Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and was met by a starry plain. There was no sound, no destruction, no weather, and no one. All around her was nothing but stars and darkness. But, when she looked at her hooves and wings, Fluttershy could see that they were completely visible.
"H-Hello?" Fluttershy whispered, only to hear it echo slightly, "Is anyone here?"
There wasn't any response. Fluttershy was truly alone. All at once, she remembered everything that happened, before she appeared in this mysterious and empty place. And the more she thought about the events that lead to this point, the more familiar her surroundings became. At that moment, Fluttershy collapsed to the ground as she remembered where she had seen this place before.
"I'm..." Fluttershy whimpered, feeling very afraid, "I-I'm... dead."
"I can fix that." A low masculine voice rumbled.
As quickly as she could, Fluttershy turned her head and felt a happiness that rivaled Pinkie Pie's. She watched as Lazarus began to take shape a short distance away from her. As he appeared, Fluttershy began to notice some different features on the old Healing Dragon. For instance, all of his battle scars were gone, replaced by undamaged scaly and shiny skin. His eyes had slight pupils and appeared to be a very deep orange. He looked very handsome for a dragon.
"Lazarus!" Fluttershy exclaimed, standing up and running to him.
The dragon lowered his head and Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around his snout.
"Hello, my friend." Lazarus whispered, looking down at the sobbing pony as she held him tightly.
"I-I'm frightened, Lazarus." Fluttershy sniffed, "Th-There's no one here and it's dark."
"Sssshhhh. It's alright. I'm here now."
Fluttershy let him go and brushed away any tears that escaped her eyes.
"What is this place, exactly?" Fluttershy asked, feeling less afraid.
"This is the Spirit Bridge." Lazarus replied, looking all around the starry plain, "Souls go here after their host dies."
"Do they stay here forever?"
"No. They only stay until they are permitted to cross over."
Fluttershy looked around at the emptiness that surrounded them.
"Why aren't there any others?" She asked, looking up at the dragon.
"Because they've already gone to the other side." Lazarus said, turning his gaze down to her, "But, that's not going to happen to you."
"Why?"
"I can revive the dead, remember?"
Fluttershy blushed as she remembered what he had shown her. Then Lazarus raised an open palm and a bright white light appeared a short distance away from them.
"That is a portal that leads back home." Lazarus explained, lowering his clawed hand.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Fluttershy said with relief, trotting towards the portal, "Let's go."
She was halfway to the portal, when she looked behind her and saw Lazarus staying where he was. It confused Fluttershy, because she believed that after everything that has happened, Lazarus would be following close behind her. But, instead, he just stared.
"What's wrong?" She asked, "Aren't you coming?"
"No." He replied as a tear rolled down his face, "I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I don't have the power to bring both of us back."
Fluttershy suddenly felt a sense of shock and sorrow as the words entered her ears.
"B-But, you brought back Princess Celestia and yourself." Fluttershy stammered, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Yes." Lazarus said in a sad tone, "But, I had all my power then. However, my fight with Stag managed to drain most of it. So, to return a life, I have to give up mine."
Fluttershy fell back on her haunches and stared at Lazarus as her tears returned.
"I know it's hard to say good-bye." Lazarus began, approaching the little pony, "It's even harder to say it to a friend. I won't lie to you, I've grown quite fond of all of you. Especially, you and Luna in particular."
"W-Why me?" Fluttershy sniffled, brushing away more tears, "I'm not that special."
"Oh, hush. You're more special than you give yourself credit for. Look at what you've done in your life. From what I've heard, you met Rainbow Dash when you were very young. In fact, she was your first friend and you needed her, because you were always put down by others. After that, you made more friends in the form of several different creatures. And that's when you learned that you could talk to animals. Then, things got more interesting after you became one of the guardians of the Elements. You helped save Luna from her shadow, stood up to a dragon, conquered several of your fears, helped the ones you care about, even showed Discord what real power is. Everyone you've ever befriended changed you and you changed them. In my opinion, you're much more than special, Fluttershy. You're perfect."
"But, I thought you said, there's no such thing as perfect."
"Even I'm wrong, sometimes."
The dragon smiled down at her and reached out his claws, catching one of the tears as it fell. Then he brought it up to one of his eyes and looked at it for a moment. Then he tilted his claws, allowing the tear to fall.
Plip.
He watched it fall and hit the ground, before looking back at Fluttershy and the portal behind her.
"Do you remember the first words I said to you when we met?" Lazarus asked, lowering himself down to Fluttershy and gently nuzzling her.
"No." Fluttershy whimpered, hugging his snout again.
"I said, 'go home, little pony.' But, this time, I'm not being intimidating. I'm being your friend. And, as long as you remember me and keep me in your heart, I'll always be with you."
"It's not fair! What will the Everfree Forest do without you?"
"It will survive. The forest is a place that can adapt and learn to live without me. In truth, it probably never needed me in the first place. I was only there to keep myself occupied."
Fluttershy held him tighter and sobbed, but she knew that he couldn't stay.
"It's time to go now, Fluttershy." The dragon whispered as more tears flowed from his eyes and he gently pulled her off of him with his tail.
"I-I'll never forget you, I promise." Fluttershy replied as she was placed on the ground and turned toward the portal.
But before she walked through, Fluttershy looked back at the Healing Dragon and saw a proud smile. She brushed away her last tears and smiled back. Then she entered the light, before it closed behind her, leaving Lazarus alone on the Spirit Bridge. However, after waiting a short time, another portal opened and he saw four very familiar figures on the other side.
"Hold on, my loves." Lazarus smiled as happiness and peace took hold of him as he went to the portal, "I'm coming home."
With that, he slowly walked through the portal to rejoin the loving family he had so long ago.
The fire barrier whirled and pulsed, making all the ponies feel uneasy as they watched. Flames and magic circled around the large dome the barrier had created. Small energy waves sailed from the dome with every pulse. As the waves flew above the ponies, they could feel the power, as if they were burning away all the evil in the world. But, shortly after, the pulses became less erratic and more paced.
Fwoom, fwoom! Fwoom, fwoom!
"What's that sound?" Rarity asked, watching the dome.
Fwoom, fwoom!
"It sounds like a... heartbeat." Twilight replied as two more waves sailed over them.
Soon, they saw the dome begin to fade and the pulses slow, until they had stopped all together. Then the dome disappeared completely, leaving the flaming ring burning on the ground. However, the flames died down and revealed two motionless bodies in the circle. That's when Twilight, Starlight, and Luna stepped over the smoldering line, approaching the still dragon as his claws held a yellow pegasus.
Their hearts pounded in their ears as they got closer. Even though they knew what the pulses meant, the stillness of Fluttershy and Lazarus told them a different story. However, when Twilight and Starlight reached the dragon's claws and looked at their friend, they saw that her injury had fully healed without a scar.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight said, lightly poking Fluttershy's shoulder, "Fluttershy, can you hear me?"
After only a moment of waiting, they saw her eyes crack open, barely enough to actually notice. But, it was more than enough to allow Twilight and Starlight to breathe a huge sigh of relief and throw their hooves around her.
"She's alive!" Starlight called out as tears streamed from her eyes, "Fluttershy's alive!"
Everyone shouted and cheered wildly as they heard the amazing news. To them, a miracle had been preformed, but it had come at the cost of another.
Twilight and Starlight helped Fluttershy to her hooves as she stood between them on the open palm. Several ponies approached them and gave her a very warm embrace for returning to them. Her friends were especially happy and grateful that Lazarus had brought her back. But, she turned away from the crowd and looked towards his head, where she saw Luna leaning against him, just under his eye. At that moment, Fluttershy stepped off of the claws and approached the dark blue alicorn.
"Luna," Fluttershy said, placing a hoof on the princess's shoulder, "you don't have to be sad for him. He's with his family now. But, he'll always be in our hearts."
"I know." Luna sniffed as her lips formed a gentle smile, "I'll never forget. And, I'll always be proud of him."
With that, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves and wings around Luna, giving her comfort. Luna did the same as all of their friends and gathered around them, sharing their embrace.
Then, something very unexpected happened. Lazarus' body began to slowly fade, making all of the ponies watch as he became transparent. Shortly after, the lifeless dragon had disappeared completely, leaving a large impression in the ground. This made Luna's horn glow gently as she looked up at the shimmering sky above. But, in the particular spot she was looking at, a new star shined brighter than the rest.
"There." Luna sniffed as her horn dimmed, "Now, it's a perfect night."
Everyone knew who the star was for and watched as some more shot across the sky. In Starlight's mind, one of the shooting stars was for Shadow Chaser. Then she remembered that she was still wearing his locket. Turning and looking around at the crowd that had gathered, Starlight looked for the faces that were on the picture that she had seen. That's when she saw the one face that she was looking for.
"I'll be right back." Starlight said, walking away from her friends and through the crowd.
When she reached the pony she had seen, Starlight was very thankful that it was the bat-pony mare she had seen in the locket. On both sides of her, were her two children, a colt and a filly. The more Starlight looked at them, the more regretful she felt. She didn't want to break their hearts and cause more pain. However, she knew that they deserved the truth.
"Excuse me." Starlight said, approaching the mare as the children hid behind their mother.
"Yes?" She asked, looking at Starlight with some concern, "Can I help you?"
"Is your husband's name Shadow Chaser?"
"Yes. Why?"
At that moment, Starlight took off the locket and floated it over to Mrs. Chaser.
"He... He wanted me to bring this to you." Starlight said, as she watched the bat-pony take it in one of her hooves.
Mrs. Chaser looked at the locket and started to cry. It hurt Starlight to watch a grieving widow. But, she knew that her pain was small compared to the bat-pony.
"How... H-How did he..." Mrs. Chaser asked, opening the locket and reading the inscription.
"He died a hero." Starlight replied, gently wrapping her hooves around Mrs. Chaser as tears flowed from both of them, "And that's how you should always remember him."
"I-I just wish I could've told him..."
"Told him what?"
"That we're expecting another foal."
Suddenly, Starlight's mind remembered what the Changeling had told her and felt a wave of shock shoot through her. However, on the outside, she remained calm as she held the bat-pony and looked at the two foals. And, she was deeply hoping that the unborn foal was Shadow's.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Chaser." Starlight sniffed, letting her go.
"Please, call me, Dream." She replied, brushing away her tears, "Only ponies that aren't friends get to call me, Mrs. Chaser. What's yours?"
"Starlight Glimmer. But, my friends call me Starlight."
With that, the Chaser family and Starlight spent the evening talking about the heroic, proud, and brave stallion they knew. And, all the while, everypony in Canterlot looked at the heavens and watched as Lazarus' star became the pride of the night.