It only made the two bereft crusaders angrier and angrier. To add on, the teacher mare wasn't all that thrilled either.
"Diamond, that is quite enough on this subject." She sternly said hoping the filly would get the point.
"Miss Cheerilee, I'm just voicing my opinion here. I don't think it was the right move to even allow those six ponies to live here. Look at what's happened since they arrived. I was almost killed by a group of black shadow things, Canterlot was attacked, and most recently, a freak snowstorm in hot weather. They were nothing but trouble." Diamond explained.
"They were also the ones to put their lives on the line to stop all that or have you forgotten? They were heroes!" Scootaloo shouted at her.
"They were trouble magnets, dodo bird." Diamond added on an insult to her reply. "And now we're rid of them forever. It's probably the best thing that's happened around here in a long time." She then turned around to look at Applebloom and Sweetie Belle who were sitting next to each other. "They were just trying to use us. They were never really your friends."
"Diamond, come on. They've had enough." Even Silver Spoon was trying to stop this.
"Oh come on, Silver Spoon. What are those two wimps gonna do?"
Two blood curdling screams came from behind her as a response. The pink filly barely had time to turn around before Applebloom and Sweetie Belle tackled her out of her seat and began to wrestle on the ground.
"TAKE IT BACK!" Applebloom screamed.
"RIGHT NOW!" Sweetie Belle added.
"Get off me, blank flanks!" Diamond yelled as she struggled to move.
Applebloom was three seconds away from slugging her right across the cheek. She even raised up a hoof to do it too. Before she could let it fly, it was caught in the grasp of her teacher who was now staring at them like her eyes had knives in them. Slowly, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom got up off of Diamond Tiara and the latter regained her position on her four hooves.
"This kind of behavior is completely inexcusable." The teacher icily said. "Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, you two go home. You are suspended from school for today for fighting."
On any other day and with normal circumstances, those two fillies would have dropped to their bellies begging for Cheerilee to not go through with the sentence. However, that isn't what happened. Instead the two of them gathered their things and walked out of the schoolhouse while Scootaloo just watched them. Diamond Tiara smirked thinking she had won.
"Ha! Serves you two losers right!"
"And as for you, Diamond Tiara,"
The pink filly's ears drooped down once she got it into her head that she was about to be punished herself.
"You are suspended for the rest of this week. Not only that, but I am sending a note home with you inviting your father to come and have a talk with me. I trust that he will receive it and I will know if he doesn't."
Diamond rapidly turned her head to look at Cheerilee completely aghast by what she just heard.
"Wha...what?! You're suspending me for a week while those two just got off with one day?! But they jumped ME!"
"They may have started a physical fight but even you could see that they were already in pain from losing ponies who were close to them. To take that pain and twist it around and torment them with it....it's cruel. You egged them on. So the punishment is fair and it stands. My decision is final."
"But that isn't fair! None of this is fair!" the filly yelled.
Despite her student's raise in vocal volume, Cheerilee found no need to raise her own. All she did was keep her gaze on Diamond Tiara and make sure she knew that she wasn't letting up.
"Diamond Tiara, one week of suspension is my lowest punishment for you right now. One more outburst like that and it will be extended for another week and so on. Do I make myself clear?"
Finally, the mental note was written down in her mind. With a single nod of her head, Cheerilee turned away to write the note for her father down on a little notepad. She tore the paper off the pad and held it down to Diamond for her to grab as the filly gathered her things and began to head out the door snatching the note in her path. Before she exited to the outside, Cheerilee said one last thing.
"Remember that those six Alamantians were friends of mine as well. Try to keep that in mind the next time you decide to mouth off about them when I can hear you."
With that said and done, Diamond Tiara took off home.
When Applebloom arrived home, Applejack was in the dining room polishing the big table everypony eats at. The orchards didn't need to be worked on that day so she was helping Granny to tidy up the house. Obviously she was surprised to see her little sister home from school early. When she questioned it and got the answer, she was not at all pleased and showed the first bit of emotion in a week. The emotion in show here was obviously one of anger.
"You got suspended from school for FIGHTIN?!"
Applebloom only nodded as a response to her older sibling and then the orange mare went on.
"What in tarnation coulda POSSIBLY possessed you to do somethin' as stupid as that?! Who did ya even get in a fight with?!"
"....Diamond Tiara."
Even though broiling mad right now, Applejack wasn't at all surprised when she heard the name of the victim.
"And just what did she say about you that made ya go all plum loco on her?" she asked still growling.
"She didn't say anything about me."
This point is where Applejack began to become just a tad less angry and a bit more confused.
"So....Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo were insulted?"
"No." the filly answered.
"Well then who the hay did she mouth off about that made you wanna start hittin' her?!"
For the first time in days now, the word that Applejack was hoping she wouldn't hear for a long time came through her younger sister's lips.
"Terra."
Hearing it alone made her head explode with all sorts of feelings, mostly anger, sadness, confusion, and a whole boatload of others. Even though she was a mess inside, she still tried to keep herself as calm as she could and kept a firm expression on her face.
"What?" she asked.
"Diamond Tiara startled sayin bad things about her. Things that just weren't true. Ah...Ah got angry...so Ah jumped on her with Sweetie Belle...."
"Wait wait wait. You AND Sweetie Belle? Ah thought Diamond Tiara only said rotten things about....her."
Even after hearing it, she still didn't have the guts to say it herself. Applebloom took notice of it and sighed a little to herself before responding.
"She was sayin bad stuff about all of em. Then she turned around and shot at me and Sweetie Belle because she knew we were livin with Terra and Agua."
Applejack took a hoof to her temple and rubbed it firmly before speaking once more still sore on the subject.
"Applebloom, school is not the right place nor the right time to be havin those kinds of feelins."
The result of her words on her sister was definitely not the one Applejack was expecting. Applebloom's face went sour and eyes of anger and grief brimming with tears stared icily at the orange mare.
"Well when IS the right time, Applejack?! Tell me! Exactly what time of day should Ah be sad about a friend of ours dyin?!"
"Little missy you better watch yer tone." Applejack snapped.
"NO!" Applebloom snapped right back at her. "If watchin mah tone means Ah'm not allowed to grieve for Terra and the others, than Ah won't do it! Ah'm not gonna be like YOU!"
"What in the sam heck is that supposed mean?!"
"What do ya THINK it means? Ya think we all around here haven't noticed how you've been actin' lately? All ya do is work, work, work, then work some more! Without even so much as a single word!"
From upstairs, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were both listening into the heated argument.
"Should we get in the middle of this?" Granny Smith questioned her grandson.
"Nope." Big Mac replied as he went back to listening.
Granny agreed hoping Applebloom's yelling would somehow break through to Applejack.
"What do ya want me to do, Applebloom?! Tell me!! What do YOU think Ah should do?!" The mare shouted thinking there wouldn't be a straight answer.
After a few seconds of breathing, Applebloom, still leaking fresh tears, looked to her big sister and gave her the straight answer she, like this argument, didn't see coming.
"Cry."
Her tone dramatically softened, that was the one word Applebloom came back with. The anger in Applejack's expression nearly completely went away after hearing it.
"W-what?"
"Applejack...Terra was a good friend to everyone here...she was to me, Granny Smith,...Big Mac was kinda scared of her but she still liked him."
Big Mac just rolled his eyes and leaned his head out a little bit more.
"But...you were the closest pony to her out of all of us....and ya haven't cried once. Why?"
Applejack's mind was scrambling to find an answer that sounded logical and not at all emotionless to her sister but she was failing to accomplish it. The lock she had placed on the door to her emotions was starting to crack and her face was a clear sign of it as her eyes changed from angry and slowly grew sadder as the realization of the truth began to at last dawn on her.
"What do you want me to say, AB? That...Ah have horrible dreams at night reliving the moment Ah watched her ship blow up? That Ah...that Ah probably coulda saved her if Ah had probably dug her out faster or...heck maybe not let er get on board in the first place?!"
Applebloom easily took notice of the fresh teardrops beginning to leak from her sister's eyes and fall to the floor.
"You want me to say that Ah'm miserable?! That every time Ah even look at a rock or so much the ground itself it makes me think of her?! Well it does! She was one of mah best friends and now Ah'm never gonna see her face again! And....and...and..if I start c-c-cryin'...then Ah..might never stop! YAAAAAAAH!"
She raised her hooves and in a state of grief induced fury, she slammed them down on the dining room table and completely demolished it with one vertical strike. At first Applebloom was frightened thinking her older sister was about to go on a destructive rampage but her next actions showed her quite differently.
Applejack collapsed sobbing hysterically in a curled up ball on the ground letting the tears fall in torrents. She was finally showing her grief just as Applebloom had wanted. Like everypony wanted. Granny Smith and Big Mac hurried down the staircase and into the dining room as quickly as they could to pick up the mare into one big tight family hug as the water continued to gush from Applejack's eyes.
While all this was going on, on the other side of town at Carousel Boutique, Rarity was giving Sweetie Belle a lecture of her own. It was a lot shorter and softer than the argument Applebloom and Applejack got into. Both the girls were sad about the loss of their friend and they were both open about it. The talk ended with Sweetie Belle promising to not ever get into a fight at school again and Rarity would tell their mother and father to go easy on the filly with their punishment. After they hugged, Sweetie Belle went to go get a pouch of Bobo's food which was stored under the sink. She selected one of the many more left and walked out to the pond.
"Here's your food, Bobo." She said as she poured the pouch containing the microorganisms into the pond of the crustacean.
No movement came from the creature as usual and Sweetie just turned to walk away.
"Thanks."
For the first time in a whole week, Bobo's deep voice rang through the water of that pony-made pond causing the filly to halt in her advance to the house and turn back to the water.
"I like feeding you, Bobo. No need to say thanks." She said with a small grin.
"Not about that." The clam corrected her. "For standing up for Agua's honor. The window was open so I heard."
Sweetie Belle turned back and walked to the shoreline of the pond to chat with the pet.
"She had it coming for a while anyway." Sweetie Belle murmured. "The things she said I usually just let them slide but I was just in no mood to try and tolerate her anymore. I attacked her.....and it honestly felt...kinda good."
"Kinda sounds like something Agua would say." Bobo commented.
Sweetie Belle let out a soft giggle seeing that Bobo was right. She did sound a little like Agua right there.
"So....how's Rarity?" the clam asked.
That made the filly sigh.
"Not good. She was able to finish all the orders she had but she hasn't taken any new commissions. It's really starting to make some customers mad."
"Well...it's to be expected. Rarity and Agua may not have been the most conventional but they were friends. This is proof of it."
Sweetie Belle gave the clam a nod and stood back up.
"I'm gonna go get some of my homework done before my parents find out I got suspended."
The clam bid her farewell for now and then went back to doing his normal activity of slowly roaming around his pond habitat.
Not too far away from there, two of the ponies were unexpectedly heading towards the same place. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were going to the library for two different reasons. Fluttershy was bringing Twilight some special food for Twilight's pet owl, Owlowicious. Pinkie Pie, who still had her mane and tail as flat as a board, was just walking around as silent as she has ever been. The two of them each rounded a separate corner and ended up bumping into each other.
"Oh....hi, Fluttershy." Pinkie softly spoke.
"Hello, Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy said back in the same manner.
The two of them continued walking alongside each other unsure of what to say to each other. The only sound that was brought to their ears was the sound of their hooves clopping against the dirt road. They didn't speak because they knew how the other was feeling. Though there was one thing that was different between the two. A secret that had not been shared by one of them to any of the ponies in their circle of friends.
It was by chance that the one carrying that secret broke the ice to speak first.
"You miss her like crazy, don't you?" Pinkie said to her friend.
Fluttershy sighed before her mouth expelled actual words.
"More than I thought I would. I mean....Pinkie...you and I are the only ones who were able to actually connect our elements to them.....do you remember how it felt?"
Pinkie knew what she was talking about. Fluttershy and herself were the only ones in the circle of six who somehow brought their powers together with their partners and ended up unlocking the power of the gods. Pinkie Pie felt it and she could never get the feeling out of her head. During that snowstorm, when she and Cryo began to glow and use their newly unlocked powers to save the town from being buried in white, she felt like she could do anything at all. It wasn't just the power that made her feel that way. It was the fact that it was through her bond with Cryo that made it possible that made it what it was.
All the joy, all the laughing, every smile, every bit of fun that she and him ever had together was enough to convince Pinkie that whenever he was around, she felt nothing could stand in their way, almost like they were an invincible duo.
"I do....it was unbelievable." For the first time in a while, Pinkie was able to form the smallest smile on her face. "It felt like he and I were one pony."
Fluttershy gave the pink mare a small nod.
"That's exactly how I felt with Typhoon in Canterlot. Like her mind and body just....melded with mine like a perfect connection."
"Yeah....it was amazing....HE was amazing.....he was brave....funny.....so full of life and joy and smiles...."
Hearing Pinkie talk that made Fluttershy only realize something that made the fact of their deaths even more painful.
"Oh my goodness....Pinkie....you started to feel stronger for him....and you never....Oh Pinkie I am so so sorry...."
The pegasus latched herself to Pinkie Pie in a tight hug as the two began to softly weep again for their late friends. Fluttershy felt a tad foolish for not seeing it before. After the blizzard, Pinkie and Cryo were rarely seen apart from each other. In fact, Pinkie had gotten a lot closer with the stallion than she usually had been. She always made sure to keep him happy, smiling, laughing, and overall a happy pony. But there was always a little hint that everypony was oblivious to. Cryo was seeing Octavia and whenever she showed up on a date, Pinkie's tone turned a little less joyful. It meant one thing. Pinkie was jealous of Octavia because she had the ice mover for herself.
"Now...I'll never be able to tell him....Octavia's heartbroken.....and...." Pinkie couldn't think of anything else to say.
Fluttershy only gave her apologies to her friend over and over again unable to think of any other words to comfort her. It was only when they arrived at the library that they spoke new words. The door was knocked on by Fluttershy calling for Twilight. The unicorn was not the one who answered them. The door opened to reveal instead, her assistant with bags under his eyes, the whites were mostly red, he was breathing heavily, in simpler terms, the poor dragon looked like hell. Both mares outside the entrance took one swig of the sight and gasped.
"Spike! You look absolutely horrible! What have you been doing?!" Fluttershy rushed to his side and began to examine him completely dismissing the main reason she was there.
"I've uh...I've been busy taking care of Twilight. She needs me right now."
His voice was raspy and obviously worn from exhaustion along with the rest of his small sized body. Pinkie followed Fluttershy inside as the caretaker helped the drake over to the couch nearby and made him lie down to rest. The pegasus put a pillow under his head, a blanket over his body, and got him a glass of water to go along with it.
"Here. Drink up." She commanded.
The glass tilted up and Spike didn't stop drinking the water from the glass until every last drop was completely gone. The water did its work for what little it could do and eased the soreness and dryness in his throat so the rasp in his voice was just a tad gone.
"Spike...why are you doing this?" Pinkie softly asked him. "Do you even sleep at night?"
"Sometimes....most of the time I stay awake until Twilight falls asleep. Then I rest for a bit before she wakes up again, then it's back to it."
"You just tend to Twilight for hours on end, without taking a break?" Fluttershy was appalled. "Spike, you can't do that!"
"Spike can't do what?"
Twilight was coming downstairs from her bedroom, her view of Spike blocked by the back of the couch. But she clearly saw Fluttershy staring daggers at her and a depressed Pinkie glancing back at forth between the purple dragon and the purple unicorn descending the staircase. Twilight had a similar look on her similar to Spike's. Unkempt. Once she neared the other two ponies in the room, they were able to notice an odor coming from her, clearly showing she had not bathed in days.
Once Twilight got around the couch and saw who was on it, along with the state he was in, she gasped like Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie did and stepped back.
"Spike....what have you....."
Fluttershy was about ready to chew Twilight out for not noticing all week long what Spike's health had been. Pinkie Pie however, saw this as more of a private conversation to be had and went out the door taking Fluttershy with her.
The door closed, it was now just Twilight, Spike, and Owlowicious who was now pecking at the bag of food left there by Fluttershy. The unicorn took a step closer to her companion to get a better look at him.
"Spike...."
"You don't have to say anything, Twilight. It's okay....I've been okay."
"Have you looked at yourself?!" the unicorn cried. "You're NOT okay! You're exhausted, hungry, and worn, Spike! You're not well at all. You need to rest."
"I can't."
Everypony knew Spike the dragon took his duties seriously but this was the most serious he's ever seemed in his entire life. Usually whenever he's beat and tired he just complains about going to bed. Now it's a total flip of that.
"What do you mean you can't? Spike you need to get your energy back. You can't do that while still working."
"I need to take care of you."
"No you don't! Why are you saying this?!"
"Because I told him I would! Remember?!"
Twilight's attitude changed to stumped.
"W....what do you mean....you told him you would?"
All week, Spike had to endure hearing the heartbreaking sound of Twilight crying over the loss of the red stallion. Now it was Spike's turn to have tears in his eyes as he looked up at her to explain.
"The day he left, right before he got on the ship, don't you remember what he and I said to each other? He asked me to take care of you and I promised him I would. I have to keep my promise, Twilight. I have to. Pyro was an honorable pony. You and I both know that. I...I need to honor the promise I made to him. I....didn't exactly say it...but I gave him....my...word of honor."
Those three words. Just like that, the image of his dark red face briefly replaced Spike's as the words echoed in her head constantly reminding her of the friend she lost too early.
"Spike.....we can't do this anymore."
Twilight also knew that Spike's work meant a lot to him. However, she was able to tell when Spike was avoiding something. More so in this case because he was avoiding the same thing she was trying to avoid but epically failing at it.
"We can't just keep trying to go on with life like it never happened. We saw it happen....I held his dismembered horn in my hooves.....he's dead, Spike. All we have left of him is his voice in our heads."
The voice indeed. It never shut up in hers or the drake's mind.
"You're not the only wreck here. I'm an absolute mess....every night when I try to go to sleep I still feel like I can hear him on the roof walking around...just doing his thing. Every time I go up there to look for him, he isn't there. Of course he isn't there.
"I've just been so busy trying to keep my mind off of him and the others.....that I made a stupid mistake. I was accidentally keeping my mind off of you too, Spike.....I let you get like this...I'm so....so horrible...."
Twilight fell to her stomach and put her hooves to her eyes soaking them while Spike crawled down from the couch and hugged her as tight as he could in his weakened state.
"We'll take care of each other....we're family....." he muttered.
Her hooves wrapped around his back pulling him closer to her body into a hug. She and Spike then, together, cried for the fire mover.
While the grieving continued in Ponyville, similar feelings were being shared all the way up in the Canterlot Castle. Night had fallen onto the land once again and Celestia had retired to her quarters for the night. It was no secret to anypony that she herself was feeling a great amount of agony over the loss of not only the Alamantians' lives, but also the trust and respect of her most faithful pupil along with the other five bearers of harmony. It was to be expected. All they had been through together, the fights, the tears and blood shed, and now the six ponies were gone, stripped away from their friends for a petty reason.
Luna, like the others, mourned as well. She had missed them all dearly but there was one she favored. Agua, her student. She had looked forward to having a personal student for her own to teach and guide and way too soon he was taken away from her. All the teaching she did felt like it was for nothing now.
Raising the moon went smoothly for the night princess. After she finished she had some time to kill before her duties had to occupy her. So she headed for her sister's room. The guards posted outside allowed her in and she closed the door behind her after she went inside. Once she was in, she saw her sister lying on her bed not under the covers, her regalia completely removed and adorned on a stand neatly next to her bed.
“Sister?”
“Leave me be, Luna.” Celestia requested.
The request was denied.
“Tia, just talk to me.”
“There’s nothing for me to say. Other then you were right. Are you here to say I told you so?”
"No. I only wanted to check on you. You have not shown your face to the public or to me in quite some time."
"Are you surprised by this?" The sun princess turned her face to gaze at Luna. “All six of the element bearers have turned on me.” She said with depression. “And they have every right to. I acted with such cowardice. I was foolish enough to really believe Nightmare Moon would keep her end of the deal. Now I maybe cost us the only hope we had to survive. I should have listened to you Luna.”
“The elements of harmony are still powerful.” Luna added. “They still might be able to do it alone.”
"And what if they are not?" The solar princess snapped. "If our enemy is able to withstand the elements' power then not only am I responsible for handing over Equestria on a silver platter, but also the deaths of our six young ponies will have been in vain."
Luna released a sigh still unsure if she was to use her next words or not. But eventually they came out.
"Celestia.....this may sound cruel.....but their deaths are already in vain."
She was right. It was cruel.
"They had no reason to die. They did not die for any cause. They died because you gave into the pressure. They are dead now because you were foolish enough to believe the words that came out of Nightmare Moon's mouth."
"Are these words meant to somehow comfort me, Luna?"
"No. They are not. They are meant to carry truth. You and I both know that mistakes are the most common way of learning new lessons."
"I am aware of that. But Luna, this was a mistake that never should have been made by me in the first place. I'm so much better than that.....I learned to never give in long ago and I forgot it. It's a disgrace for me....to forget such an important fact about myself. It caused six amazing ponies to lose their lives. I can never forgive myself for that."
Luna was starting to think coming here to try and talk to her sister may not have been the wisest of moves. Bottled up inside her, she herself was still furious at Celestia for making the call to deport them in the first place. But that didn't mean she wanted to see her elder sister in so much internal agony.
"Perhaps one day, redemption shall come for you, my sister. Rest easy. I must attend to my role."
With that, Luna turned to leave. Once the door was closed, Celestia locked it and wiped away her tears and sighed somewhat as if she was relieved.
"Pretending to be sad has never been harder for me." She muttered. "I just hope when everything is set into motion, she along with the others, will come to forgive me for what I have done."
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So, either Celestia isn't grieving, or I was right in thinking that she had the Alamantians teleported out and replaced with decoys before the ship went down.
4386223
Most likely decoys... well that's what I would do if I was in her hooves.
4386249
The question then is: Were the decoys alive when the ship went down, or were they just anonymous bodies from a morgue? Or were they even real bodies?
4386262
Most likely bodies from the morgue to throw off suspicion. If an airship went up the bodies would be so mangled you wouldn't know which injuries were from before or after the wreck.
4386349
That, and it would be a simple matter to make them look like the actual Alamantians. Magic, or even dye. And maybe the corpses got burnt.
4386360
You haven't seen airship crash bodies haven't you? They generally are unrecognizable from before the crash. R101 and Hindenburg have their morgue reports saying that the only thing getting them identified was... the passenger and crew manifests... and one is made by the EXPERTS of rigid airships.
4386382
Except those were blimps, which go up in balls of hellfire. Nightmare shot the airship down. Though, admittedly, I can't remember if the airship here was suspended by a balloon or not.
4386397
Since we've seen blimp type/early airship types in the show numerous times, I assumed a fancier version of that. Whenever those things go up, they tend to turn the victims into unrecognizable hulks of bodies.
4386420
Seeing that Applejack seems to believe that she could have dug out Terra and saved her, I think in this case it's more akin to something like the Skyfire from WoW.
4386450
All the canon and practically all the fanon airships look similar to human variants... and that's actually everyone's reaction to an airship crash that they could save those inside. Airships tend to be very flammable and those flames will turn bodies into unrecognizable husks.
..I am really hoping Celestia is injured. She REALLY deserves it.
4386758
Wait until the details are fleshed out first before pointing fingers and hoping people get hurt.
That last line. What have you got "hidden in your mane" Celestia? We know for fact they didn't die but got sent elsewhere. Question is where?
…Well since Ma hasn't come down upon Celestia in a blaze of destructive fury, I assume there is something going on underneath the public eye.
Oh man the FEELS in this chapter. So sad.
Great chapter.
Can't wait for the next chapter.
4387551 I hope she will shed some light on the situation
When I noticed this had a new chapter, I had already began to feel sorrow from what happened last chapter. Then, when I was reading...
But, when I read that last line...What is Celestia planning?
4387165 At the very least, a good punch to the face....I don't like to wish harm very much, but SERIOUSLY.
4390296
That moment she's being pragmatic. She knows about NMM better than anyone and what she is capable of. She also knows that she isn't as springy as she was a thousand years ago (staying up 24/7 while doing two jobs would probably do that to you no matter what).
She's using her likely chessmaster abilities to keep up a smokescreen so NMM would be lulled to a false sense of security.
4390327 There is a point, however, that one must not cross.
In your eyes, she has not crossed it. In my eyes, she crossed it the moment she got them killed (Don't know if it is permanent or not, or if she had a plan otherwise.). She deserves, at the very least, to be shown the error of her ways in some fashion. Most likely, her own suffering. It doesn't help that she appears to be FAKING sadness..
4391467
There is a line to cross if your not dead. Stop thinking the worst until the author updates again.
4386758
Pointing out something even though it hasn't been solved yet will cost you, so just hang on and wait.
...seriously? NO one is gonna comment on the absolute evil comments of diamond tiara?... Fine, I'll say it..(ahem) DT NEEDS TO SUFFER!!!!
4398961 I hope that by the end of this story
1:All six elementals are alive and win.
2:Agua hears what DT said and gets a mighty PISSED!
Will Rainbow Dash be beating anybody up in this story?
when is the next chapter coming out?
4386450
Only time will tell if your guess on her gambit was right. And that she even somehow duped the writer on how to go about it without spoiling the story. Thus, the writer lies to us in-story.
I have spent the last year and a half waiting to read this story and with that last chapter, you made me cry and upset, and very very angry... great job on that, not many people are able to move me like that, congratulations for that achievement. I hope the next chapter is coming soon, because this is not the time and spot to end this amazing story and I want to know what the heck happens next!
Hello there,
Are you going to continue the chapters of this story?
I really enjoy them
I hope you don't mind me asking but... Will there be a new chapter coming out soon?
No pressure.