//------------------------------// // Homecoming // Story: The Untrotted Path // by Luna Aeterna Solutae //------------------------------// In her cage, Celestia felt a shift. A vast expenditure of magical power. She felt a tugging in her chest as her magic yearned to again twine with that of the Spell of All Things. The chains blocking the sun dissipated slowly. She soared on wings of flame, her mane and tail crackling coronas of sunfire. She barreled towards the corona and tucked her chin, shearing through and rocketing towards her home. Tears streamed behind her, as her hooves stirred the ether and propelled her to higher speeds. The sun broke over Equestria's western ranges, and the ponies rejoiced. A sunbeam lanced into the castle's windows, and she raced down it towards her destiny. Towards the sister she'd once lost. The group of ponies were stirring slowly, all of them groaning and shaking out exhaustion. Rainbow pressed her face into her hooves and grumbled, Pinkie nosing under her wing to hide from the light. Fluttershy glanced towards her closest friend and gasped at the raiment sparkling at her throat. “Oh Rarity… it's so lovely.” Rarity gave her newly restored tail an experimental flick and embraced it against her chest with a squeal of joy. “I know! I'll never part with it again.” Sunset smiled as she approached and lent her horn to helping ponies out of the pile. She felt renewed, herself. She laid a hoof against the left side of her face. Spike's flame had been hot enough to restore her, but not enough to fully complete the job. She smiled a bit wider as she felt everything in place- her vision no longer half ghostly mage-sight. Fluttershy shook her head. “No. Your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark.” Rarity glanced down at the violet gemstone sparkling at her throat. “What? Ooh. So does yours!” Twilight leaned on her mother and smiled as she watched her new friends fuss over the new jewelry and revel in the small hurts repaired by the Elements’ magic. Applejack nudged her and flashed a crooked smile. “Gee, Twilight! I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the Elements of Harmony.” The breaking sun finally reached the windows, throwing the rubble of the battle site into stark relief. All seven turned towards the sound of clicking hooves shod in gold. The soft, warm voice of their Princess filled the room. “Indeed you do. As my sister and I once did. The omnimorphic spell is a heavy burden, but I'm sure you can shoulder it better than we did.” Twilight gasped and raced forth. Sunset followed at a more sedate pace, but with no less emotion. Now that the crisis was past, the held breath was allowed to be released and they were free to worry about what had happened to her. “Princess Celestia!” “Mom!” The six gasped softly and dropped into the lowest bows they could manage, as the pair nestled under a wing apiece. Celestia smiled, the expression as kind as her dawn. “Twilight Sparkle, I knew you and Sunset would rise to the task.” Twilight blinked slowly and freed herself from the embrace of down. “But... you told me it was all an old pony tale!” Celestia shook her head. There was no evidence of the marble statue that sat upon the throne, this was a new Princess. A mother, a grandmother. A sister and a friend. “Sunset and I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart.” Her face fell. She swallowed, and her voice shook. The mare she had been once upon a time shone through as she gazed upon her sister. “Now if only another will as well. Princess Luna…” At the sound of her name, the Princess started awake. She rose to her hooves, kicking aside the shards of the Nightmare's armor. She carefully stared at the ground, withers hunched up under the withering gaze of the Unconquered Sun. In the fading timeless mist of the Spell, the world looked like a reel of film exposed twice. They saw at once the Solar Princess and the petulant Lunar, and a sorrowful Pegasus reaching for her Earth sister. The younger sibling was smaller, barely taller than an adult pony. Splotches evoking the spray of stars in the night sky scattered her dusky navy coat, and her darker blue mane hid her face from view. Celestia's voice trembled with emotion. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?” Pinkie gasped and clung to Dash, chewing on a hoof. Sunset smiled and slid a foreleg over Twilight's withers, bringing her daughter in close. Luna seemed like she'd remain silent and defiant… until she suddenly launched herself forward and buried her muzzle in her sister's chest and clung to her like a sailor might the mast of a ship in gale. “I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!” Celestia joined her sister in crying, pressing her close. For the first time in a thousand years, the sisters embraced. “ I've missed you, too. Every night for a thousand years I was reminded of my failure.” The Town Hall and its preparations were a faintly smoking crater, but Ponyville had a more important task than any township had ever held. A reception for the returning Princess. By the time they reached the edge of town, every gathered pony knew what had happened. Pinkie rushed on ahead and did her best to help. The square was repurposed to hold the event. Every musician gathered to play for the Celebration, and for Luna. Every restaurant, every pony whose mark talent had anything to do with food combined their larders and efforts to a feast befitting the visitors. Twilight broke off from the celebration early, as she watched another pair of ponies pay their respects to the emotionally overwhelmed Lunar Princess. She sighed and turned away, her hoofsteps heavy as she approached the library. She had to clean, then pack, and prepare for her return to Canterlot. As a filly she'd never wanted to come here, but now she didn't want to ever leave. Celestia caught up with her, and lifted her chin with a hoof. “Why so glum, Twilight? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?” Twilight scuffed a hoof and looked away. To remove her chin from Celestia's hoof was unconscionable. “That's just it. I… I let friends drift away once and forgot how wonderful friendship feels. I don't want to leave and give it up again.” Celestia's eyes closed and she smiled. She gently folded her forelegs around the small mare and nestled her adoptive granddaughter close. “Spike, take a note, please. I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria.” Her eyes tracked to Luna, currently giggling and blushing as Sunset bowed stiffly and kissed her hoof. She should have seen that coming from miles away. “She must continue to study the magic of friendship, and will assist in Luna's rehabilitation. She must report her findings from her new home in Ponyville, where she shall take up her title and possession of the Golden Oaks Library. The unicorn Sunset Shimmer shall remain as well, to more closely guide Twilight Sparkle and retain oversight of Dame Everfree's various holdings.” Spike blew on the ink to dry it, and furled the scroll tightly. He fixed the image of Celestia's secretary Raven Inkwell in his mind and carefully flamed it on its way. Twilight broke off and bowed lowly as she could manage. “Thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before.” Pinkie nudged Sunset as the latter approached, sniggering softly. “See? What did I say! We throw her a huge party and she'll never want to leave!” The party eventually broke up, and again Pinkie's talent came into full effect during the cleanup. A chariot touched down in the town square, and the ponies gasped. On one side was a member of the Solar Guard resplendent in his golden armor. On the other, a pony with the wings and tufted ears of a bat. Luna bowed stiffly before mounting the steps to the chariot, nestling into the padding. Celestia followed shortly after and draped a wing across her back, looking slightly like a mother swan as she did so. Twilight bade goodbye to her friends for the afternoon as they broke off to catch up on badly needed sleep, and bent herself to the task of neatening the library. As the sun began to set and the moon to rise, she leaned over a lectern and began composing the first of what promised to be many letters. The Sisters passed the remainder of the day napping, welded together at the hip. After a thousand years locked away, Luna's appetite was healthy and her mind relatively sound. Celestia still pushed her into meeting with a small lime-green pegasus, at least for an hour. Luna was secretly relieved that of all the changes she had seen this day, the order of Heartmenders yet lived. When the appointed time came, they met together on the balcony overlooking the garden. They nestled together as a pair of horns lit gold and blue, the heavenly bodies shifting in perfect Harmony as they were always meant. In the last second both were in view. The sunset shimmered, the twilight sparkled, and the first vestiges of starlight glimmered. Luna gasped as the Lyric Lavender opened and echoed its mournful music into the stillness of the deepening night. Celestia shifted as if she might speak, but Luna cut her off with a voice choked in emotion. She reeled words into the moonlight, the recurring thread of her long Nightmare. ”How my deeds pain me as time stretches long. How could I hurt them this way?” A silver-shod hoof found Celestia's jaw. ”So rest easy now, my punishment's mine. The weight of my crimes are my own.” Her voice gathered strength and shattered the silence. For all those long thousand years, the song had been an unknowing duet. As the night deepened, Luna nestled into Celestia's side and watched over her rest. She couldn't tap her full strength just yet, but she could ensure her sister slept easy for the first time in a thousand years. She spun a dream, of a pony named Morning Sun and the foal who would follow her anywhere. She told her the story of the eternal love of Midnight Moon. She was startled when a curl of smoke washed from her horn, and ashes collected into a scroll that appeared with a snap. Spying her mark printed into the ribbon, she opened it and began to read. ”Dear Princess Luna. Today I learned that the past isn't as important as the future. That everyone deserves friendship, and it can be found if you just have the nerve to seek it out. I hope you'll be my friend. Faithfully yours, Twilight Sparkle. P.S., Sunset hopes you'll visit soon. She won't admit it, but she does.” Luna smiled, near in tears. Hidden in the furling of the scroll was another object, a flat sheet of glossy paper- a “Photograph” of Sunset, Twilight, and all their new friends in Ponyville. “I will, Twilight Sparkle.”