The Elements in Harmony

by No One and Nobody


Chapter 20: Last Shot of Canterlot

Chapter 20: Last Shot of Canterlot

There was only one thing on everyones' minds as they piled into the train car, and thankfully Luna asked it as soon as they sat down.

"Is Rosy safe?"

The two guards looked at each other nervously and then the one on the left stepped forward and said, "She is stable and recovering in the Canterlot infirmary, your highness. We got her there the minute we arrived, and the doctors even said she should be able to recover her 20/20 vision. She's a fighter and shouldn't face any long term psychological issues. The scars, will be the only thing that never fully heal."

There was a halfway sigh from everyone in the car. They were all relieved Rosy was OK, but could still feel there was still something the guards hadn't told them.

"And how of Rosy's parents? Have they been informed?"

The guard gulped and then looked down at the floor, "She... is an orphan, your highness."

There was soft moan from the carbide lamp and Tom felt Mira draw back to comfort her brother.

"Great," said Lucas, "So anyone have any plans? Maybe another rock-slide to keep it from climbing up to Canterlot?"

"I'm afraid the beetle shall not come by such an obvious way," replied Luna, "Far more likely it should resort to the caverns beneath the city."

"Could your sister fly away and distract it, to gain us time?" Asked Mira.

"Once the beetle reaches Canterlot, if my sister isn't there, it shall turn to easier prey."

"How much time do you think we'll have when we get there before it arrives?" asked Mira for Thomas.

"It wouldst be lucky if we arrive before it at all."

"COULD THINGS GET ANY WORSE?!" Yelled Michael.

"Well, as my sister likes to say," intoned Maud, "When you're feeling low, there's nowhere to go but up."

At the word 'up', Tom felt the world fall away and his dream jump back into focus as an idea began wiggling its way out of the shadows of his mind.

Working together... they'd need something to contain it... and a good vantage point... but they'd only have one, last chance...

The more he thought about it, the more Tom knew this was their only option. But this time, he wasn't going to lose his temper and dive in. He wouldn't let the others rush in either. He'd failed as a leader three times before. This time needed to be different. Also... the ponies couldn't know the plan.

Tom spent the rest of the train ride contemplating, not the plan, but his execution. This all turned on him. When the time came, he'd need to explain it and hope the other Elements would agree to it. There was a risk. But they'd all been through so much together...

If this is the right choice then there's nothing to do but tell them when the moment's right. I hope I can count on them.


Michael was angry. And for the first time in his life, he didn't know why.

It had always been easy before. His sister was annoying him, his mother was belittling him, his father wasn't respecting him and everyone was stabbing him in the back. But this time, the anger seemed to be coming from no where.

Something else was weird. Before all this, he'd never noticed he was angry in the moment, only after his actions. But now he could actually see the anger inside himself, and the fact that he had no idea where it was coming from or what to do with it scared him a little.

Usually, when he got angry, he'd just snap at his sister to blow off some steam, not that it ever helped. But today-

"You OK Michael?"

His sister was helping him, and stabbing her in the back wouldn't make the anger go away; it would just make it worse. He needed to do something with it. But he wasn't any good at redirecting his anger, the only one in his family who had any skill at that was his sis-

"No Mira. Can I ask you a favor?"


Mira was worried, but not so much about the beetle. Despite the fact they'd failed three times to stop it so far, they'd grown closer in every way since that morning. And Mira couldn't help but feel that something was about to break.

She needed to do something... anything.

As the guards explained about Rosy, Mira heard her brother moan and it was like a switch went off in her brain.

Grow up Michael, she wanted to say, You caused it, accept responsibility for your actions and try to figure out how you can help us rather than just moaning and whining.

But as she hovered by her brother she remembered her promise from before, inhaled and instead said, "You OK Michael?"

What followed made Mira wonder if, for all those years, she'd been the real problem the whole time.


Everything was falling apart. But the more things went wrong, the more focused Lucas felt. It was like every time something bad happened his brother was there with his hand on his shoulder.

Mira was silently helping her brother and without Tom's chalkboard, Lucas was the only one who could ask questions.

"Evacuate the city?"

"Tis faster than anypony. If Canterlot is not evacuated now, it is already too late."

"Blow it up?"

"The shell isn't the weak point, and it knows now to guard its mandibles."

"Drop a building on it?"

"It hath already dodged a rock-slide, and mining a building would take more time than a mountain."

"Lock your sister somewhere it will be hard for the beetle to get to?"

"Then it shall attend to myself or our subjects."

"Well we need to do something. I've had enough watching from the sidelines."

The princess tapped Lucas's jar and said, "What doth thou mean? Thou hast assisted thine friends all day."

Lucas sighed, or whatever he took for sighing, "That's not what I meant. Back home, I think I can tell you this, both my parents want me to do different things with my life. And I guess, since I love them both and was caught in the middle, I chose to do neither."

"Which of these things doth thou think thou could'st do best?"

"That was the whole problem. Both plans my parents had for me were good, and I could have done either of them well. I just chose... not to choose."

"Sometimes it is as thy friend said, 'It is better to try and fail-'."

" '-then never try at all.' Yeah, I guess it's just easier to realize things when you're about to be stomped by a giant bug."

"Drastic situations doth tend to bring forth either our best or our worst. But it is up to us to decide which."


As the train rolled to a stop, Tom's focus flew back to the present. He could hear shouting, galloping hooves. Then the train was filled of ponies and they were thrust out onto the platform into a panicked herd, all clamoring to escape the city before it was too late.

Tom had managed to hold onto Lucas's jar but did not know where Mira and Michael had gotten to. Then the Royal Canterlot Voice echoed over his head and the crowd froze.

"MAKE PASSAGE FOR THY PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT AND HER COMPANIONS!"

Almost instantaneously a path opened up in front of them into the streets of Canterlot and Tom bolted away from the train station. He assumed that Luna was flying above him and either she or the guards had Michael's lamp.

As they made their way into the city Tom realized that the crowd of ponies at the station had either just been the most panicked or quickest packers. The city was still teeming with ponies.

Luna landed beside them and looked around, "It wouldst seem our enemy hath not arrived yet-"

Tom still didn't know where Mira was so he was forced to gesture with his hand for them to follow as he took off towards the west side of Canterlot.

As he ran he heard Mira ask him, "Where are we going? Do you have a plan?"

Not till we get there. Follow me. He replied mentally to her.

Ponies jumped to the side of the road as Tom ran, cutting a path straight towards his destination. Luna and the guards we close behind, only the Princess was short of breath.

As they crested the first bridge Tom heard Luna call out, "Thomas, slow thy pace. We are not all so rested as thou."

Can't exhaust her, but she needs to be too tired to follow us. He thought as he slowed his pace just enough for the ponies to fall in behind him.

As they approached the second bridge one of the guards ran alongside Thomas and asked, "What's the plan sir?"

"Follow me," replied Mira for Tom.

"And then?"

"Wait for my signal."

Mira could see the puzzled expression on the guard's face, but Tom was too focused to notice.

By the time they got to the third bridge, Mira, Luna and the guards had consigned themselves to waiting for Tom's appointed time to reveal his plan.

Upon entering the square by Lar's Jars, Tom slowed to a walk, took Michael from Heavy Hoof and held up his hand for the ponies to halt.

"Wait here," said Mira, a sudden feeling of dread passing over her.

Then Thomas and the other Elements walked up to the container store that was still propped open with the colossal jar.

Placing the lamp on the ground with the flame licking at his ankle, and reaching his finger into Lucas's jar Tom connected them all in a private conversation that not even Jug, who was standing in the doorway, could overhear.

I've been thinking about my dream, if that's what it really was, and it's given me an idea.

Tom laid his hand on the huge jar, feeding the strength of the clay into his explanation of the whole plan and then waited to hear their input.

Are you out of your ever-living mind?! Asked Mira.

Mechanically, it should work. Don't ask me how I know. Added Lucas.

But you know what would happen if went go through with this, right? Asked Mira.

I know what will happen if we don't go through with it, returned Lucas.

But what if we fail? We'd have one chance. We can't squander it like this! Please tell me you've got something else Tom. Pleaded Mira.

I don't. This is it. Our one, last chance. I can't make any of you do it. It has to be your own decision. But this requires a team effort; it's all or nothing.

Mira was beside herself. You can't expect us to go along with this crazy idea, just like that. It's ridiculous, it's crazy, it-

It's a chance at redemption, cut in Michael, I don't care if it's our only shot. It's the best one so far, and a chance to make up for our mistakes. I'm in.

It's what my brother would do, said Lucas, Count me in.

I think we're crazy. But... If it gives me the chance to actually add something physically to the team... What the heck, I'm not letting my little brother show me up. Sign me up too.

Without another word, Tom grabbed the giant jar in both hands and wrenched it free from the front of the store. Jug barely had time to dive under the falling overhang before Tom and the others were walking back to the Princess and her guards.

"I take it thou hath reason to steal this young store-owner's property?" Said Luna, raising an eyebrow at them.

"We do, your Highness," said Mira, "Now, we need you to teleport us and this container to the castle courtyard."

Luna cocked her head to one side and said, "I'm afraid it would take far more magic than I have to teleport us all to the castle-"

"Just Tom, myself, Lucas, my brother and the jar," interrupted Mira.

"Excuse me," cut in Jug, "Beggin' my Princess's pardon, but wherever my father's jar goes, I go too."

"Something tells me I should be in on this action as well," droned Maud, stepping forward.

"That wouldst be a more manageable load, but I-"

Before Luna could finish her sentence a sense of foreboding washed over everyone present and screams began echoing across Canterlot.

"It hath come!"

Tom picked Jug and Maud up and held them under his arm. On the edge of his view, he could just make out a mare standing at the edge of the square. Jug was staring in her direction. Then he smiled and stuck out his tongue.

"No time Luna. He and Maud can come along, but we need to go now! Do you trust us?"

Luna stared hard at the group, then her eyes darted to the castle, then back to them. At last, she lowered her horn, the earth Tom was standing on did a backflip and he landed on his back in the castle courtyard, just barely managing to keep Lucas's jar from spilling.

As the glow faded from Luna's horn she toppled to the ground, her guards diving to catch her. With her guards supporting her, Luna raised her head to gaze at the castle, a tear rolled down her muzzle and she whispered, "Good luck... and goodbye."

Then she passed out.


Tom sat up. Thankfully, the earth was stable, the spinning must have been from the teleportation. Probably shouldn't have exhausted Luna like that. Oh well.

Standing, he could feel the beetle below him, it was attempting to crawl out of a waterway into one of the hanging gardens below the castle walls. Fortunately for them, it was stuck. They had a few moments to prepare.

Hefting Lucas and the jar, Tom walked over to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, exactly where he remembered it. Gripping the lip of the fountain with his hand, he pulled and the side caved out, draining the water from the pool. Setting the jar down, Tom pried off the lid and upended it in the empty fountain basin.

Oh crud.

"What's wrong?!" Asked Mira.

It's empty. For some reason I thought there'd be oil in it or something. How could I have been so stupid?!

"What's the problem?" Asked Maud, as calm as Tom wasn't.

"We need something to burn," said Michael, "Really hot."

Looking around Tom and his friends settled on a wagon full of straw, which they immediately started breaking down and filling the fountain with. While they were doing this however, Maud was chewing on the metal axle and some garden tools she'd found and spitting the pieces into her garment, which she'd laid on the ground.

After they'd filled the basin with fragments of wood and covered it with straw Maud called to Tom.

"Hold out your hands," she said as he approached.

He did so and Maud emptying her dress of the metal fragments into his hands.

"Focus on your hands," she said, placing her hooves under them, "Focus and make them harder than the metal."

Tom did as she said and she closed his hands together over the metal, then she pushed her hooves together and Tom could almost swear his hands had crumbled to dust.

"Focus," she commanded.

Tom obeyed, and Maud began working his hands together in a rubbing motion. Tom had no idea how she could be so strong, all he could do was focus on his hands to keep from moaning in pain.

At last, Maud withdrew her hooves and Tom opened his hands to find a pile of brownish-red powder.

"Thermite," said Maud, stone faced.

"Hah!" Interjected Lucas, "I should have thought of that. Put it under the wood."

Tom nodded and walked over to the fountain while Mira explained to Maud what she needed to do.

"We need you to run into the castle, find Celestia and tell her to get out her as soon as she hears our signal. Once we incapacitate the beetle, it needs to be send back to the moon and only Celestia will have the magic to do that."

"What's the signal?" Asked Maud.

"Trust us, she can't miss it."

Maud nodded and galloped into the castle.

The guards won't be able to stop her. Perfect. Thought Thomas as he gestured for Jug to lift up the wood and straw in the fountain so he could spread the thermite under it. Then Tom poured Lucas into the giant empty container and set it in the fountain basin on its side.

Explain to Jug what he needs to do, he told Mira. Then he got Jug's attention and gestured towards the nearest castle wall before climbing into the jar with Lucas.

It was just big enough to fit Tom. It had a small neck but, once he was past that, the jar opened up just enough for him to shift ever so slightly.

You ready for this? Asked Lucas, lapping against his ankles.

Physically? Yes. Mentally? No. Are you?

Dumb question. Same here.

Tom felt the jar tilt a little to rest against the side of the fountain and he was able to feel the beetle pull itself out of the waterway, pulverizing the stone around it in the process.

THUD-THUD-THUD

The sound of his hand against the side of the jar echoed around them. As Tom braced himself against the walls of the jar, sealing Lucas beneath him, he could hear the sound of straw catching fire below them.


When Jug heard their plan, and his part to play, he was mortified.

"Why me?" He asked.

"Because, you're the only one here who knows our plan. And since you're a unicorn, you won't burn yourself aiming the jar. Can you do it?

"Can I? Of course. No pony knows that jar better'an I do. Will I? That's a different matter."

Mira sighed and said, "Listen, I'm not a hundred percent sure about this plan either, but I trust Thomas. If that beetle gets up here and eats Celestia, it will explode and destroy this whole city... including your marefriend."

"What tipped ya off?"

"She's very pretty. You think I don't know what that smile meant?"

Jug gave a sad chuckle.

"Will you do it... for her?"

"In a heartbeat."

With that, Jug's horn lit up and he lifted the jar to rest on the side of the fountain, the top of the jar facing the wall that Tom had indicated.


Michael felt the unicorn pick him up and touch him to the straw that fringed the broken fragments of cart in the fountain. Then his sister surrounded him and he could feel the anger rise up in him once again. But this time he controlled it, not the other way round.

Rather than a raging wildfire of rage there was a calm flame of focused fury his sister had showed him on the train. At the heart of that unflickering flame was Rosy, and it was focused completely on the unseen beetle that Tom would show them.

Michael's part of the plan was to stoke the flames at just the right pace. Too fast and the fuel would burn out before the beetle arrived, too slow and it wouldn't be hot enough for their purpose. Right now Michael was spreading across the straw, being careful not to dive deeply into the material.

Establish the fire base by three strokes. At two strokes into the wood. On one, thermite. He and Mira thought in tandem as Tom knocked on the jar three times.


In the last moments just before the beetle rose over the castle wall no one in the courtyard said a word. The elements communicated wordlessly through the jar, sharing the pent-up tension they all felt. Jug stood, his eyes and the jar trained on the wall Tom had indicated. In the distance, growing closer was the steady pounding of giant legs scaling the stone walls.

THUD-THUD

Jug's horn flickered, but both he and the jar stayed focused in the same direction. The vague outline of Mira, funneling oxygen into her brother, could just be made out as he dove into the wood beneath the straw. Inside the jar, Lucas could feel the heat radiating through him, affecting a change. It was like a giddy energy was flowing through him, not quite sickening but highly addictive. The more he took in, the harder it became to hold himself together. But then, somehow he felt Tom holding him back. Only Tom's feet were touching him, but Lucas could feel every surface surrounding and bounding him.

PV=nrT he thought to himself, As long as Tom maintains the volume and the pressure from decreasing, I can't flash to steam. Keep it going man, we're doing fine.

Meanwhile, Tom was focused on watching the beetle and maintaining the increasing pressure of Lucas at the same time. Keeping Lucas contained behind him felt like holding up a building, but he couldn't let the pressure drop. Still, at least for the moment, it was easier than trying to escape from beneath the rock-slide.

THUD

The tentacles rose over the wall and everyone flew in to action.

Mira sucked in oxygen like her life depended on it and throttled it down into the core of her brother's flame. The more air she pulled in, the more her brother pulled her down until at last Mira took one last gasp and vanished into-

The power of the fire was overwhelming! Every part of every piece of wood was alight and, as Mira pushed, Michael reached down and touched the Thermite. The reaction was instantaneous and runaway, and Michael and Mira went up like a house on fire. Michael focused all the flame and heat into the bottom of the jar, until there was nothing left to burn and he himself passed through the clay to fade into-

The raging liquid fire of Lucas swirled around the bottom of the jar. The pent up pressure inside meant that Lucas couldn't turn to steam and as such wasn't even boiling. But the energy flowed through him, more blinding than the sun, and yet invigorating rather than consuming him. In barely a fraction of a second Lucas felt the heat die below him, he let Tom know, and felt him give way. Then the world exploded around him. Lucas felt the jar underneath him shrink to a pinprick as he expanded out of existence and was left-

Flying through the air, the dull THUD of the steam cannon dying below him. With the barest nudge from Jug's horn to aim, Tom found himself careening through empty space, the invisible world rolling and spinning underneath him, but the afterimage of the beetle's roiling mass of tentacles fixed as his target. Time slowed to a crawl as he focused inwards, hardening. His sense of self falling away like when he had frozen at his welcome party or when Maud had ground the thermite in his hands. Despite this, the impact was still the most painful thing he had ever experienced. Every shard of his being was ripped in two and the world fell away forever, as pieces of him exploded outwards and rained over the castle wall to plummeted down towards the base of the mountain far below Canterlot castle.

The last thing he could remember was the beetle reeling back, but he couldn't tell if he had hit his mark.


The castle doors flew open and, flaring her wings, Celestia teleported to the castle wall. In a bright flash of light the still falling beetle winked out of Equestria and several minutes later, had the moon been visible, you might have just been able to make out a flash of light and a new crater on the silver sister of the night sky.

Twilight and her friends came dashing out behind Celestia, directly into the fog of steam that filled the courtyard, and started coughing.

"Thomas! Lucas! Mira! Are you guys OK?" Twilight called out.

A voice, of many voices, echoed through the fog and a chill went down the spines of the mane six.

Did we get it?
We won?
Redemption?
Success?

Twilight looked around as Celestia landed in front of her, a sad expression on her face, and said, "You succeeded. The monster is no more. Thank you. You shall always be remembered."

At Celestia's words Twilight's pupils constricted and darted around, tears filling her eyes as she called out, "Don't go. Please. We can fix this. It can't end this way!"

It ends in victory
harmony,
and peace.
Don't question a good end.

"I never got to give you the gift Boulder picked out for you," said Maud.

"I never got to throw you all a going-away party," cried Pinkie.

With tears streaking her and her friends' faces, Twilight attempted a smile and called out, "And you never did explain what a Brony was, or tell me those stories from your world."

We are Bronies.
Some of us-
Most of us-
And you know our story. It ends like this...

The voices mingled together using the same words, Mira to Michael to Lucas to Tom, four become one and the creature undone. Themselves burned, peace is returned. Lessons were learned, and answers are earned. Farewell...

"Thank you for everything you did for us," called out Rarity.

"We'll never forget you," Fluttershy called out meekly.

"Ya'll were true heroes."

"I'll let the CMCs know how awesome you were!"

And with that, Tom, Lucas, Mira and Michael left Canterlot and Equestria behind, and faded away...


They floated. But not through space, and it was neither light nor dark. Tom felt they were beyond those earthly descriptions, as though on earth those were just shadows of the real thing here.

He could feel his friends. Ever since they'd worked together they were like one being. That was why, when Tom felt something behind the veil, Michael started pulling them all, like a flaming comet through the night sky, towards whatever it was.

Words had no meaning here, but rather meaning itself was the method of communication. Because of this Tom could never quite sum up what was said or how it was spoken. All he knew was Michael was angry, and wanted an answer from something- no, someone... someones... some 'some-ness' behind the veil.

The question amounted to "Why did you send us there? If you could send us there, why didn't you stop the beetle?" Tom realized somehow that the assumption Michael was making, that whatever it was had put them in Equestria, was true. Though he didn't know how he knew this. Michael's question was tinged with anger over Rosy, anger at what they'd been put through, but not anger for the sake of anger. His question was sincere.

Slowly, Tom and the rest felt meaning coming to them. But it was like the meaning had been diluted down a million-fold till it almost took on the appearance of words.

Here some things are known, and some are shown to you. For as you say, "a picture is worth a thousand words" but a memory, a thousands pictures.

You know why we send you to Equestria, you can accomplish the task. We choose you because we know it is within you.

Each of them remembered what they'd experienced, but not from their own perspective but from each others'.

Tom saw, A young man, unsure of himself, but with the humble heart of a leader still learning, Intelligence, and a calm demeanor open to new ideas, and A person of reserved conviction, uncertain but capable of being the leader he knew he had to become.

Mira saw, A young woman strong of heart and head, not afraid to back down from a fight, A heart filled with love and a head filled with peace, and The wisdom of a longsuffering soul and vast stores of calm reserved strength.

Lucas saw, A genius, unaware of his own intelligence, A observer, someone who listened silently, and absorbed every fact with a clear head and a steady eye, and A level headed young man who stoically bore the weight of the world on his shoulders and reserved his words for just the right moment when they would do the most good.

Michael saw, A brash young fellow, concealing a gentle flame within that was stronger than the most out of control wildfire, A friend, emerging from the shadows, a warm smile on their face, and A quick whit, sometimes a little too quick, but with a heart as tender as his head was hard.

And that's when they realized something very strange. All this they were "experiencing" wasn't happening to them. They couldn't tell whether it had happened and they was remembering it, was happening in one moment, or would happen and this was all some premonition. Everything had a dreamlike quality, or maybe dreams had a quality like this, otherworldly, like time didn't matter.

At this, everything broke down and they saw what would happen, remembering it as vividly as though it was happening at that very moment.

They had experienced Rosy. It was like watching a 3D film spread out, not in front of them, but inside them. They felt the weight of every passing moment, the world even more solid than reality. They couldn't have been more there had they been the earth beneath her hooves, the air in her lungs, the flames that took her parents or the water that quenched the housefire. They remembered her growing up, experiencing every memory, thought, joy and sorrow she would experience. Through her eyes they watched her step out and could feel the flames that would ripple over her body. The train ride to Canterlot was passing in a blink, and they knew she would soon be recuperating in a bed in Canterlot castle.

Together they watched as time intersected itself, and they experienced what could be, was and had always been.


Rosy lay in bed, her breathing labored, bandages covering her whole body. Every now and then a bout of coughing overtook her, pain lancing across the skin under the bandages till she would fall silent again except for the wheezing breaths.

As she lay there, recovering from her last set of coughs, a glass of water floated over to her and she sipped from it, the water soothing her parched throat.

She couldn't see through the bandages they'd wrapped around her eyes. But something about this pony, maybe it was their silence, gave her the impression they weren't part of the medical or castle staff.

"My name's Rosy," she squeaked in a hoarse voice.

"My name's Jug," came the clear reply, "Can I get you anything else?"

"Do you know what's going on out there?" She asked, "Have they stopped the beetle?"

"They have," replied Jug, "You knew 'em?"

"I kind of... stowed away on the train to Horseshoe Bay," she tried laughing, but it turned into a coughing fit that lasted several minutes.

"Then I tried stopping a explosion with my face, and well... You can see how that turned out."

Then she realized what Jug had actually said.

"What do you mean 'knew them'? What happened?! I need to talk to Michael!"

Rosy tried to jump out of the bed, but Jug held her down gently with his magic, "Whoah there. Why do you need to see this fella?"

"Cause he's the one that burned me... and I haven't forgiven him yet."

"Why do ya need to forgive him? Ya said he burned ya, and it sure don't look like an accident to me."

Rosy rested back into the pillow, winced and said, "It really was an accident. And besides, I think I now know why he was always so upset... He's like me."

"What do ya mean?"

"Well, when I lost my parents several years ago I was really angry at... pretty much everything. I was so angry I said some really terrible things to my closest friends. I hurt them so much that they left me. Since I didn't have anypony else to talk to I started talking to myself. And eventually I figured out, the fire wasn't to blame, neither were my old friends or even Equestria. I was. I took a bad thing and made it worse by letting my anger get the better of me. Since then, I've apologized and made even more friends than when my parents were alive. I know everypony at the orphanage and around the orphanage. Sheesh, I even met Princess Luna and before I tried face-planting Michael I think I was even friends with the Tom and Lucas. Not to mention I found the beetle's egg and showed them where it was."

"Ho-ho, looks like we've got more in common than I thought," interrupted Jug.

"What do you mean?"

"I helped Tom and his friends take out the beetle by setting 'em up and aiming 'em at it."

"Wow. So I guess we're both like... Equestrian Heroes."

"Sure looks that way."

Outside the room they could hear somepony walk by, arguing in a monotone voice about where 'Boulder' had put Tom's gift. After a long silence, Rosy finally spoke.

"You suppose... as Equestrian Heroes I mean... we could stick together?" She asked, cautiously, "I don't think my friends from the orphanage will be able to visit me for a while."

"I'd love to," replied Jug, "Though, if you don't mind, I might introduce you to one of my friends too. I think you'll really like her."

"You think she'll like me?"

Though Rosy couldn't see it, Jug had a huge smile on his face, "Trust me, I think we'll all become the best of friends."


Tom awoke to the buzzing whine of his alarm clock.

He hit the snooze button and sat up in bed, his Twilight Sparkle plushie falling to the floor.

Slowly, as if scared what he'd find, his hands touched the skin of his face. He combed his fingers through his hair and ran them down over his still closed eyes, reveling in the smooth skin and sparse fuzz of a recently shaved chin. Then his body gasped involuntarily as his long absent biological functions once again reasserted themselves. Taking a deep breath of morning air, Tom opened his eyes and looked around his room.

Everything was where he had left it. The sun was shining through the blinds over his rather messy room, motes of dust hanging in the beams. The house was silent and Tom wasn't sure what time it was or where his family were. But none of that mattered at the moment. It had started as the barest hint of worry. But as he sat there in bed, reality pressing down on him, he couldn't help but wonder, Had it all been a dream? Equestria, the Mane Six, the beetle, Michael, Mira, Lucas and Rosy...

It had all seemed so real. Multiple days away from home, painful experiences, all those physical sensations and he couldn't even remember what day it was now. But something in the silence of the room and the way his Twilight plushie just lay on its side on the floor seemed to suggest the fictitiousness of the whole ordeal. Though he could remember the events as clear as a bell, something about the pain, worry and magic he'd experienced began to dull to the voice in his head that told him, Nice dream, but it's time to wake up and get back to the grind. Maybe you can tell your friends about it some time. With that, Tom sighed and fell back against his pillow.

"AUGH!" He cried as his head impacted something rough and hard.

Gripping the back of his head with his hand he turned and looked behind him. Sitting on the pillow was a small stone, no bigger than a mouse, separated in two halves.

Picking it up, Tom separated the pieces to reveal a perfect geode, the likes of which you'd never find on earth, and a short note.

"Dear Tom,
Thank you for everything you showed me.
Remember, you judge a rock based on its center,
not its exterior.
-Maud"