Remembering Harmony

by milesprower06


Legacy

When Twilight stepped off the train onto the Ponyville platform, something was different, as if a weight had finally began to lift from her shoulders after the memorial dedication in Canterlot. She always felt that once repairs were mostly complete in Ponyville, that she would feel some societal pressure to relocate to Canterlot and join Sunburst and Starlight, but luckily, there was none of that. A backwater like this may have recovered after mere months, but metropolises like Manehattan and Bostrot would be recovering dead for months more, and rebuilding for years.

She walked through town, getting friendly waves and bows as she made her way to the castle. The parade flags that the populace had made in the Crystal Empire in the days before triumphantly returning to town still stood proudly on either side of the main stairway, billowing in the wind. Ascending the stairs, she opened the towering front doors and stood silently in the foyer as they shut behind her, the evening sun shining through the windows.

This place was given to her because of what she and her friends had accomplished together. She now considered it personally sacred. But it needed to do more than stand here as a reminder of what they had done. Even before the Storm King's attack, this place had gone largely unused except for the largest events in town that she and the mayor had decided to move here. It needed to be more than that.

She climbed to the second floor and trotted into the east wing, down to almost the end of the hall, to her bedroom and personal study. Opening the door, she was greeted with a simply-kept room, with two bookshelves on either wall, and a desk in middle. She had done almost nothing in here since returning to town after their victory against the Storm King, evidenced by the layer of dust that had accumulated on the polished oak surface. The ink in the one open inkwell had long since dried out. She stepped around the desk, and opened the top right drawer, where several file folders were kept in a divider she had marked 'Projects and Ideas'. She flipped through them until she got to the very last one, which she had last touched the day before the Friendship Festival in Canterlot. She pulled it out of the drawer, placed it on the empty surface of her desk, and opened it. On top of several sheets of parchment, rested a cover sheet with a shield emblem she had drawn up, and underneath read the words:

'The School of Friendship'


Glitter Drops passed the last of the trees on the snow covered path as the forest gave way to boulders and cliffsides at the highest points of Mount Everhoof. She had spent the past month carefully deconstructing every house in Foal's Peak, and burying their occupants in the foundation, using the deconstructed material to make grave markers, and sent whatever she didn't use up to the rebuilding efforts in Bostrot and Manehattan, before returning to her home and career in the Crystal Empire.

After she had received expressed permission from Prince Shining Armor to pass the guarded checkpoint, she had gathered her best winter gear and set out, retracing the steps that Princess Twilight Sparkle, Sunburst, and Starlight Glimmer had made months prior in the journey that had saved them all. During the nationwide recovery efforts, Twilight came up with a new expedition, and returned the indestructible relic they had used to its resting place, placing a new aetherial barrier at the cave. Although her patrols brought her up the mountain plenty of times, she had never come up this far, especially not beyond the checkpoint. The wind up here was biting and biting, thankfully Rusty Bucket had invited her in to warm up for a few hours before she had continued on her way. She'd most likely swing by again for a meal before her descent.

The unicorn came to a large chasm that separated the path from the peak of Everhoof, which was another hundred feet up. Deciding that this was as good a spot as any, especially considering how fast the wind was blowing, she removed her saddlebags, and opened the left flap. She reached in with both hooves, and came out with the enchanted, sparkling urn that Twilight had given her outside the cave. She stared at it thoughtfully for a few moments until she felt an icy gust of wind. She reared back, cradling the urn with her right hoof, then flung it up, sending it tumbling end over end into the wind.

The magical urn glowed, and began to melt away, releasing the ashes within onto the wind which carried and scattered them across the mountain. Glitter Drops took a deep breath, watching the remains of her friend until they became invisible among the blowing snow and ice.

"Rest in peace, Fizzlepop."


Apple Bloom shoved yet another bucket of apples into the corner of the apple cellar, and that made a total of two dozen that were ready for the press come cider season next week. Taking a breath and wiping her brow with a hoof, she turned and walked back up the stairs into the daylight, and nearly ran into Princess Twilight when her hooves hit the grass.

"Whoa, hey there Princess Twilight. Sorry I almost didn't see you there." The youngest Apple greeted.

"Quite alright, Apple Bloom. I'm actually here to see you."

"What can I do for you, Princess?" She asked, momentarily turning to close the two wooden doors to the cellar.

"I've started a little project that I think will turn out quite significant. I'm starting a School of Friendship, and I was wondering if you'd like to join my small staff as a tutor."

Apple Bloom's eyes widened.

"I'm honored, but, the farm..." She trailed off.

"Apple Bloom, I've already spoken with Granny Smith and Big Mac, and they don't want you to feel tied to this place. If you feel like you can honor your sister's memory another way, they don't want to hold you back. They've got no problem hiring another farmhoof. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are already on board. I thought you'd like to join them in sharing Applejack's story, continuing where she left off, and help spread the magic of friendship across Equestria and beyond."

The young farmer managed to swallow the tears that had started to creep up into the corners of her eyes, and smiled up at Twilight.

"Where do I start, Princess?"


The olive green unicorn mare stood in the cave, staring as the light of the glowing tree illuminated most of the cavern around her. She didn't dare take another step towards it; she could feel the power radiate against her from here, and knew any closer would most likely mean certain death.

The disguise ran more than skin deep, and Queen Chrysalis found herself wondering how Equestria could have been invaded, pushed to the brink of collapse, and still recover, only to have these returned to their resting place. The Storm King and his armies had been numerous and cunning, and they still fell before the Elements.

She had considered forming an alliance with him, offering her services, not to mention telling the imbecile how the sun and moon were supposed to move, if he had been willing to target her former hive next. But things had been set in motion all too quickly for her to gather the courage to approach the occupied Equestrian capital.

If she was to succeed where he failed, she was convinced that she would need to somehow harness the power of the Elements for herself, or at the very least ensure that they couldn't be used against her, and return the Everfree Forest to its natural state, letting it expand as far as it wanted.

It would have to wait. These artifacts were not to be trifled with. She was confident that time would prove an unwitting ally in figuring out how to use this power for herself...


Twilight heard the light commotion and conversations out in the foyer, took a deep breath, and prepared to meet her first class. It had been a couple months of planning sending out invitations, and finalizing the curriculum, but she was finally ready.

While her initial idea had involved building a completely separate structure to hold classes and house students, she quickly decided to vastly scale things back. With the town just now about fully recovered, she didn't want to put more on the plates of the construction teams in town. And by forgoing a new structure and putting classes and students here in the castle, she was able to get things moving in a matter of weeks, instead of the six months or more it would take to build and inspect a new structure.

She had never asked her friends what they would have thought about becoming teachers; balancing that responsibility with their budding careers would have no doubt been challenging, but that was all a moot point now. With herself as the sole Element bearer left, and the three Crusaders offering their experiences and tutoring help, she had ultimately decided to start small; a class of ten or less. After receiving answers to her invitations, it looked like her first class would be six strong to start out, leaving a little room for expanding.

She took another breath and turned the corner to step out to look out over the castle foyer. Down in front of the stairs, six creatures were chatting with each other. There was an orange horned dragon, a cerulean-coated griffon, an arctic changeling, a yak, a light magenta hippogriff, and a sea green earth pony. When they saw her begin to descend the stairs, their conversations grew quieter, before coming to a halt as their attention was drawn to her.

"Hello, everycreature, and welcome to Ponyville. Let's all get in a circle and have a seat." Twilight began, as the group did a little shuffling around and sat in a circle on the carpet in front of the stairs. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, but please just call me Twilight. Titles make my coat crawl." She said, getting a few chuckles as she opened the file folder she was carrying under her wing.

She first looked to her immediate left, where the griffon had taken a seat.

"You must be Gallus. I understand you joined Gilda and Gabby in assisting the Equestrian Postal Service help loved ones get in touch with one another. Thank you, and welcome." She greeted, getting a smile and nod in return. She continued down the circle, where the young female changeling sat shyly.

"You must be Ocellus. I believe we owe the changelings more than any other kingdom for the fact that we're still here. I'm honored to have you. Welcome."

Ocellus blushed lightly and gave a meek smile as Twilight continued down to the large female yak that was sitting across from her on the other side of the circle.

"Yona, right? The blankets the yaks donated to the Crystal Empire helped keep plenty of refugees warm during the north's cold nights. On behalf of Ponyville's citizens, thank you, and welcome."

Yona smiled proudly at her kingdom's recognition. Twilight looked down to the hippogiff, who easily appeared to be the most excited of the six of them.

"It was Silverstream, wasn't it? I'm relieved that Queen Novo can put my act of desperation behind us, and I'm thrilled that the hippogriffs are beginning to rebuild on Mount Aris. Welcome."

Silverstream grinned, and Twilight continued around the circle, to the young dragon.

"Smolder, yes? Equestrians don't know much about dragon culture, but the materials the Dragon Lands have taken to Manehattan and Bostrot are helping more than any of you know. Spike was one of the dearest and most resourceful friends I have ever known. He's a credit to dragons everywhere. Welcome."

Smolder smiled confidently in return.

"Sandbar, our local student. I've certainly seen you around town. I'm not sure if I remember you from the train on the night we had to retreat; I was quite exhausted. Regardless, thank you for enrolling, and welcome."

Twilight closed the file folder, set it beside her, and pulled her personal copy of their Friendship Journal from her saddlebags and set it in front of her on the floor.

"As you all are no doubt aware, the Storm King's attack has caused one of the most significant losses of life Equestria has experienced in millennia, and it will take quite some time for us as a nation to heal. Rather than take my mentor's place in ruling from Canterlot day to day, I feel that I can contribute the most to the healing process by spreading the light, love, and magic of friendship as far as I can, and share the tales of how my fallen friends made me the Princess I am today. I would like to once again thank each of you for offering your time and opening your minds in being part of my first class."

As she dug further into her saddlebags and came out with six new copies of the Friendship Journal, giving one to each student, they heard the giant front doors of the castle inch open, and a young, pinkish gray pegasus filly with a curled arctic blue mane and tail stepped inside.

"Oh golly, I'm so sorry I'm late. I didn't miss too much did I? My name is Cozy Glow, and when I heard about this school, my family sent me down here from Manehattan."

Twilight smiled at her as she came up the carpet to join the others, pulling out another copy of her journal, and levitated over to her as she joined the circle.

"Always room for one more. Welcome to the School of Friendship, Cozy Glow."

FIN