Mtangalion
Lilith smiled cruelly. "You think it's that easy?" She gathered the swirling darkness, and black crystals burst up through the floor, forming a jagged ring around her. Shapes began to fill the fog... creeping scaly things and dark whispers on batlike wings. Mangy felines stalked toward them, let by a black cat wearing a silver bell and a little witch hat. The cat arched her back at the bearers, yowling and hissing.
Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, the poor dears!"
Lilith twitched. "Mewling, mortal beasts! You don't even have the wits to listen to your base instincts and flee, bleating in terror! You think to light MY abyss with your flickering candles?" She drew a slim wooden wand and twitched it in subtle, arcane motions. "AWAKEN!"
"Watch out!" cried Twilight. "She's casting some kind of..." The lights went out, and Twilight found herself in a scholarly black robe, standing in the greatest library that never was.
"This way, Grand Magistrix," said Hydia, bowing deeply. Wait, hadn't Twilight defeated her and sent her back to Tartarus? "You have a very busy schedule today, studying all the lost and forbidden knowledge of all the ages."
Rarity lounged in a jeweled throne, in a palace high atop an ebony tower that dwarfed even Canterlot and its mountain, beautiful and flawless in her black silk gown. A handsome stallion whose eyes flamed with dark magic kissed her forehoof. "What does my Queen desire today? I was thinking we'd torment 'Prince' Blueblood once more..."
Cheese Sandwich danced and sang with all of Equestria for an audience. Even the griffons were laughing their feathers off, and the yaks were rating him a perfect ten out of ten and not destroying anything. A triangle-shaped shadow glided past, laughing maniacally. "This is the party that never ends, with the host who never dies!!"
Rainbow Dash piloted her giant ponybot through a canyon, stamping changeling hives underhoof and firing missiles with wild abandon. "Isn't it better this way?" spoke a serpentine shadow with mismatched horns. "Things were getting so dreadfully dull. Why, at the rate you ponies were making friends with everyone, soon there wouldn't have been any evil flanks left to kick."
An even bigger golden ponybot landed on flaming jets, blocking her next attack. "Is this really 'fun' and 'awesome', Dash?" boomed Fluttershy's voice from the mech's speakers. "Beating up opponents who can't fight back?"
Rainbow blinked. "Fluttershy?"
Rarity leaned in to kiss the shadowy stallion, and with a squeaky noise, Thalia suddenly popped up in between them. "Come on, you silly! You're just gonna forget about the dragon who was always there for you, for somepony you don't even know?"
Rarity gasped. "Spike!"
Big Mac barged onto Cheese Sandwich's stage. "Nope, nope, nope!" he yelled, shaking off the stagehooves who tried to dress him in a clown costume. "Sorry about this, Cheese, but you gotta know this is all a pack of lies."
Cheese grinned, whipping out his accordion. "Yeah, I kinda figured, but thanks, pal!"
"Twilight." Veritas was suddenly there, gently prying an ancient tome out of Twilight's hoof. "Ah know. Ah get it... all you ever wanted to do was study, not save the world, but are ya really gonna sit in here when yer friends need you?"
Twilight sighed deeply, then smiled, resolved. "No. No, I'm not."
"There, isn't that so much better?" Fluttershy was saying. She had the witch cat rolling around and purring from her gentle words and hoof scritches, and the nightmarish bats and lizards were looking at her adoringly too.
Lilith growled, snapping her wand in two and hurling it away. "Enough!" She raised her hands, crackling with black lightning. "Die!!"
Trixie teleported, appearing right beside Twilight and casually catching all the lightning on a dark rainbow barrier. "Not today, thank you!"
Twilight jumped in place... she and the other bearers were still shaking off that twisted dream. "Trixie, you're okay!" She gasped, seeing the Alicorn Amulet darkly shining around Trixie's neck. "Wait, is that..."
Trixie grinned. "Please, hold your applause until the end of Trixie's performance!"
Veritas poked Thalia with a hoof. "And that's what it looks like when an evil witch puts ponies in trances with glances."
Mtangalion
Apple Bloom got her horn glowing with a steady orange light, and her friends had all joined hooves with her.
Scootaloo frowned. "Is... something supposed to happen soon? I'm getting a little tired of holding my hoof up."
"Maybe we need to use our magic too," suggested Sweetie Belle.
Button Mash poked at the game console with his other forehoof. "Well, I can't find Combine Powers anywhere in the menu..."
"Ah'm pretty sure it has to start with me," said Apple Bloom, sweating. "It's just that Ah ain't never done this before, and..." A slip of paper appeared in a flash of green fire, then fluttered down to land on her nose. "Huh?" After a couple of tries, she managed to get a grip with her magic and unroll it. "Dear Apple Bloom," she read, "I hope you buck that mean witch right back where she came from! Signed, Rumble."
More slips of paper started appearing, one after another. The little Alicorn could barely keep up with them all. "I know you can do it, so don't let us down now. --DT... That is SO cool how you became an Alicorn even though you're a filly like us, do you think we can become princesses too? --Alula. What... how?"
A dark churning cloud was rising from Flummox's mansion, visible over the Everfree Forest all the way back in Ponyville. Some ponies were galloping through the streets in a blind panic, but others were in their homes, eyes glued to the giant flatsceen televisions that had magically appeared, broadcasting the big battle to everyone in high definition and commercial free.
Miss Cheerilee's class oohed and aahed at the biggest television screen of all, munching on free bags of popcorn, and some of them were still writing letters and passing them to Spike, who breathed fire on them as fast as he could get them.
Discord patted Spike on the head smugly. "Wasn't it so *good* of me, teaching our young lad here how to send dragon-mail to any Alicorn or Draconequus?"
Spike smirked. "Hey, watch the scales! I've still got my eye on you, Discord!"
Diamond Tiara giggled. "We get it, Uncle, we get it."
Apple Bloom got a little teary-eyed, reading letter after letter. "They're all watching? Everypony back home is believing in us?" She gasped. "Abbatissa? All *these* are for us too?" One more letter flashed into existence, with much more polished cursive script. "Dear Princess Progress, please watch my Big Macintosh and bring him home safe and sound... Miss Cheerilee." She wiped her eyes and smiled, feeling her magic surge, warm and bright. "Everypony... Here we go!"
Lines of orange fire began to carve symbols into the floor... Apple Bloom's Gear and Apple cutie mark first, then a runed triangle surrounding it, then the other Crusaders' cutie marks... D-Pad, Heartsong, and Butterfly... one on each side of the triangle. All of them floated into the air, each hovering over his or her own mark. "Crusaders!" shouted Apple Bloom. "Let's keep marching forward!"
Button Mash started to ask what he should do next, and suddenly he just *knew*. "To adventure!"
Sweetie Belle beamed. "With a song in our hearts!"
Scootaloo spread her wings wide. "And never giving up!"
With a rush like a landslide and a sound like the tolling of a great bell, a shield crest emerged, surrounding the four marks. Crusader capes bearing the new crest appeared on each of them with flashes of light. "Cutie Mark Crusader Friends Forever! YAY!!!"
Their light wasn't much, compared to ancient tools of creation like the Rainbow of Darkness and the Elements of Harmony, but Lilith shaded her eyes and cursed all the same.
Kendell2
"Girls! Formation!" Twilight called, seeing Lilith was now vulnerable.
"Wait for meh, Aunties!" Apple Pie called, running over, her Element glowing.
Veritas and Thalia put a wing on her back, using themselves as the link with the rest of the set. The Elements began powering up and unleashing the Rainbow..
Lilith snarled and formed a dark barrier around herself as the Rainbow crashed down on her and the Crusaders continued unleashing the power of their friendship. The Witch Queen strained, but began pushing back with as much force as only a being of her magnitude could manage. She began sending out shadow sirens to try and attack them as they launched their attack, forcing Flim Flam and their uncle to start fighting them off.
Trixie teleported to the opposite side, the Bearers, herself, and the Crusaders forming a triangle around her. "Lilith! You desired the Rainbow of Darkness?!" she asked, focusing on the Alicorn Amulet, putting her hooves on both sides of it. The Gem glowed with a dark light. "Well here, get a good look at it!"
Other Diamond Tiara stepped up next to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. Her Element of Empathy glowed.
From Trixie and Diamond the TRUE Rainbow of Darkness erupted forth. The latter was a dark toned Rainbow filled with stars and all the beauty of the night sky. It erupted upwards and met its twin, swirling around it and both slamming down on Lilith's barrier. The shadow sirens were annihilated by the resulting shockwave, allowing Flim, Flam, and their uncle to turn their power on the shield as well.
The Witch Queen cringed as her shield began being pressed in harder and harder to the point she had to hold it out physically with her hands. "You...you...you...You! Will! All! PAY!" she screamed in fury and rage before her barrier finally shattered to bits.
Lilith screamed in agony as the rainbows and the Crusader's power swirled around her and erupted up, blowing a hole in the ceiling. The Witch Queen was carried upwards, looking at one of her hands as it was petrified by the Rainbow of Light...then OBLITERATED to atoms by the Rainbow of Darkness, the Crusader's magic powering up BOTH. With one last scream, a gigantic duel toned rainbow explosion went off, utterly annihilating her dark storm and Lilith along with it.
The group shielded their eyes until the blast went off, slowly looking up to see the clear sky above and the scorched floor where the Witch Queen had stood.
"Is it over?" Button Mash asked.
"AHHHH!" roared a voice, the shadowy specter of Lilith rising from where she'd stood, now nothing but a ghost using every ounce of hatred and rage to remain in the physical world with no hope of actually attacking. "I don't care how many times it takes! I am going to destroy you someday! EVEN IF I HAVE TO FIGHT THROUGH ALL OF DEATH'S REAPERS AND CHILDREN TO DO IT!"
Before the specter could say another word, EVERYTHING began shaking. Every light and candle in the room suddenly blew out.
Veritas smirked. "Good news, it ain't Reapers comin' for yah!"
Lilith turned, seeing a golden seal of holy light form on the ceiling as a pink spell seal with the Fires of Friendship at their center formed on the ground. Holy light and Empathy's flames mixed until they exploded and the hallway turned dark as midnight.
"Bad news? HE is." Veritas finished.
"For thousands of years, you have cheated death to prolong your life and continue your horrors upon this world," said a voice like a wind through a graveyard. To the heroic ponies, it sounded comforting and kind. To Lilith, it was the most terrifying thing she had ever heard. From the shadows stepped Death himself. To the benevolent ponies, he appeared as a comforting, ethereal white Alicorn (though the build, demeanor, and even GENDER varied depending on the viewer) with a tender, inviting smile.
To Lilith, not even the most horrifying monster she or her clan had ever conceived could compare to the horrifying visage that the entity took on in her eyes.
The once all powerful Witch Queen backpeddled in horror. "No...No! Stay back!" she screamed, throwing her hands forwards and firing spell after spell at the Father of All Reapers. While the ponies were safe from her, she hoped a fellow spirit would not be.
But each spell was snuffed out before it could even make contact.
Lilith roared in fury, putting her hands together in front of her and chanting a spell forbidden language, forming a massive, pulsing sphere of darkness in front of her that made Sweetie's head hurt to be near it.
She hurled it at Death, the entire hallway being filled by the spell.
Death merely took one hoof and swatted it through the hole in the roof like it were a leaf blown away in the wind.
"And I do not like being cheated. Now that your earthly tether is no more," her enemy said. He reared up on his hind legs, wings spread out wide. "WITCH QUEEN LILITH! I, MORTIS THANATOS CHARON, THE 13TH, CONCEPT OF DEATH, HAVE COME FOR THEE!"
Lilith froze up in terror and then tried to flee. Mortis' horn simply glowed and the witch queen swiftly fell to her knees, countless black chains forming around her with weights. "W-What are these?!"
"Each link of those chains is forged from one of your sins, Lilith. And now, they will weigh you down for all time," Mortis stated, slowly approaching her, scythe forming in his telekinesis. "Your final resting place awaits you."
Lilith screamed as the scythe was swiftly swung through her soul. Suddenly, hell fire erupted beneath her feet, skeleton hands emerging from below and grabbing onto her. The flames took on a Draconequus-like visage. Or were Draconequi like it's visage?
"ARE YOU READY?!" asked the visage with a cackling voice.
"No! No! No! I don't want to die!" she screamed as she was pulled down deeper and deeper until only her hand was above the surface.
"You do not want to die because you know that which awaits you on the other side for what you have done," Mortis replied, staring down at her. "It is that you have fled from for all these years, not me."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed as she vanished into the ground which closed up behind her as if she'd never even been there.
"...She's gone," Veritas said, as the ponies watched in a mix of horror and relief. "Lilith is no more."
Mortis turned and looked to the ponies, nodding slowly. "Yes. Thank you for allowing me to finally claim her..." he said, reaching into his reaper's robes and producing four letters, one of which he floated to each Apple sibling and Trixie. "Before I came, I was asked to give these to you. Consider it a rare reward for the service you have given me for your role in destroying Lilith."
The Apple Family's ones read 'From Mom and Dad' while Trixie's read 'From Magic Star.'
Alex Warlorn
Princess Apple Bloom's eyes were glued on her letter, she wanted to read that letter's contents more than anything. So much so that she didn't even THINK about the how her cutie mark had gotten an 'upgrade', nor how her friends had all gotten shields on their cutie marks too. Trixie didn't feel the same heart wrenching NEED, but she was still drawn to the letter addressed to her and her alone. Princess AJ and Big Mac looked at their letters and then at each other, followed by Apple Bloom.
That was when the ground underneath the CMC turned to blue crystal, and opened up like a valve. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had wings and caught their two friends who did not. The opening wasn't taking no for an answer however, and a blue light shot up from the opening, and pulled the CMC+1, and Apple Bloom's letter, down before, along with the little camera that they'd been carrying with them this whole time, the top sealing off in a crystal cap.
"Apple Bloom!" Big Mac shouted.
"I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE!" Rainbow Dash snapped.
"That magic... it felt like the princesses..." Twilight said.
"Don't worry," Pinkie Pie said with a smile.
"That... might be why uncle built his mansion where he did..." Said one of the Flim Flam brothers.
-
The CMC+1 fell faster than gravity should allow... but then slowed down to gently land without trouble. Now the girls' minds were REALLY off their upgraded cutie marks, and Apple Bloom's mind was off the letter from the dead that was still with her. Sweetie magically picked up the upgraded color camera as she looked around. It was a large blue crystal chamber, made up of countless facets, shaped like the bottom of a genie's bottle. The ceiling seemed to be the only way in or out.
There were also six crystal statues. All of pony mares, wearing long cone hats, with wands in their mouths.
"Are those..." Scootaloo asked first, after all the stuff they'd been transformed into, everypony knew what she meant.
Sweetie's horn glowed. "No, they're just statues."
"Oh." Button Mash said. "So we're NOT going to become crystal statues and become new guardian spirits of Everfree?"
"Please don't say that like you're disappointed." Scootaloo said.
Most of the statues were of Earth ponies.
Each one had an engraving at the statue's base.
"Princess Serena Aquamarine."
"Princess Primerose Ruby."
"Princess Royal Blue Aquamarine."
"Princess Starburst Amber."
There was also a crystal statue of a pegasus, "Princess Tiffany Pearl."
And the last Princess, and the only unicorn, their engraving said,
"Princess Sparkle Amethyst?!" Sweetie Belle gasped.
Then the eyes of the statues glowed and they echoed, freaking out the foals.
"We six have been engraved with the memories of the Six Princess Ponies of Ponyland. All that they knew, we know, all that they loved, we love. Welcome, to the Heart of Everfree... Any questions you may have... we shall answer."
The foals all looked at the statues, and each other in shock...
MtangaLion
Flummox was the first to break the shocked silence. "Oh my. It never did that before."
"You know somethin'?" demanded Big Mac, right in his face. "You'd better start talkin', mister!"
"Hey, back off!" said Flam.
"Yeah!" echoed Flim. "That's our uncle you're..." Big Mac snorted at them, and it was the brothers who backed off in a hurry.
"Please calm yourselves, everypony," said Flummox. "Of course, I know all about it!" He lit his horn, channeling Hope and Magic together, and neon blue sparks traced out a floating three-dimensional map that spanned the whole chamber. It seemed to have the surface of the Everfree Forest on top, and a network of glowing lines extending far and wide, shaped like a giant tree beneath the earth.
(Sailor Moon Crystal - Tsuki no Densetsu)
"It's shocking, really, how few ponies remember that one of the strongest leyline networks in the world lies right here, beneath the Everfree Forest. This leyline node..." Flummox's blue aura lifted him up to the spot where a tiny blue copy of his mansion sat over a particularly bright branch of the tree. "...supplies abundant mana for everything in my home, including the maze, the wards, and all of my experiments."
The elderly unicorn glanced down, and seemed slightly startled by how high up he was. "I must say, flying with but a thought is exhilarating! I must invent some sort of flying enchantment, if the power of the blue ring does not..."
Big Mac cleared his throat.
"Yes, yes. Moving on..." He glided over to another part of the tree, then continued around the "trunk" in a slow circle. "This node lay beneath the ruined Castle of the Two Sisters, at the heart of the old diarchy." He pointed again. "That one lay beneath Sunnytown, to their lasting misfortune. That one over there, now... The archeological evidence is scant, but I believe that Midnight Castle once stood on that spot."
"It did," said Veritas, sighing and adding nothing more.
"So, what is that, in the center?" asked Rarity.
"Yes! Trixie was wondering that herself."
Flummox tugged on his lapels. "Why, those are the roots of the Tree of Harmony, naturally."
"Wait, what?" asked Twilight, looking excited. "Tree of Harmony? There's a *tree* now?"
Flummox smiled. "Yes! And, ah... no. The Tree itself seems to be missing, or at least, it was when I became trapped, but that is definitely where it ought to be."
"Um... excuse me? Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy blushed. "If it's not too much trouble, could I ask... why are you filming us?"
Indeed, Pinkie was standing on two legs, with a duplicate of the Crusaders' camera capturing the whole scene. She leaned, grinning around the camera. "In case the Princesses of Ponyland forget to mention anything, of course!"
"Princesses of Ponyland?!" exclaimed most of the ponies in the room, all at once.
Rainbow Dash clenched a hoof. "Okay, I have *no* clue what's going on, but those fillies had better be okay!"
Flummox glided down to her, glowing blue coat billowing in a wind that wasn't there. "Don't fret, my dear. They must be... yes, I believe they will be perfectly alright. All will be well."
His words sent a strange thrill through Twilight, and she couldn't explain why.
MtangaLion
Sweetie Belle gasped, floating the camera over to one side. "We should ask them about the Everfree Forest, why it's so strange and how it came to be!"
Apple Bloom, Button, and Scootaloo looked at her blankly.
Sweetie frowned, tapping her hoof. "You know, the reason why we started this whole crazy adventure in the first place?"
Button blinked. "Oh!"
Apple Bloom scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. "Heh, oh yeah, that..."
"Actually," mused Scootaloo, "does it even really matter, now?"
Sweetie's jaw dropped. "What? Of course it matters!"
Scootaloo wing-shrugged. "But we saved all of Equestria, like four or five times! That's gotta be more important than answering some impossible question, right? And Apple Bloom turned into a goddess!" She flew over to Bloom, smirking. "She probably could have told us all about the Everfree Forest, right back in Ponyville!"
Apple Bloom blushed, getting all flustered. "Ah ain't all-knowing, Scootaloo! And even if Ah did know something, Ah'm sure the Princess Ponies can tell this story better than Ah could."
The Crusaders looked at the statues expectantly.
There came a long slow whisper of wind, like a sigh. "You might say," spoke the voice from the statues, "that all of this came about because of us. We were entrusted with the magic of Ponyland, with the very Heart of Ponyland, and we were not able to protect it."
Mists swirled, revealing something in the very center of the chamber that none of them had noticed yet... something like a table, made from a single huge and flat gemstone with six facets on top. Six tiny crowns rested on the table, one to each facet.
"Once, a very, very long time ago," the voice continued, "two great forces were gifted to this world. A Rainbow of Light, and a Rainbow of Darkness." Floating images appeared... a red heart-shaped compact, and an ominous bag tied with a string. The Rainbow of Darkness became the possession of a cruel tyrant. He fell, and that Rainbow was sealed away... but the other remained.
"The world was left deeply out of balance. Another would-be tyrant seized upon the overwhelming power of Harmony at that time." A image of a fiend made entirely of lava appeared, wearing a crown of his own. "He stole our wands, tried to corrupt their harmony and even embody it... and he almost caused a Catastrophe of Order. Lest you believe that too much Order could not possibly be a bad thing, consider this: All of the world would have been rendered into perfectly orderly and lifeless crystal."
Now the images showed the table... the old Heart of Ponyland itself, and a circle of strange beings surrounding it, channeling some kind of magic. Many ponies, including the six Princess Ponies in life. Six bouncing balls of fur? A odd furless creature dressed in green, with pointed ears? More creatures made of lava and ice...
Button Mash gasped. "Hey, isn't that Spike? I mean, the one from Paradise Estate, not our Spike!"
"And that's a human girl!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "Look, they really do wear clothes!"
"Megan?" breathed Apple Bloom.
"Megan," echoed the voice of the Princess Ponies. "She wrote a story of her adventure later, and I'm afraid that she didn't tell the whole truth. Maybe she just didn't want to scare the foals... but it was a lot harder than simply recharging the wands and blasting Lavan into harmless crystal shards, and the world came terribly, awfully close to a terrible end!
"But Lavan WAS slain, and we did reclaim the magic, thank goodness. We hoped that would be the end of the danger, and the surplus Harmony would naturally ebb away.
"It did not."
The image floating in the air wavered and became a view from high in the air, looking down on an amazing city of tall stone buildings. Manehatten would have looked small beside it. Apple Bloom shivered. "That's... that must be Dr. Moon Shadow's world!" Her legs trembled, knowing what must surely come next.
The statues spoke again. "The future was revealed to us Princess Ponies, and we saw that the more Chaos was suppressed, the more it would lash out, seeking to restore the balance." A great rainbow flash washed over the image, and suddenly the city was ablaze and crumbling apart. "Again, and again..." An image of Discord appeared, lording it over the world and crushing a crystal to dust in his grasp. "And again, down through the ages." Nightmare Moon appeared, leading her Lunar Guard into a pitched medieval battle against her sister's forces.
Sweetie Belle was hugging Button Mash tightly, and he was trying to comfort her, even though he looked almost as frightened. Apple Bloom looked around for Scootaloo, sure that she'd be putting on a brave face, and she found her pegasus friend... hiding behind *her*? Of course, Apple Bloom thought, twitching her wings. She was an Alicorn now... a pony that other ponies would look up to for guidance, for comfort and protection, but it was just so gosh dang weird, picturing herself as a Princess Celestia or Luna, being that kind of pony. She found herself wishing that her friends would hurry up and become Alicorns again too, cause having her *friends* bowing down to her would be the weirdest thing yet!
The images faded away, and then a new one appeared... a castle in the midst of a different crystal desert, and Celestia and Luna, not yet princesses, planting trees in it, imbuing them with magic using a spell that the Princess Ponies had left behind. "We needed a permanent solution, even if the work could not be finished until long after we passed on. We laid our plans, and with the help of forces from beyond this world..."
An image of an earth pony filly in a sea of stars appeared, writing in a book, her face in shadow... and Apple Bloom was spooked to realize that her Truth was telling her *nothing* about this pony...
"And the help of a certain time-traveling wizard..." An image of Starswirl the Bearded appeared, big as life, deep in concentration as he enchanted the very first World Mirror. "We created a permanent link to another world! One as overflowing with Chaos as ours was overflowing with Order. You know that world, my little ponies. You already visited it, and made a friend there, I dare say.
"That is how the Everfree that you know came to be," continued the voice warmly. "A forest imbued with Chaos, which follows otherworldly laws in its twists and turns and weather, for it truly is like a piece of another world. No longer a suitable place for the capitol of a realm, as it was in the days of your Two Sisters, but instead, a place where Nature buffers the tides of Order and Chaos, so that Harmony can thrive without inviting destruction."
Button Mash had a sudden thought that seemed to worry him. "But, the Rainbow of Darkness is restored now! Won't that mess up your balance again? I don't think Trixie would be too happy if we tried to take the Rainbow away from her."
The voice of the Princess Ponies laughed gently. "Somepony has been looking ahead and taking care of exactly that problem. Don't you see?"
Apple Bloom gasped. "Ya mean, all of us new Alicorns?"
"Yes! Each new Alicorn is a mighty force for Order. The balance is still towards Chaos, but there will be more Alicorns soon... and after that, it will be up to each of you to maintain the balance and protect the magic... as the new Princesses and Prince of Ponyland... nay, of Everfree!"
Sweetie Belle looked like she might faint.
Scootaloo flew up to the statues. "Uh, newsflash. Most of us aren't Alicorns!" She grinned. "At least, not yet!"
The gentle laughter came again. "My little ponies, look around you! Were any of *us* Alicorns? Neither need you be."
Mtangalion
The projected image winked out, and the light from the blue hoofband dimmed, flickering. "Oh." Flummox stopped floating and settled firmly onto the floor, clearly disappointed. "There it goes, I suppose."
(Hope restored. Unable to locate central power battery. Returning to standby mode.) The blue light was drawn back into the hoofband, leaving him once again just an aged yellow-furred unicorn with a graying mane that might have been red and white once, wearing an ordinary old-fashioned brown long-coat. (All will be well.) The hoofband slipped free and clattered to the floor.
Flummox squinted at the hoofband, sighing. He levitated a pair of spectacles out of a coat pocket, polished them a bit, and put them on with ordinary green magic. "I suppose it's for the best. I don't know how much longer I could have kept up all that unfounded optimism. It was rather starting to grate on me!"
Thalia trotted up beside him, levitating the blue hoofband and summoning the crystallized red one in a blue teleport flash. "Yeah, we should probably put these back where you found them, before they attract space zombies."
Flim burst out laughing.
"Space zombies?!" exclaimed Flam. "Why, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever..."
Thalia turned and grinned slyly at them, fully spreading her wings.
"We'll take your word for it," said Flim soberly.
Flummox gave them a sour look. "Ah yes, take their word for it. That's what one does with all knowing, almighty, unaccountable Alicorns, isn't it? Why, even though Miss Thalia is just a young Alicorn, I'm sure her head is already full of secrets mortal ponies were not meant to know, and sinister plans to be carried out over the course of generations, all for the greater good of course, and... mmmph?!"
Thalia had conjured a lollipop and shoved it into Flummox's mouth. "Aw, don't be like that!" she pleaded, giving him the big teary blue eyes, and then a motherly smile. "You've got a long way to go before you learn to laugh again, but you held the light of hope and shined it bright for everypony!" She gestured, spreading her hooves wide. "And hope is super duper important for remembering the good times and working to make good times even better! So... call me sometime. We can have all kinds of fun!"
Flummox discovered that Thalia had attached a lapel pin to his coat, made of shiny brass and engraved with three balloons. He floated the lollipop out of his mouth, but didn't discard it. "I thought I'd befriended a cosmic being once before. He promised me all the answers, and then he... he..."
Thalia surprised him with a hug, and more surprising, the grouchy old stallion *let* her hug him. "I'll never play mean tricks on you, Fluxy, promise! That's a Thalia Promise, which is even better than a Pinkie Pie Promise!"
Alex Warlorn
"She has a point... " Button Mash said. "Just because we were Alicorns before... doesn't mean we HAVE TO BE... you were worried you HAD TO become an Alicorn, right Apple Bloom?"
Apple Bloom startled, that felt so long ago.
MtangaLion
Apple Bloom smiled nostalgically. "Ya remember that, huh? How Ah was so upset after we saw the great big war in the future, asking if Ah had any say in my own life anymore?" She scratched her cheek with a wing feather sheepishly. "Ah... kinda called out Fate herself, and asked why she didn't just slap a cutie mark for machines and wings and a horn on me right there and get it over with."
"You didn't!" exclaimed Sweetie. "You literally tempted Fate?"
Scootaloo stared. "Whoa, that's pretty cool. She didn't smite you, did she? I guess she didn't, cause you're here now, but..."
Apple Bloom spread her small wings, as if to embrace them all. "Ah'll tell ya what she told me back then. 'Whatever plans I may have made, whatever prophecies or visions of the future you may have seen.. your life is still *your* own choice.'" She beamed at each of her friends in turn. "This is true, this is true, this is TRUE."
The other Crusaders shivered, standing up little straighter, eyes sparkling a little brighter. "What- What was that?" breathed Sweetie.
"Hope for the future," said Apple Bloom brightly.
Button Mash raised a hoof hesitantly. "But... doesn't it bother you at all, Bloom? You did get a cutie mark for machines, and you did become an Alicorn, just like we saw in the future war, and before in that crystal paradise Ponyville. I'm not sure how we could have helped the deep ponies, or gotten these..." He tugged on his new cape. "Or beat Lilith if you hadn't been an Alicorn."
"Are these cloaks, like, the Elements of Crusading now?" blurted out Scootaloo. She frowned. "Ugh, we've gotta think of a better name than that."
Apple Bloom chuckled. "Doesn't matter, Button. It was still my choice. If Ah'd chosen different, Miss Fate would have made other paths for us, but Ah don't regret what Ah chose, not for a second!" She gestured with a hoof. "And ya know something we didn't see in any of those future places? Any proof as to whether you three became Alicorns or didn't! So whatever you three decide... it's gonna be a surprise, even ta my big sister and me! We're just kids! Foals don't need to be rushing into giant, life-changing decisions."
Button Mash giggled. "Says the filly Alicorn."
"Oh, Ah know, believe me." Apple Bloom glanced over her shoulder, then turned around to face the closest Princess Pony statue. "And speaking of rushing into things... We're flattered, but Ah don't think we're quite the ponies yer looking for. Ah know ya want to find new guardians as soon as possible, but we *are* kinda young... and the Alicorn of Progress guarding the balance of magic? That doesn't really fit."
The statues of the Princesses of Ponyland took some time answering. "I suppose... it *has* been thousands of years. It's worth taking a little more time, to make the best choice."
Sweetie Belle blinked. "You know... I think we might just have a good candidate or two right upstairs..."
Back in Flummox's basement, Twilight Sparkle gawked at Apple Bloom. "The Princesses want to talk with *me*?! But, I'm just a librarian... who helped save Equestria a few times, sure, but I'm not an Alicorn, or a special pony with an ancient destiny like Trixie."
Trixie stumbled a bit at that. "Could you say that again? Trixie wants to have a recording..."
Apple Bloom grinned. "A librarian who knows more about magic than any unicorn alive, maybe! Ah can go back down with you, if yer scared."
Diamond Tiara blinked. "Wait a minute! Don't just go rushing off before you show us which portal will get me and Apple Pie home! The portals *are* still working, right?" She made a sour face. "If I hang around here, I might wind up meeting myself, and I don't need any more reminders of what a brat I used to be."
Veritas waggled her eyebrows. "Ya might be *pleasantly* surprised, actually."
Mtangalion
The passage down to the Heart of Everfree had once again concealed itself, and now resembled a large round seal on the otherwise plain crystal floor, marked with the image of a flowering tree with a crown surrounding the trunk.
Twilight Sparkle tapped the seal with a hoof hesitantly, then stood atop it. "Hello, Princesses? I'm... ah, Twilight, and I guess I'm ready to speak with you!" The room fell silent. "Of course, if you're busy now, I can always come back later. That's not a problem... whoa!" The seal vanished, just long enough for the blue beam of light to take hold of the unicorn and draw her down the shaft.
Rarity blinked. "Pardon me, but did we just send Twilight to talk about magic and ancient history with... a collection of ancient enchanted statues, you said? Presumably with unlimited time and patience?" She shook her head. "We'd better arrange to have sandwiches sent down. Perhaps a sleeping roll as well."
"On it!" shouted Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich simultaneously.
Off to one side, Diamond Tiara was staring at Sweetie Belle. "You *turned them down*? When someone says 'Would you like to be a Princess?' you say..."
Diamond froze. Eyes wide, pupils shrinking to pinpricks. "Where did those shields come from? Why... why are your cutie marks *different*?!" She started backing away. "You're not... they're not supposed to... Mom, no! Please, no, please don't..."
And just like that, Apple Bloom was hugging her. "Ah know. Ah know, Diamond, ya don't have ta talk about it. Shhh... We're still *us*. Our marks just weren't fully revealed, or something."
"That so?" mused Big Mac. He'd been frowning thoughtfully at Bloom's mark, so quietly that most of them hadn't noticed.
Scootaloo grinned at a puzzled Apple Pie. "We seem to be hugging a lot of Diamond Tiaras lately."
Button's console dinged. "I think we just got an achievement," he whispered.
"Okay, that's enough hugging," said Diamond... she'd recovered enough to lift her chin and smirk at them. "You're making my Element itch."
Kendell2
Applebloom...then noticed somepony still there. Mostly unnoticed despite being what he was. Standing in the shadows since condemning Queen Lilith to her final resting place.
The young Alicorn trotted over and looked up at Mortis. "...Howdy."
Mortis looked down at her with a tired smile. "Hello, little one."
"...Uh...not tah be rude, Mr. Death, but why are yah still here? Ah thought yer job was finished..." Applebloom remarked, trying to be respectful. Something about him just felt comforting...to her, anyway. Might have been her being a foal, might have been the Alicorn part. "Thought yah'd be busy...bein'...yah know."
Mortis chuckled. "I am here, but I am also everywhere. You may learn what that is like one day. As for why I remain here, it is simple: I am Death, but I am also Rebirth."
The filly blinked, cocking her head. "Rebirth? Like Phoenixes?"
The Father of All Reapers nodded. "Yes. My little sister made those for me as a gift. Like the Rebirth of the Position of the Princesses of Ponyland. Or the Rebirth of Lost Knowledge. Anything that has 'died' and been 'reborn', not just lives, is my domain."
"Ah...think Ah get it..."
"And also...I am certain you have questions for me. Ask if you wish."
Applebloom blinked, realizing that searching for answers was indeed the purpose of their mission. Given who she was facing...one question came to mind. "...Why is there death?"
Mortis gave a frown.
"Sorry! Ah didn't mean ta-"
The Alicorn of Death merely put up a calming hoof. "It is not that I am offended by your question, it is that one so young as you knows me so well...As for your answer, there are many answers. The first is that life is just one step in a journey. There exists another world for mortals to journey to when they pass the river I guide them over...but more so, it is because I am needed. Once I am no longer, that job I will cease to perform and only then."
Applebloom cocked her head. "Needed?"
"...Imagine a world were none can die. Were no matter what happens to anyone, they cannot die. Not from injury. Not from old age. Not from disease. Not from anything. Those things still happen, but they can never die."
The little Alicorn grew pale. "...S-So...an entire world of Sunny Towns?"
"...That is one way to put it...Also, young one?"
"Yes?"
"They can be saved. Them and Ruby both. And if they are, I will be waiting to take them to a place they can be whole again. But only if they break that curse as it should be broken. Only admitting their wrongdoing and repenting for it will set them free."
Applebloom blinked...then smiled. "...Thank yah, Mr. Death."
Mortis smiled. "You are welcome...And no short cuts this time."
The yellow Alicorn filly blushed, remembering that timeline where they'd gotten help from a Necromancer version of Lyra in helping them...but due to the Flim Flams, that timeline was not this one...and those were her Lyra and Bon Bon to begin with.
"Does that mean the Ruby who's here now isn't that one we met?" Applebloom asked.
"Perhaps ask her yourself," Mortis suggested, pointing behind Applebloom...where a familiar ghost was waiting now that the wards were down.
Alex Warlorn
While Twilight would NEVER complain about having at her hooves nothing less than a chat with a group of statues containing the memories of ponies from eons ago... There was a tiny part of her at the back of mind that had thought about recent events, including ones she had apparently missed. All the new Alicorns, all the new powers, all the recently villains crushed and new strength granted to the heroes. 'If this was an Ogres and Oubliettes campaign, I'd call the Oubliettes Overseer for running a Mounty-Haul campaign.'
Her conscious mind continue to rapid fire questions much like she had with the time-locked survivor of the destruction of the Age of Wonders.
Mtangalion
Unfortunately, the more Twilight cross-examined the enchanted statues like an Equestrian law professor, the less wise, all-knowing, and well... useful they seemed. Almost as if Fate had heard Twilight's thoughts, and gotten foalishly grumpy.
"Megan? Oh, she was really nice! I felt so warm and fuzzy that time when she brushed my mane!"
"And my mane too!" said another of the individual voices. "I thought her outfit was so cute and I wanted one just like it, and Megan said, 'Well, I'm afraid I'm not very good at sewing! Have you tried making one with magic?'"
...
"The first griffon prides? Oh dear, is that important? Mr. Starswirl didn't tell us anything about that! Oh no, what if something important happens in the future that he forgot to tell us, and now we can't ask him and we messed everything up!?"
...
"Well, of course I can tell you all about Spike the Dragon! That is, the Spike we knew, not the Spike you know, and naturally I can tell the story the best. I'm going to be queen over the Princess Ponies, after all."
"Are you still going on about that after all these years? Especially when it's obvious that a pegasus like me should be queen, majestic and soaring through the skies..."
"But I look the best in a royal gown!"
"I'm the one who grows the prettiest flowers! It should be me!"
Poor Twilight's forced smile began to twitch something fierce.
"Oh!" The voices fell silent, then slipped back into sync. "Miss Twilight, we want to help you any way we can, we really do! But we're memories, echoes frozen in stone. If we were perfect and we knew everything, why, then we'd just be the Guardians of Everfree forever, and there wouldn't need to be any new ones."
There was a flash of magic, and a wand appeared floating before Twilight, about as long as her foreleg and topped with a soft purple five-pointed star. "You're so passionate about all this, Twilight, and you have a good heart. You could do a wonderful job of protecting the magic... and if you're not the right pony, then you can find the right ponies, so please, take this with you! You may not believe it now, since you just got so many strong new friends, but... you're going to need all the help you can get."
Twilight took the wand in her telekinesis and touched a hoof to it, bracing herself for some flood of incredible power or insight... but she only felt a sharp tingle, a memory of something she couldn't quite place. "Great." She smirked. "Another mystery."
Kendell2
"Oh! And I just remembered something I'd forgot!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"What is that, Sweetie?" Rarity asked.
The little filly focused on a tree outside and window and focused...shooting two beams of icy blue dark magic out and freezing the limb solid. "I have ice vision now!"
Rarity's jaw dropped as she just stared in shock.
"...I can make ice sculptures for your parties now."
"...Hmm...I can work with that...how exactly did you get that, deary?"
"Oh, we freed the soul of an ancient Penguin King from an evil witch and he taught me the spell so he could pass on to the afterlife," Sweetie Belle explained with a big smile. "I probably should have used it more..."
Alex Warlorn
The world seemed to turn gray, like when the blank wolf came forth to stalk its prey. But instead, in the space between blink, Sweetie Belle was face to face with a pegasus foal with red wings and a black mane. What was odd, was that Sweetie couldn't tell if the foal was a colt or a filly.
They were wearing a red poncho, and wool cap. They had a black mane and fur that was beige/white like paper. Their cutie mark was a multi-ringed castle.
The foal took a look left, then a look right. "Such imbalance, no wonder mother had sent me here."
"W-Who are you?" Sweetie stuttered.
"You will not remember we spoke, since this happened between time, but I am Cardinal, mother fate had birthed me to restore balance."
"Balance of good and evil?"
"No... of ordeals. Of effort and rewards. To ensure no matter what side wins, they'll have worked for it. The wicked can not foresee every action and inaction of all heroes, and the righteous cannot wipe away evil overlords with a slight sneeze. There's no challenge, and no GROWTH in it."
"You're exaggerating!"
In spite of time being frozen, a lava monster then tore out of the ground. "I am the Neon Under King! All kneel before me!"
Sweetie Belle sneezed slightly, giving off a blast of cold magic that froze and shattered the would be overlord.
"... Uh?" Sweetie blushed.
"Such over saturation of power. From the incarnations of Alicorns, and so many freebies and prizes... it has to end." Cardinal touched Sweetie's forehead.
-
"OW!" Sweetie said holding her head.
"Oh dear, Sweetie, I think you have brain freeze... using an ice vision spell like that? Good think you didn't use it, that spell isn't designed for pony biology, I think Twilight will have to give it a full overhaul for it be safe for Pony use."
"Yes I... I'm better off not using it..."
MtangaLion
Flummox had a sudden thought. "My word. I have a house full of guests, and no hospitality to be found. That won't do."
"Uncle, you hate house guests," deadpanned Flim.
Flam nodded sagely. "Remember the time you told Lady Blue Belle where she could shove her..."
"New policy! Fellow saviors of Equestria are welcome anytime." He started towards the stairs. "This way, fillies and gentlecolts! I'll just access the security spells and..." Flummox furrowed his brow. "...who blew up the cleaning robot? Was that really necessary?" His face fell sharply. "And... the stasis spell in the pantry seems to have failed. So much for a victory feast."
In the upstairs foyer, Pinkie Pie popped out from behind a crystal pillar, announcing her arrival with a party horn, a spray of confetti, and a big grin. "Don't worry, we've got this!" Indeed, the main hall was getting dusted and decorated at a speed that might be fairly alarming to a pony not living in Ponyville.
Trixie was reading her letter delivered by Death, eyes tearing up a bit, though she wiped them hastily when Twilight's friends noticed. "I hope nopony is expecting Trixie to lock her astonishing amulet away in some castle vault! It is Magic Star's legacy, passed down from the earliest days of ponykind. Trixie has *earned* it."
Veritas raised an eyebrow. "Ya know..."
Trixie teleported across the room, dissolving into darkness and reforming in the blink of an eye, groveling at the Alicorn's hooves. "Please, please, please don't take it away! Trixie has seen the light... so to speak... she will not oppose you if you say that is *truly* what's best... but the Mighty and Humbled Trixie really wants the power... to do good, of course!" In a small voice, she added, "And what pony hasn't dreamed of becoming a princess?"
Veritas chuckled. "Ah was *gonna* say that Ah reckon you're right. You *have* earned it. Now, that said, what makes ya so sure you'll become an Alicorn? The Rainbow of Darkness is the precursor to the Elements of Chaos, ya know. The future ain't for me to say, but maybe if ya wear it long enough, ya might just go the other way."
Trixie blinked. "The... the other way!?" She considered, then grinned defiantly. "Nice try, but I'm still keeping it."
It suddenly occurred to Apple Bloom that she hadn't read her own letter yet...
MtangaLion
Apple Bloom kept a magical hold on her letter, letting it trail behind her as she followed the others up the stairs and into a room full of old-timey tables and couches and floor to ceiling bookshelves. She still wanted to read the letter more than anything, but her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies.
So she felt around, then peered into the gray space between moments. "Ah saw what you did."
Cardinal materialized, bowing to her. "I did my duty."
Apple Bloom frowned, pouting a bit... no, that didn't feel right. She took a deep breath, trying to imagine how Princess Praegressus ought to carry herself. "Ah don't like it when you meddle with mah friends."
"I did my duty," repeated Cardinal, respectful but firm, "and I will do more. Sweetie Belle will discover that she can only use perfected dark magic casting now, not the imperfect shortcut method that corrupts mortals so easily. Of course, the safe method draws far more mana from the caster. It will be appropriately challenging for a foal her age."
Apple Bloom's jaw dropped. "Why, you..."
"Button Mash was on the right track, thinking about the limits of his 'game console.' He doesn't yet understand the risks of manipulating reality, though. Scootaloo..."
Bloom stamped a hoof. "Knowing how to cast wingblades ain't outta line! Rainbow Dash thought she was mature enough to learn 'em, and Ah haven't seen anything to make me think otherwise."
Cardinal hesitated. "We agree on that point. But are we going to have this conversation every time I perform my duties in your sight? Will you command the minions of Fate to your will, young goddess? Are you already so wise?"
Before she could answer, two familiar wolves formed out of the shadows. "You did it!" barked Blanky, bowing quickly, then leaping for joy. "Mistress and her friends won!"
Snow Bound chuckled deeply. "Remember, brother, it's unseemly for us to be taking sides." He bowed to Apple Bloom. "But indeed, well done." Then he gave a deeper bow to Applejack... Bloom hadn't even realized her big sister was in the gray space too, until just then. "Well done, my friend."
Cardinal coughed expectantly.
Apple Bloom blushed. "Yer right. Go on and do yer job. Ah'll try not to make a fuss."
Applejack nuzzled Bloom. "Good. Now quit your stalling and read that letter."
Hesitantly, Apple Bloom let go, and color and life returned, time passing once more. The letter shook as she drew it out of the envelope and unfolded it, and it wasn't just from her being a foal who still had a lot to learn about her Alicorn magic.
"Howdy, Apple Bloom!" she read to herself. "This is from yer Ma and Pa, and... gosh, what all should we say?" She blinked. "There's so much... wait, yer writin' down this too? Can we start again? No?" Apple Bloom giggled.
"Apple Bloom, our sweet little filly... Ah just have ta say first that we are so sorry that... well, we had to go, so soon after you came into our lives. We always knew that you'd be in good hooves, though, with Ma and yer brother and sister. Apples take care of Apples, and we know they raised you to do the same.
"Don't worry about us too much! Did ya know, we're still having family reunions all the time, and there's still Apples we haven't met yet? There's just so many ponies, everypony from Applejack the First on down! She's a big hero like you wouldn't believe, ya know. Ya might know all about her already... kinda gettin' ahead of mahself there. If ya don't, ask yer sister sometime.
"Now, lately we've been hearing that you and Applejack even became highfalutin Alicorn goddesses, and yer brother might just follow in your hoofsteps too one day. Apples don't lie, so Ah have to admit, we were a little sad, thinking about how you'll always be hard at work and never get to settle down with us in Paradise, only just visit now and again.
"But ya know what? Knowing that our little family grew up to be the honesty, traditions, and innovation that were the foundation of everything good about the Apple family, right from the start?
"We couldn't be more proud of you."
Apple Bloom had tears pouring freely down her cheeks... and Applejack hugged her tight, and Big Mac grinned and put his strong limbs and big hooves around the both them. And then Button and Sweetie and Scootaloo had to join in, and the others were there too... Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Cheese... smiling faces all around. Even Twilight... she'd just walked in, with the magic wand sticking out of her saddlebag.
The rest of the letter said, "So keep working hard, and we'll see ya when we can visit or you can! Love, yer Ma and Pa."
Apple Bloom hugged her siblings tight, like only earth ponies or Alicorns could... her wings were too small to wrap around anypony, but she spread them anyway and wound up tickling Scootaloo's nose.
Scoots giggled. "Remind me to teach you how to preen those."
And Rainbow Dash grinned from ear to ear. "You three... I didn't forget you, Pinkie! Meet me in the field under my house for your first flying lessons, bright and early tomorrow. No more excuses! Heh... or else we'll tell everypony that Scootaloo can outfly every Alicorn in town."
Thalia casually took to the air and flipped head over hooves before touching down again. "Well, I kinda got some help from Surprise already, but that sure sounds like fun!"
Big Mac blinked. "Wait, what was that part in yer letter about traditions?"
"You shouldn't think too hard about that," said Apple Bloom, matter-of-factly.
Big Mac gave her a look, his memory not clouded one bit, and then he chuckled. "Eeyup."
Mtangalion
"Dear Princess Celestia..."
Twilight Sparkle levitated her parchment and eyed it critically. "I guess I've gotten too used to letting Spike write all my letters." She smiled. "I'll make a calligraphy practice schedule later." She smoothed out the scroll and began writing again.
"Have you ever started reading a new book in a great series, gotten several chapters in, and then started feeling like you're missing things? Realized that characters are referencing things that you know nothing about? Wondered if you somehow skipped an entire book in the series without knowing?"
Rarity Belle answered the front door of her boutique, smiling warmly and looking downwards, only to freeze, slowly lift her gaze upwards, and then gasp with delight at a larger, adolescent Spike. Spike grinned handsomely and held out a bouquet of flowers.
"Of course, that would be less of an issue if you'd reconsider my proposed royal decree, requiring all works of fiction to have an unambiguous volume number. But that's not what I'm writing about, Princess. Lately, I've been feeling that way about my life here in Ponyville."
In Trottingham, Flim and Flam were hard at work, wiping sweat from their brows as they used their magic to repaint the entire local guardhouse, one section at a time. Trixie stood nearby to supervise, still not quite believing what she was seeing.
Their steam wagon sat parked nearby, powered down. A calendar was pinned to the side, with many days crossed out and "Community Service" written in block letters at the top, right next to a long list of outstanding warrants.
Dr. Moon Shadow, the last surviving mortal pony of the Age of Wonders, facehoofed... with two legs, while standing comfortably on the other two. The brightest minds of the Manehatten Institute of Technology had gathered here in this lecture hall, not to listen to his presentation on DVD technology, but to binge watch his Galactic Legend of Heroic Ponies DVD box set.
He slipped a flyer out of the box, the one that proclaimed "Volume 2 - Coming next year!", and slipped it into his lab coat pocket, failing to keep the evil smirk off his face.
"I never imagined that I would become some kind of hero, but it happened, and I guess I got used to it. When we confronted Nightmare Moon, when we stopped Discord and Nightmare Whisper, I was right there leading the charge. When we fought against Chrysalis and those monsters from Tartarus, a lot more ponies helped, but I was still right there in the center of things, with a big part to play.
"When we fought Lilith the Witch Queen, I was... just kind of there. But you know what? That's okay!"
In a royal suite in Canterlot Castle, little Midnight Half-Light and Kifuko were snuggled together, sleeping peacefully while Hercules Beetle watchfully stood guard. Cicada was sorting their mail, raising an brow-ridge at a color full-page advertisement for gem polish, and setting aside another newspaper with the headline "Lost Seapony City Discovered!" The picture below the headline showed two real live seaponies... and a certain fictional light gold, gray-maned pegasus mare, with her hat tipped to partly obscure her face.
For once, it was incredibly convenient that the royal bath was the size of a swimming pool, because both Shining and Cadence were in there, transformed into seaponies, and Cadence was teaching Shiny to sing.
"My friends aren't some kind of supporting cast, only existing to make me look good. They're their own ponies, with their own lives and plans, and I'm proud of all of them... and maybe just a teensy bit jealous of some of them."
Archmage Flummox was holding court in the Ponyville schoolhouse, magically tapping a pointer at a blackboard covered in chalk scratchings on the fundamental principles of magic. Sweetie Belle, Snails, and Pinkie Pie were hanging on his every word, but Apple Bloom, Tootsie Flute, and Snips kept stealing glances at the clock, and poor Applejack looked about two steps from nodding off entirely.
A knocking at the window startled them all. Rainbow Dash was out there, grinning, with an eager Scootaloo hovering beside her. Rainbow beckoned towards the amazing cloud obstacle course that she'd built, hanging in the Ponyville sky, with other Ponyville pegasi already flying round and round it.
Flummox shook his head, pointing imperiously at the chalkboard. Rainbow Dash nodded vigorously, beckoning again.
Apple Bloom and Applejack looked at each other, then grinned and jumped right out the window, getting airborne clumsily.
"I can't imagine how much Equestria is going to change in the coming years..."
Princess Luna eagerly presented a scroll to her sister, grinning hopefully. It read "Step 1: Surprise Coronation" with cartoon doodles of Applejack and Pinkie wearing crowns, followed by "Step 2: Las Pegasus Vacation!"
Princess Celestia chuckled, gently shaking her head.
Big Mac dragged a chair onto the porch of the mostly rebuilt newlywed house, then sat down, yawning and stretching. Surely, after working hard all week sawing and hammering, then hiking through the Everfree and defeating an evil witch, nopony would begrudge him a day of rest.
The rest of the porch was taken up by a huge white wolf, who scratched at an ear, then yawned and rested his head on his forepaws.
Big Mac grinned, gnawing on a hay stalk. Snow Bound didn't have much to say, and neither did Mac, and that was just fine.
"... but I can't wait to find out! Your Faithful Student, always, Twilight Sparkle."
---
Twilight Sparkle gripped the Everfree Wand firmly in her magic, taking notes in a journal at the same time. The Golden Oaks Library had gotten a little untidy lately, but Twilight never let things slip so far as to become *disorganized*.
"Test number 47," she said to herself. "Thus far, all attempts to charge the wand to full power have failed. The Princess Ponies say it can't be done without the lost heart crystal, whatever that is, but I'm sure I can get some kind of reaction from the wand's residual energy, maybe even something that will put me on the right track towards creating a substitute!"
The purple unicorn focused deeply, channeling more and more magic into her scrying spell, until her blazing horn gained a double corona, and loose objects started to drift all around the library. With her eyes closed, Twilight missed the Crown of Magic starting to flicker, pulsing, resonating with the Everfree Wand...
Until the room exploded in rainbow light. "W-what?" Twilight expected to find herself covered in soot again, but instead, she appeared to be floating. "What the..." Her flanks and hooves were dotted with extra stars, and her too-long mane and tail swayed around her, golden stripes added to her usual purple and blue. "What?!"
The transformation lasted all of six seconds before it undid itself, dumping her onto the hardwood floor, just a plain purple unicorn again. "What?!!"
---
Apple Bloom rapped a hoof on their old clubhouse podium. "Howdy, y'all! Welcome to the first ever official meeting of the Alicorn Crusaders, where members who are already Alicorns... heh, that's me... help other members to get their cutie m... Ah mean, to get their... Alicorn-ness? To become real Alicorns! Again!"
Sweetie Belle raised a hoof. "We're still going to help fillies and colts who don't have their cutie marks yet, aren't we?"
Apple Bloom grinned. "Absolutely, positively!"
Scootaloo hovered, too excited to stay on the floor. "We should make a list of all the things we could try to become Alicorns! Like interviewing Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, or exploring the World Mirror Maze again!"
"Ooh, we could visit the other Diamond and Apple Pie in their world!" said Sweetie Belle. "I'd like to try to fix Sunnytown again, too. And explore the world we made with Nature Walk!"
Button Mash waved a hoof. "We should invite Silver Spoon too, and Spike, to help him become... whatever dragons become! And, uh... my mom..."
Apple Bloom frowned. "Button, your mom would make us do our homework and get home in plenty of time for bed. We'd never get any Crusading done."
Scootaloo waved her hoof next. "Um, question... why is Coffee Swirl here?"
Everyone else looked at Button, who blinked. "Oh! We were just talking about reality twisting and impractically large swords. Hey, Mr. Swirl, do you want to go Crusading with us?"
The pegasus stallion looked around in mild alarm, as if he'd only just realized where he was... but right then, Zephyr Breeze went flying right past the clubhouse window at top speed, with an enraged Fluttercruel hot on his tail. A relieved Coffee Swirl made a "be seeing you!" gesture with his wing feathers, then took off to chase after them.
"Just the four of us, then," mused Sweetie. "So, Apple Bloom, since you're the experienced Alicorn here, which of those ideas should we get started on?"
Apple Bloom leaned forward, grinning. "All of 'em."
---
A flood-lamp snapped on, illuminating an old, dusty television studio.
"Well, it looks like that's all we have for now!" said Thalia. "I might be in a *little* bit of trouble with Miss Fate for bringing a *certain* party pony to Ponyville a couple of seasons early."
Thalia cupped a hoof to her ear and gasped. "What's that?! Well, of course I was just using my super-duper nifty Alicorn magic to find the best new bearer for the Element of Laughter. I didn't peak ahead!" She tried to hide something behind her back, but a bunch of script pages spilled onto the floor anyway. "Why would you even think that?!"
The Alicorn of Joy and Nostalgia teleported the pages away and smiled warmly. "I know some of you want to see more, and I'd love to stay a while and sing a song, or answer some viewer letters for old times' sake, but..." She sighed. "Some folks think that this story has gone on for way, way, way, way, way, way..." Gasp! "... way too long already."
She winked at the camera. "But you know what I think?" Without lighting her horn, she suddenly donned a wizard hat and beard, and blew bubbles on a pipe. "A story is never too long or too short, so long as everypony is having fun!" She tossed the props aside and waved a hoof energetically. "So I hope you ALL had fun! Bye, and thanks for watching!!"
She reached into the foreground, switching the camera off, and the picture faded to black.