Happiness

by Protector of Light

Return

Who would have thought that the Elements of Harmony would have been so easy to find? I mean, come on, none of us had any magic at the start of this journey; now I suddenly do. Mind you, this whole situation change is a good thing, not a bad one, but completely unexpected. Logically, if someone was to get their magic back, should it not be Teresa, as Twilight is the very Element of Magic? Ah well, that’s what happened, there’s no logic to it. It really has been of aid to us. Our journey has not been without trials and tribulations, though.

There have been arguments. Spike is so protective of me that if someone says anything that might be of offense, he ends up getting into a shouting match. I’m flattered, but I hope that this will stop. I told him that if I find that there is a battle to be fought, I will fight it on my own. I don’t need a keeper. I don’t need a knight in shining armor either. I really don’t think that things are working out between he and I, even without considering the fact that back in Equestria he’s a baby dragon and I’m an adult pony. I know he will be heartbroken, but that’s just the way that it will have to be. It makes me a little sad, too. But some decisions just have to be made, and they cannot be questioned. Right?

Misery has been exceptionally quiet during our ride back to Sweet Apple Acres. I really find myself missing her company. I guess maybe it is wrong for me to give something a gender that is a figment of my imagination, but Misery is more than just that. Misery is a guiding light through the darkness that is my mind. She is always there for me no matter what, through thick or thin, good or bad. Without Misery, I never would have been able to lead us to the Elements of Harmony.

Ironic, isn’t it, that since our discovery Misery’s voice has grown weaker and weaker until it disappeared completely. I wonder whether she’s gone. And if so, I wonder if she knew what she was doing by leading me to the Elements. I wouldn’t have thought her to be selfless or self destructive. I found her to be protecting her and my best interests no matter what, not forgetting herself in the process of helping me.

Whenever I think about this, I get a little sad. She kept me company if nothing else and I miss that company. I think it cheers the others that I’ve been speaking with them more, but then again, more arguments have come up since this began. Are we going to be harmonious enough to use the Elements properly, if we can use them at all? I just don’t know.

Well, no use worrying. May as well just let these wheels roll forward, leading us back from where we came.

What have we become? Nobody will speak to anyone else, even though I try. Everybody else started arguing with each other. It was about what we should do once we are ponies again. Do we need to find the Princesses? Should we chase Trixie away for causing this whole situation in the first place? Do we throw a big party? Do we just move on with our lives as they had previously been? I was the only one without an input. And everyone else just ended up yelling. How can the Elements possibly work if we cannot get over a simple quarrel amongst ourselves? I really wish that I had someone to consult. I really don’t want to deal with this alone. I think I made things worse. Right before the argument, I had told Spike that we couldn’t be together as delicately as I could, but from how angry he is, I don’t think it was careful enough. I really did try.

And now I really am trying to get everyone back together, to get anyone to speak with me. Do they just think that I am broken and worthless as a friend? Before, I would have dispelled those thoughts. But now, I find them creeping back in. I have no idea what my friends are thinking anymore. I just know me.

I wish I wasn’t alone again. I had grown so accustomed to company that I don’t know how I can possibly deal without it again. Not even Farah will speak with me, and we were the closest back at home, other than maybe her and Rhyan. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. I don’t even know what to think anymore. Are they one and the same with their pony selves, or are they something completely different? Is this reality or is it all a dream? I can’t help but wonder. What’s real and what’s not, I just do not know.

“Good night,” I say to nobody in particular. “Sweet dreams and the like.” Nobody bothers to respond. I fight back the tears in my eyes. I just want to go home, wherever that may be.

Monsters lurk within.

We all are full of sin.

What has come has come.

The end has now begun.

Monsters or men

Humans or ponies

What are we?

We are what we are

And that is all there is.

The end has now begun

And with the setting sun

We hope we will chose

The right choice.

Don’t lose your voice,

Rarity, the beauty

Don’t lose your voice

You still have a choice

And a chance.

Your turn to dance.

“Good morning,” I say as I take my last turn at the wheel. We are almost back to Sweet Apple Acres now, just a few hours away, and the arguments still rest heavily on all of our chests. Or at least, I would assume that they are feeling as bad about the arguments as I since they haven’t said a word. Then again, I could certainly be wrong, who knows what anyone else thinks. As we settle back into the pattern of driving, I find myself compelled to say something. But I really don’t want to cause more problems than there already are. Yet, I feel as though if I don’t say something now, it will be too late. “What have we become?” I ask nobody in particular. “Best friends like us, reduced to enemies because of a little argument. Well, maybe not the smallest argument, but not anything earth shattering. How can we possibly use the magic of friendship to harness the Elements of Harmony if we are stuck in such a state?” Everybody looks at me. “And here we go again, nobody but me saying a word. Come on, people, are we really going to do this again? After all we’ve been through together, here and in Equestria, are we really going to chance loosing it all over a petty quarrel?” Everyone seems lost in thought, searching for something to say. They are preparing rebuttals, I suppose, to my statement that I so boldly put out there. Ah well, I’m prepared for what verbal abuse they through at me, no matter what it is. I’m expecting it.

Penelope is the first one to speak. “You know, Rachel, that’s just what I was thinking. I mean, friends are supposed to be there for each other. Friends have arguments and then they move on. They don’t hold resentment for hours, and generally not days. But I guess that we’re just all human now. And humans have their biggest weaknesses in their hearts. Nobody’s perfect, but we need to move on now.”

“I agree. We’ve always made it though before,” Farah says.

Teresa simply nods, a bit out of character, but we are still upset.

Rhyan sighs. “I still say that I’m right about Trixie, but I’m willing to step down since all of my friends think that she needs another chance.”

“I can see your side, too, Sugarcube, but you know my side. We forgive Trixie. It’s just a matter of if all of Ponyville will forgive her, too,” Jackie replies.

Spike says, “And I forgive all of you guys for not telling us the truth in the first place.”

I smile at the return of my friends. And from the back of the van, a pale white glow flows out of the box with the Elements. The glow is so bright that I cannot see any longer and I have to pull to the side of the road. We climb to the back of the vehicle and open the box. It is the Elements of Harmony themselves that are emitting the ethereal glow. We simultaneously touch the box, and the light glows brighter and brighter until it is painful to be in the presence of, until we cannot stand to lay our eyes on the box any longer. Hands turn to hooves. Skin turns from shades of human flesh to shades from the rainbow. Just like that, we are ponies again and we suddenly are back on the farm, no van in sight, though everypony is on their bellies for sudden lack of balance on two feet. The box with the Elements sits on the ground as if it had never been anywhere else on the Earth before. The Elements truly are strange things, really. Incredible, strange things.

We get back to our hooves and Spike to his feet and take a look around. Everything seems to be back to normal. Just like that.

Misery, if you are where you can hear me, thank you. I never would have had the confidence to say anything without your pushing me along the way. But now you are gone. I wonder where you are? Are you sad, are you happy, are you safe or are you harmed? Are you still inside my head, waiting for a chance to speak? I just do not know.

We did a little bit of detective work and found out that everything truly did go back to normal. Everypony that we know ended up back where they were before they became human. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took back their thrones. Discord is still in the statue, though the positioning has changed mysteriously.

And everypony is happy again. Teresa, Farah, Penelope, Rhyan, Jackie, Spike, and I all are back to being Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike and Rarity. Twilight has her library back, Fluttershy has her animals, Pinkie Pie has her parties, Rainbow Dash has her wings, I have my boutique and Sweetie Belle, and Applejack has her family and Trixie. Yes, we all forgave Trixie even if it was her that got us all into this mess in the first place. We wouldn’t be us if we didn’t give her another chance.

This is where I say goodbye, humanity. I don’t believe I will be visiting you soon.

You always had to be the happy one,

The best, the smartest, the loved.

And yet you never had any fun,

Nothing can change the above.

Here we are in Equestria

My life is at peace.

I am at ease.

I will never leave.

Just one step away from happiness

This time it will be sincere

Real happiness can’t come from a pill

It comes from far and near.

Just one step away from happiness

I have no fear

My life is here.