In the gardens of Canterlot Castle...
Ashgray, who got hit by the Elements of Harmony turned to stone. Princess Celestia thought it would be best to keep him close. The garden in front of her castle in Canterlot was a good place. Summershine, Happytrade, Brilliance, Crash, Lightbeam, and Nightsky were watching when Princess Celestia placed the stone statue, which previously was Ashgray, on an open spot in the garden.
Nightsky couldn't help but get a bad feeling about this. "Is it really such a good idea to leave him here?" The stallion asked.
"I agree," Summershine added. "What if he turns back to normal? He would be dangerously close to you, Princess Celestia," he pointed out as he looked at the princess in concern.
But Princess Celestia confidently shook her head. "He won't. The Elements of Harmony were what turned him into this. He won't be able to escape, trust me,"
It almost sounded as if Princess Celestia was talking from experience. Summershine half expected that some of the statues that were scattered around in this garden were created like this. One of those statues looked like a mix of a pony and all sorta different creatures. He played around with the thought that this thing could have been some evil creature that needed to be stopped by the Elements of Harmony as well. But of course, he had to admit that his imagination was running a little too wild. It must have been because of how the rest of the day was stressing him out so much.
Lightbeam took a look at Ashgray. Her face showed a frown. "I feel bad for him. Was this really the best outcome? Couldn't we have found another way?" She said after she turned around to face her friends.
"Yeah," Crash replied with a frown on his face as well. "I mean, he just pretended to be our friend but I feel really bad for turning him to stone. I know I wouldn't want that happen to me," the stallion said.
But Princess Celestia was making sure that the ponies would not regret their decision. "I know it was a difficult choice for you all," she said, again most likely speaking from experience since she had to banish her own sister to the moon. "But in order to keep Equestria safe, this was a sacrifice that was needed. Ashgray was dangerous and needed to be stopped, especially after he planned to destroy the Elements of Harmony,"
Summershine quickly remembered his previous task from the princess. He and his friends still needed the Elements of Harmony to fight Nightmare Moon once she returns so having them destroyed was not an option.
"Ashgray," the princess mumbled under her breath while being deeply in thoughts.
This caught Summershine's attention. "Your majesty?" He asked.
The princess then shook her head. "It's no use...I can't remember," she then said with some frustration in her voice. Once the group was looking over to her, Princess Celestia felt the need to explain herself. "Ashgray...he seemed to know me," she said.
Lightbeam could only chuckle after hearing that. "Of course he does! Who doesn't know the ruler of all of Equestria?" She figured.
But everypony else knew that this was not exactly what Princess Celestia meant. "No," she replied. "This pony seemed to know me...personally. The way he spoke to me...it was like I did something that caused him to end up the way he was..."
"And, you can't remember?" Crash asked confused.
Princess Celestia shook her head again. "He knew about the Tree of Harmony, the Elements of Harmony, and Winterglow..." she mumbled to herself. With the exception of The Elements of Harmony, the other two things sounded new to everypony. Not even Brilliance could enlighten the group about those things. Again, Princess Celestia explained.
"I guess, since you all did so much, the least I can do is to explain those things as well," she said almost as if she had no choice anymore.
"The Tree of Harmony," the princess started. "It's the tree where my sister and I originally found the Elements of Harmony,"
This took some of the ponies by surprise. "The Elements of Harmony grew from a tree?" Lightbeam said in surprise.
Princess Celestia chuckled in response. "It's no ordinary tree of course," she explained. "It held powerful magic within it and even after we removed it from the tree, it still protects Equestria in a way,"
Those words must be true, The Elements of Harmony were turned to stone for over a thousand years now, which would mean that the tree was without them for just as long. Still, it didn't change too much of the situation. Whatever the tree was doing to protect Equestria, it was working, according to Princess Celestia.
"And Winterglow?" Summershine then asked.
Hearing that name put a more serious expression on Princess Celestia again. "Winterglow was a pony who I met a long time ago," she said with a nostalgic tone in her voice. "My sister and I were still young at that time. We met him shortly after the founding of Equestria when the three pony tribes were about to set their differences aside. Winterglow was doing everything in his power to make that happen as well,"
"Sounds like a great pony!" Crash interrupted in the middle of the explanation, causing Summershine to be quiet again.
Judging from the serious expression on Princess Celestia's face, there was still more things that she needed to mention before one could come to this conclusion. The princess continued. "It was a noble goal of him, that is for sure but making it happen was a lot more difficult," she said before she looked over to the ponies in expectations. "I assume you all are familiar with the story about the founding of Equestria?" She then asked.
Brilliance nodded. "The Fire of Friendship," she started. The group knew that she would explain everything for those who were unaware of some things about this story. "Windigos were roaming around in Equestria and covered it in snow. Everyponies hate made them stronger. But then three leaders found a new land for them to live in: Equestria. They began fighting again and the Windigos appeared in this land and covered it in snow as well. But the advisers, their second-in-commands, and a pony named Starwhite managed to make peace with each other and the Fire of Friendship was ignited,"
Lightbeam jumped up and down after remembering this tale again. "Oh, yeah! I love that story!" She shared in excitement.
"Yes," Princess Celestia said after she listened to Brilliance's summary. "The stories about the founding of Equestria always make it sound like as if there was a Happy End after this but unfortunately, things did not just completely change for the better out of nowhere. Many were still against living with the other pony races in harmony, especially the leaders of the three pony tribes who were still hard to convince. Winterglow noticed how stubborn those ponies were too...that's when it happened,"
The ears of everypony perked up. "When what happened?" Nightsky asked curiously.
Princess Celestia had a mix of seriousness and sadness on her face. "Winterglow changed. He was a pony with noble goals and he tried to archive them peacefully, with respect and kindness. But then suddenly, he turned to an enemy of Equestria. He got corrupted by Dark Magic and used it to force Harmony on Equestria, even going so far to go up against the three pony tribe leaders and wanting to rule over Equestria himself,"
Nopony, not even Brilliance heard about this. One would think that somepony like this would be heard of but then again, this story was a long time ago. Even the founding of Equestria was retold differently according to what Princess Celestia said.
Of course, there was one question that Summershine was asking himself the most. "What happened to him?"
Princess Celestia was thinking. She seemed to have trouble recalling the exact details but she shared with everypony what she knew. "He was stopped by...somepony..." she vaguely replied.
Suddenly, Crash jumped up. "Oh! You think it was Starwhite!? You know, this Unicorn that turned into an Alicorn and helped to ignite the Fire of Friendship?" He asked into the round.
Summershine instantly connected some dots inside of his head. "Wait...that sound just like...Ashgray?" He started, causing his friends to look at him in realization. "What was it called? Terra Unisus?" He then asked toward Brilliance who just nodded in response. "Princess Celestia, do you know anything about this?"
"Yes," Princess Celestia replied. "Terra Unisus is an old spell that allows ponies of all races to transform into an Alicorn and use a special kind of Magic called Terra Unisus Magic. Starwhite possessed this power as well and so did Winterglow, even though he already was an Alicorn," she casually mentioned much to the surprise of everypony.
"Winterglow was an Alicorn!? Like you!?" Happytrade asked shocked.
Princess Celestia explained. "Alicorns are not born, as far as I know so I don't know how he became one. And about Starwhite...it might be possible that he was the one who stopped him. Then again, I don't know what became of him,"
Lightbeam threw in a theory. "Maybe Ashgray is Starwhite?" She casually mentioned, earning herself some confused looks. "What? They are both Unicorns that can turn into Alicorns," she said while she shrugged her shoulders.
"But that can't be possible," Summershine said. "Think about it, that would mean that Ashgray was over a thousand years old," he pointed out.
"Yes," Princess Celestia agreed. "They do share the ability to turn into an Alicorn however, so there is a possibility that they are connected in some way. Still, Ashgray knowing about all those different things is still a mystery. Still," she said with another thought crossing her mind now. "He knew me, but I didn't know him. I think I know why that could be the case," she started, gaining the full attention of the six ponies. "The Memory Erase Spell...but...that also can't be possible," she then said, instantly taking back her thoughts.
Summershine never heard of a spell like this. Judging from the name alone, he figured that it was a spell to erase memories. Still, the stallion asked away what this spell was.
Princess Celestia explained. "It's an ancient spell that was used to remove someone from everyone's memory," she briefly explained.
"What does that mean?" Lightbeam asked confused.
The princess continued. "It's a little hard to explain. The way it works goes like this: you pick somepony, let's say in our case, Ashgray," she said before she looked over to the stone statue. "Once the spell is activated, everypony who ever met Ashgray will forget him, like he never existed in the first place,"
Crash shuddered for a moment. "Sounds scary. I don't want anypony to forget about me!"
But the princess smiled at the stallion. "Don't worry. There is a requirement for the spell to work. The one who is supposed to be removed from everyponies memory can not physically exist anymore,"
Summershine lowered his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean with that?" He asked.
Princess Celestia looked over to Ashgray again. "For example, Ashgray could be removed from everyponies memory because he is turned to stone and longer exists," she then looked over to Summershine. "But it would not work for you since you are right in front of me,"
Nightsky was then the one who put one and one together. "So, you think Ashgray used some kind of spell like this? But that would not make any sense because he existed when you met him,"
"Precisely," Princess Celestia answered. "There are so many things that I would have liked to ask him but we also cannot afford to let him roam free so I guess it just be like this," she said.
Happytrade could only scratch her head after this avalanche of information. "This is so much to take in! I don't think I can process it all!"
"Yeah," Summershine said. "It will be quite fun explaining everything to Star Twinkle but I'll try my best," he figured.
But Happytrade looked at the Unicorn and rolled her eyes. "You mean like you told him about the Elements of Harmony and Arcana?"
Summershine looked away embarrassed. "I was about to tell him," he said with a pretty unconvincing tone in his voice.
Princess Celestia's attention was grabbed. "That one friend of yours? He got hurt by Ashgray, wasn't he? Is he alright?" She asked concerned.
Summershine nodded in response. "He wasn't hurt that much, but he needed some rest. He is with his parents now, here in Canterlot," he informed. The stallion moved down his head in regret. "He may have not gotten hurt if I was stronger..." he said, blaming himself for this situation.
But Princess Celestia shook her head and couldn't disagree more. "Summershine, I know you still feel pressured that I gave you the mission to take care of Nightmare Moon," she said, causing the stallion to widen his eyes in surprise. She didn't expect the princess to read him like this. "I may say that I entrust you with this task but I never said that you have to do it alone. I mean just look around,"
Summershine did as the Princess told him and saw his five friends behind him, smiling at the stallion happily. "You all managed to save Equestria by working together and I am confident that you will continue to do so. You were chosen by the Elements of Harmony after all," Princess Celestia assured confidently. "You were not put randomly into this situation but rather the elements saw something special in all of you and decided to choose you. And it is not one of you who is supposed to figure everything out, but all of you. Only if you combine Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, Honesty, and Friendship, Harmony can be upheld,"
The group felt more motivated than ever before. They didn't feel pressured but rather excited, as if they couldn't wait to fight the next danger that would threaten Equestria.
"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Summershine said before he laughed slightly. "As the Element of Friendship, I should be the one who should know everything about Friendship...but luckily, I have friends who can support me whenever I feel lost,"
With those words, the group left the princess alone. They wanted to check up on Star Twinkle and his condition. He probably wanted to know what the princess told them and what happened to Ashgray. Or maybe they just were worried about him.
Later...
"Starfall, do you need anything!? Do you want me to get you some water!?" Rainfall Twinkle asked.
"No, I already had four glasses, mom..."
"Oh! So you need to go to the bathroom!?" Sunny Twinkle asked concerned.
"No!... I mean, yes, dad, but I can do that on my own if I wanted to!"
It was quite a funny scene to watch for everypony to see Star Twinkle's parents overly worried about him. Some of them even chuckled in secret.
But Rainfall didn't think this was a laughing matter at all. "I'm sorry dear but try to understand. You come to visit us after quite some time and the first thing we see is you being carried by your friends into our house,"
Summershine had to admit that he had no other idea what to do with Star Twinkle. He needed some rest so he figured he should wait with his parents to get some rest before they would return to Ponyville. Star Twinkle only agreed to all of this because his friends were worried about him. But now, he wished that he could leave his parents out of this. All these worrying questions were starting to get annoying.
"I'm fine. Yes, I got hurt in a battle but I'm fine now, I promise," he assured everypony in the room.
"Well," Crash started. "You did get hit by Ashgray covered in fire, didn't that hurt?" He asked, totally out of place.
Star Twinkle's eyes widened after hearing that so Star Twinkle had to diffuse the situation. "It did, it really hurt, but, as I said, I'm fine!"
"So...we need to cool the area!?" Sunny Twinkle asked concerned. Star Twinkle groaned in response.
In the meantime, his mother, Rainfall Twinkle was walking out of the room, to the kitchen and returned briefly after. "I'm afraid, we don't have enough food to offer for so many ponies,"
"No," Nightsky replied. "No need to bother for us," he said.
But Lightbeam was thinking otherwise. "I am actually quite hungry. I don't think I ate something today," she added before she held her stomach.
Being her brother, Nightsky already offered to go and buy something but Summershine decided to do it instead. He claimed to know Canterlot a little bit more from his time at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns in this town.
"This could be a good opportunity for us to celebrate us saving Equestria!" Summershine explained.
"Good idea!" Crash replied excitedly.
The rest of the group got quickly excited as well so Summershine left to grab some sweets for everypony before they would all starve.
Later...
Summershine carried a big box filled with multiple sweets inside of it around Canterlot and headed back to Star Twinkle's house, or rather his former house. The stallion bought the sweets from a nearby doughnut shop. He had to admit that he was pretty hungry too after a day like this.
As he walked through the town however, his thoughts went back to the events that happened earlier this day. Ashgray, Winterglow, Starwhite, Terra Unisus, Memory Erase Spell, all those things were pretty hard to take in at once. On top of that, there was Arcana before that, who tried to steal the Elements of Harmony too. Summershine had the feeling that restoring the elements caused more problems instead of helping Equestria. He had a feeling that this was just the beginning of something bigger and more dangerous than what he originally expected. At first, he only was prepared for Nightmare Moon but now there were already multiple dangers that he and his friends dealt with.
"Is this how my life will go from now on? Saving Equestria with my friends on a weekly basis?" He asked himself. He and his friends were chosen by the Elements of Harmony so who else would save the world? Was he really putting himself and his friends in such a high position? He was just a normal pony, and so were his friends.
But Summershine was confident that he and his friends could accomplish everything. They proved that by taking care of both Arcana and Ashgray, and they will be successful against Nightmare Moon as well. They had to.
"If that is how it is now, then so be it!" He said determinedly. "I don't plan to let the princess or Equestria down!" He said as he stopped and looked up at the sky. "I and my friends will figure out everything! No matter what stands in our way! I know it!" He vowed to himself.
BUMP!
Summershine's speech was interrupted as soon as somepony walked into him, knocking him off from his hooves. The world spun for a moment, when Summershine got back on his hooves again he saw somepony on the ground in front of him. It was the pony that ran into him, it was a purple coated Unicorn mare with a dark blue mane that had streaks of pink and purple in it. Her eyes were dark purple and her Cutie Mark consisted of a pink sparkle with five small white sparkles around it.
The mare grabbed her head, the world was still spinning for her at this moment. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice sounding very dizzy. "I must have gotten too invested in my book," she added.
Summershine looked down at the ground. First, he checked the books of sweets and made sure that everything was still in perfect condition. Luckily, it was. He also spotted the book the mare was talking about. He picked it up for her with his magic and instantly recognized the title. "The many Tales of Star Swirl the Bearded?"
The book was snatched away by the mare with her own magic. "That's mine!" She said nervously, adding a pretty uncomfortable laugh.
"That's a really good book," Summershine commented interested.
"Really?" The mare replied in surprise. "You know who Star Swirl the Bearded is?" She then asked.
Summershine nodded. "Of course I do!" He said almost offended. "He was one of the greatest Unicorns that ever existed and the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era. He created over two-hundred spells. And he is the father of the-"
"-amniomorphic spell!" The mare joined in excitedly before she got a little embarrassed about it. "Sorry," she apologized, which there was no real reason to. "I just didn't expect somepony to know so much about him as I do. Normally ponies roll their eyes whenever I mention him and treat me like I speak a completely different language,"
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Summershine said. "I assume you have an interest in magic if you are interested in Star Swirl?" The stallion guessed.
The mare looked away in modesty. "Yeah, it's my special talent," she casually said.
Hearing that was really exciting for Summershine. His special talent was magic and considering that he went to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, he never really met anypony who actually had magic as a special talent other than himself. He got curious about her. "My special talent is magic as well," he informed casually.
The mare was surprised to hear that. "Is that so?" She replied astonished. "That's crazy! I've never met anypony who had the same special talent as I!"
The two ended up having a short conversation about Star Swirl, and Magic in general. With two ponies having the same special talent, both of them got along pretty well, it was almost scary. They had the same view on certain things and shared their experiences with magic. They both highly enjoyed this conversation.
"That's strange," the mare said puzzled. "I usually don't have such an easy time talking to others,"
"Maybe we were destined to meet?" Summershine guessed.
"Huh!?" The mare responded with wide eyes.
Summershine chuckled. "Too corny? Sorry," he apologized teasingly. Despite how much fun he was having right now, he couldn't spend more time with her. "I have to go," he said before he levitated the box of sweets in front of his face. "You see, my friends are all waiting for those, and I don't want them all to starve," he explained.
The mare lowered her ears, she didn't like to hear that. "Oh, yeah, you're friends...I mean yes! Friends are important after all, am I right?" She said with an awkward tone in her voice, which confused Summershine a little. "That reminds me that I have to go to! I'm quite busy with my studies after all!" She then said hastily before she ran past the Summershine.
The stallion started walking too but then he turned around. "Wait!" He screamed almost in a panic. "I'm Summershine! What's your name!?" He then asked after he realized that they didn't introduce themselves at all so far.
The mare turned around for a moment and introduced herself. "Twilight Sparkle," she said before she was on her way again.
Summershine stood still in confusion. "Huh?" He replied once he heard her name. Twilight didn't notice the confusion on the stallion's face and just left. "Wasn't that the name of Princess Celestia's..." he then mumbled to himself before he figured that he was right and smiled. "Mhhh, guess it really was destiny..."
Later in Ponyville...
There was not much celebrating but rather eating after Summershine returned with the sweets. It took some convincing but Star Twinkle's parents let their son return to Ponyville. Of course only if his friends stayed with him.
The group managed to get the last train that was heading for Ponyville and walked together a good while through town. They decided to go to Star Twinkle's house first. He told them that they were overreacting about his condition just like his parents did but they all insisted to walk him home, just in case. He had to admit that he thought it was a little embarrassing but he also was happy that his friends were concerned about him.
Once the group was arriving at his house, they spent some time talking about the events that happened. Star Twinkle did have a hard time processing everything though. Crash trying to explain some things also didn't really help out either.
"So...we basically didn't get anything figured out about Ashgray at all?" He concluded.
It was true that the only thing they figured out about him was that he was somehow connected to Starwhite because of his Terra Unisus Transformation, that he knew about some stuff that he shouldn't, and that he maybe knew Princess Celestia.
"Well...yes..." Summershine replied after he realized that just now.
Happytrade was showing some dislike towards this whole subject. "Do we really need to know anything about him anyway?" She said annoyed. "He used us to get to the Elements of Harmony! He just pretended to be our friend! I don't know about you but I wouldn't be too mad if somepony erases him from my memories," she boldly shared with the group.
But Lightbeam was not feeling like this at all. She lowered her head and frowned. "I'm really sad that all those things happened," she said, causing her brother to put a hoof around her shoulders. "We all had so much fun together after all,"
Star Twinkle was feeling the same but the Elements of Harmony turned him to stone so there was not much they could do now, even if they wanted to. But as soon as he thought about that, an idea struck him. "How about we use the Elements of Harmony to turn him back?" He said out of the blue. Of course, everypony shot glares at him, considering what happened earlier this day. "I mean not now!" He assured. "Someday!"
"Why?" Nightsky asked confused, not liking this idea one bit.
"Yes, Star Twinkle!" Happytrade added. "It was obvious that this guy is dangerous and that he doesn't have any good intentions!" She pointed out.
"I know, I know..." Star Twinkle admitted. "But...I don't think that he is evil...just...lost..." he said as he tried to fish for the right words. "As somepony who used to be quite a jerk and had no interest in friendship, I think he needs a second chance,"
Everypony looked at each other and smiled. Now Star Twinkle was now the one to be confused.
"Of course, you would say something like this," Summershine said amused.
"Yeah!" Lightbeam added. "And I fully support it!" She said as she jumped up and down on the spot.
Summershine then walked up to Star Twinkle and put a hoof on his shoulder. "One day, we will release him again, and hopefully, we can convince him to change. If that is what you are thinking now, then I am positive that we can make it!" He said confidently with a smile on his face.
Star Twinkle smiled in response. "Thank you, Summershine," he said happily.
By now, the sun was starting to go down and everypony figured it would be best to go home. His friends walked away laughing and smiling. To think that only hours ago they were in a pretty intense fight was almost impossible. Star Twinkle waved at them with a smile on his face. His friends were walking together, talking and laughing on their way.
They were slowly walking away...away...far away...
...
They still walked slowly but for Star Twinkle it felt as if they were running. They were running away from him. The stallion could barely hear anything and only saw his friends getting further and further away, to a place where he couldn't reach. Then, it felt as if the six ponies were surrounded by darkness, slowly engulfed by it, their voices became muffled and hard to hear. Ponyville was nowhere to be seen and vanished, leaving only his friends that could be seen in the distance.
Star Twinkle's breath became unstable and he hyperventilated for a while. He didn't understand what was happening right now but he didn't like it one bit. His eyes widened and his friends were barely in sight despite him trying to walk towards them. He started to sweat and then panic struck him. He screamed as loud as he could at them.
"Wait!" He said as he reached his hoof out to them, his face filled with fear and panic.
"Yes?" Summershine casually replied after hearing his friend's voice again.
...
Everything was normal again. Star Twinkle stood in the middle of the road in Ponyville, his hoof still reached out at his friends. "Huh?" He replied in confusion after everything around him seemed normal again.
His friends stopped and looked back at the stallion, waiting for him to say something, he was the one calling out for them after all.
"What is it, Star Twinkle?" Crash asked at the Earth Pony with a smile on his face.
Star Twinkle didn't know what just happened. He stood there like a lost colt without his mommy on his site. "Um..." was the only thing he could reply. This sudden feeling from before was gone and he had no idea what it was all about. "Nothing..." he then said to them confused.
Summershine could only snicker at that. "Then why did you tell us to wait?" He asked amused by this random act of Star Twinkle.
Lightbeam began to laugh. "Yeah, you're weird, Star Twinkle," she said also in an amused tone.
Happytrade waved over to the stallion. "Take a rest, Star Twinkle," she advised. "We'll see each other again tomorrow!"
Star Twinkle waved back at everypony. "Yes! Yes...we do, right?" He asked.
Summershine smiled at the stallion. "Of course," he said before he turned around to leave again.
After that his friends walked away, this time, Star Twinkle didn't have that strange feeling from before. Everything was normal. Despite that, Star Twinkle walked inside his house and tried to ignore it.
But he couldn't...
"What was that just now?" The stallion asked himself as he made his way to his bedroom. He couldn't help but think about what just happened. It was a really busy day and he was hurt just a few hours ago. Maybe not only his body but his mind was taking a toll today.
"Why did I have that feeling...that I wouldn't see them again?" He asked himself. He somehow got scared by this thought alone. He didn't want to think about this at all and went off to bed, trying to relax from this day.
"I will see them all again...tomorrow...I know it," were the last words he told himself before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.