The collected ponies shielded their eyes from the bright light for a few seconds before it finally faded.
Nightmare Moon lay before them, unconscious but visibly uninjured, her armor lying in shards all around her. As they watched, she slowly regained consciousness, blinking in the dim light. As soon as she caught sight of Scarlet Starbeam towering over her, however, she scrambled backward a few feet, stopping only as she bumped into the wall.
Scarlet took a step forward. “Stand down, Nightmare Moon. Your fight is over. You will accompany us back to town, where you will await judgment.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
The sound of hoofsteps came from the stairwell once again as a single pony joined them in the hall. She stood no less than twice as tall as Scarlet herself; her body was a cloud-like white, and her mane and tail, predominantly sky blue with highlights of sea green and lavender, seemed to drift in a nonexistent breeze. She wore a magnificent golden crown and necklace, and the emblem of a bright sunburst emblazoned her flank. What stood out most to Scarlet, however, were her long, sharp horn and magnificent wings, just like another she’d seen that evening.
It didn’t take long for the pieces to connect in her head. “Princess Celestia?”
At once, six of the assembled ponies dropped to their knees, bowing in reverence. After a moment’s hesitation, Scarlet slowly followed suit.
“My faithful student Twilight,” Celestia began, “I’d say congratulations are in order for your victory today. Thanks to you, Equestria has escaped the clutches of Nightmare Moon.”
Twilight’s face shone with pride. As she opened her mouth to respond, however, a loud fit of coughing and a small cloud of purple bubbles cut her off. Waterwing shifted a bit as Tank Buster leaned a little more heavily on her, lazily wiping a drop of purple from the corner of his mouth.
“Oh! You have injured.” Celestia strode purposefully forward, lowering her horn toward Tank. With a brief glow, a ring of tiny lights rose through the floor, encircling Tank for just a moment before fading.
After a few seconds, Tank blinked and lifted his head. “Oh, wow, that’s better. Um, thanks.”
Celestia nodded. “That should slow the poison for a while until the infirmary can administer an antitoxin.” She turned back toward Twilight. “We have much to discuss, but it will need to wait until then. I have just one order of business before we return to town.” With that, she locked eyes with the defeated Nightmare Moon, still cowering in the background.
Nightmare Moon flinched, trembling as the imposing figure of Princess Celestia marched toward her… and gently nuzzled the cowering pony’s neck with her cheek.
“It’s been a long time, dear sister,” Celestia breathed, barely above a whisper. “I missed you so very much…”
Rainbow Dash missed a wingbeat and nearly fell to the floor. “Sister? What?”
Twilight nodded. “She’s not Nightmare Moon anymore. Her name is Princess Luna.”
Still trembling in apprehension, Luna slowly stood up, glancing back and forth between her sister and the crowd of ponies before them.
Celestia smiled gently. “I must take Luna back to Canterlot. I will meet the rest of you at the infirmary in Ponyville.” With a momentary glow of her horn, she cast an intricate-looking circle of light on the floor in front of them. “Hurry along, now.”
One by one, all nine of them stepped into the circle of light and vanished, whisked off back to town.
*******
“Are… are you going to punish her, Princess?”
Assembled with the others in the infirmary waiting room as Rainbow Dash and Tank Buster received proper treatment, Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together nervously.
Celestia chuckled, reclining casually on a nearby couch. “Of course not, Fluttershy. I knew this day would come, and I had every confidence that my faithful student and her new friends would see things right in the end. Thanks to your efforts, she ended up causing very little damage, all things considered.”
Twilight busied herself with examining the ornate tiara in her hooves, its Element of Magic sparkling as brilliantly as ever. “Princess, what should we do with the Elements of Harmony?”
Celestia blinked, pondering the question for a moment. “The royal palace is the safest place for them, I think. I’d like to keep them close; we cannot anticipate when we may need them again.”
Rarity pouted, straightening her Element of Generosity around her neck. “It’s so lovely, I hate to part with it, but I suppose it isn’t exactly an ordinary necklace…”
“What about these?” Scarlet pointed to her own necklace and its empty setting. “They seem to be rather… inactive as yet.”
“I had an idea about that, actually.” Celestia turned to Twilight once again. “Twilight, do you happen to have any unfinished business back in Canterlot?”
Twilight straightened up in her seat. “Um… I don’t think so. Why?”
“I have another assignment for you.” Celestia stood up, her expression turning serious. “Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to identify the three new Elements of Harmony you’ve discovered. I believe the friends you have made since your arrival in Ponyville will be an indispensable part of your investigation; as such, you will be staying in the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville for the forseeable future so that its resources are available to you. I will forward any potentially relevant materials from your room in Canterlot as well. Is that understood?”
Twilight stood up out of her chair and bowed. “I humbly accept this assignment, Princess.”
“Excellent.” Celestia’s pleasant smile returned. “Ah, it seems your friends have been discharged.”
Sure enough, Rainbow Dash and Tank Buster filed their way out of a nearby door. The bandaging on Rainbow’s hind leg was neat and clean, and Tank seemed to be a little dizzy but otherwise unharmed.
Fluttershy was the first to approach them. “Um… how are you two feeling?”
Rainbow shook her bandaged leg. “The pain went away a little while ago. I just need to keep these on for a few days to be sure though.”
Tank shook his head vigorously. “Well, until this dizziness wears off in a few minutes, the antitoxin is only a marginal improvement over the poison… but I guess at least it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Well then,” Celestia began, prompting everyone to turn their attention her way, “now that we have everypony here again, I think it’s time we discuss the matter of compensation.”
Applejack adjusted her hat. “Aw shucks, Princess, we’re just glad you’re back and the sun’s up again. We don’t need any fancy rewards, right?”
A murmur of assent came from most of the rest of the group; Tank opened his mouth to object, but decided he’d thought better of it and closed it again before any words came out.
“I suppose I should have expected that, given the company in question.” Celestia gave a satisfied smirk. “I feel I ought to ask, though… have any of you eaten recently? It’s been a long night, after all.”
“Not since before the festival,” Twilight admitted. As if on cue, Pinkie’s stomach growled its agreement.
Celestia nodded. “Then it’s a good thing I thought to order a little something. It should be waiting for you back at the library by the time you get there.”
Waterwing’s eyes lit up and she rubbed her forehooves together in anticipation.
“I have other matters that need my attention now that Luna has returned,” Celestia explained, “so I’m afraid we must part ways from here. Enjoy your meal, my little ponies, and rest well. You’ve certainly earned it.”