171
The Battle of Earth
6:12 p.m.
Thor roared.
Black Panther roared.
They roared.
As a conjoined wave of fearless bodies, machines of war, ferocious beasts and creatures of every variety, the shared universe charged as one with the Avengers leading them. Only, it was the First Avenger that led them. They were all Avengers that day. Every last soul standing against tyranny and the wrath of the Mad Titan had proven themselves to be exactly what the Avengers stood for and would always be…
Even if they lost… they would come back. They would win. They would avenge those who didn’t come back, who fell at the hands of Thanos. They would avenge the universe.
T’Challa was the first to get his feet moving, his mask materializing over his face and the Black Panther fully unleashed. The multitude of tribes and royal warriors of the Wakandan nation followed behind their king, the skies filled with jets of every caliber that Wakanda could offer. The multi-legged tanks rose higher than the masses of warriors, stomping forward with their barrels focused to the alien army ahead. Nick Fury and Phil Coulson stayed behind, stood frozen, the former directors of S.H.I.E.L.D. smirking and feeling the wind and bodies rush past them in a stampeding wave of overwhelming force. Not a single Wakandan touched them. Fury kept his hands in his pockets. Coulson couldn’t stop smiling.
While the dust storms kicked up from the thousands of feet stampeding upon the earth, the skies infested with smoke and ash were filled with a new wave of rejuvenating spirit and strength. Valkyrie spearheaded the siege of the skies, blade brandished, the Asgardian warrior glaring ahead with her winged stallion batting its wings fiercely against the clouds. Those that followed her were War Machine, Discord, Frank Castle in his Punisher Armor, and so many more. Celestia and Luna unsheathed their weapons, Celestia with her golden spear and Luna wielding two dark blue longswords. The sisters flew together, their armies flying behind them, and leading their people into battle. Pepper Stark was nearby in her Rescue armor, the fleet of dragons flying alongside her as well as surrounding Giant-Man. Scott Lang stomped forward in his slowed sprint, all due to his immense size. He shook the earth with every stomp.
The Wonderbolts took off from where they were previously stationed atop the War Horse to join the armies in the clouds. Only Spitfire stayed to lead the Equestrian Grand Fleet, the droves of Wakandan jets joining them. They were joined alongside by the hundreds upon hundreds of Hippogriffs, dragons, griffons, changelings, Pegasi, and bat ponies dotting the skies and blocking out the rays of the sun. The War Horse growled as its immense frame flew into battle, hovering several hundred feet above the earth and the rushing armies with its engines roaring and shaking every bone and every body beneath it. Ravager warships followed with the dozens of airships in the Grand Fleet. Celaeno and the parrot pirates howled and cheered and waved their swords high above their heads as their airship led the many behind it. Grubber and the Storm Creatures cheered in unison upon their own airship, the colossal fleet soaring behind them and joining the armies of the universe into battle.
The armies of the sky were innumerable in the grandest scale. The armies of the earth, even more so.
Waves upon waves, droves upon droves, and stampeding bodies numbering in the thousands filled the battlefield and kicked up storms of dust in their unified charge. Royal, Lunar, and Crystal Guard had mixed together in the rush and madness of bodies. Joining them were the yaks, the buffalo, the zebras, the minotaurs, the felines, the Kirin and growing Nirik, the ponies of various nations and creeds, and so many more. Their hooves and paws and feet shook the very core of the battlefield as they steamed down the hills and into the awaiting storm of chaos. The changelings and Hippogriffs in the sky and on the earth transformed into various creatures of massive size and strength, from hydras, bugbears, dragons, chimeras, manticores, maulwurfs, Rocs, ursa minors and majors, winterzillas, and so many more. It was unfathomable.
Joining them were the mixed waves of the Asgardians, Ravagers, Wakandans, Masters of the Mystic Arts, S.H.I.E.L.D., Defenders, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers all storming as one. The citizens of Ponyville were mixed within the masses, as well, Cheese Sandwich’s colossal party tank steamrolling into battle and overshadowing even the mightiest of nations. Daring Do flew high above and screamed her battle cry as the armada of creatures big and small flew behind the adventuress.
The leaders of the various nations—both upon the ground and within the sky—flew and or charged with their people. Dragon Lord Ember in her shimmering golden armor and wielding the legendary Bloodstone Scepter flew with Garble, Smolder, and countless other dragons charging behind their Dragon Lord. King Thorax and Pharynx, changeling brothers once lost now reunited, stampeded while Ocellus and the hundreds of changelings flew behind them. Prince Rutherford and the yaks followed their resurrected leader alongside Yona, alongside the armies of Yakyakistan bellowing into battle. Queen Novo flew with her daughter Skystar by her side once more, with Skyranger, Sky Beak, Ocean Flow, Silverstream, and Terramar leading the Hippogriffs together. Gallus flew with the various griffons of the Griffon Kingdom and Griffonstone, all of their differences put aside for one last unifying charge. Gilda, Greta, Gabby, and so many others flew with him. Sandbar galloped into the storming chaos with the citizens of Ponyville, with his best friends above and beside him, and with Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, Flurry Heart, and the kings and queens of the many other nations and peoples charging and flying as one. Every nation and every leader and every race together for one last push.
With his expression set in stone, Thanos raised his blade and pointed it forward. To the unruly. His armies obeyed.
The Chitauri were unleashed in their grandest and strongest form, with the Elite leading the charge and the thousands behind them following with just as much savagery and ferocity as ever, as if the cosmic-sized army they stood against meant nothing to them. They would follow their lord into the bowels of hell if he willed it. Roaring and stampeding forth, the dozens of Chitauri Gorillas led the next wave with the thousands of foot soldiers and commanders and tanks storming the landscapes shortly afterward. The Sakaarans charged ahead, headstrong and screaming their own unifying battle cry. The Leviathans howled and slithered onward, their numbers vast in the skies with the countless droves of chariots, starships, and Necrocrafts right with them. Their numbers alone blotted the skies and cut off the sunlight.
So, too, did follow the Chitauri Titans, the beasts of monumental size and strength slamming their multitude of feet into the earth and crushing various Chitauri that got in their path. Nothing was safe from their rampage. All five Titans roared and charged ahead into the madness, some bipedal, some multi-legged and armed. All of them unyielding in their pursuit to destroy their enemies. The hundreds upon hundreds of Outriders washed over the battlefield like an unstoppable wave of screeches and cries, leading the charge with the Elite, with the foot soldiers, commanders, Gorillas, tanks, Sakaarans, Leviathans, chariots, starships, Necrocrafts, and Titans. An immense plague of darkness and evil scorched the landscapes and tore through the earth in their stampede to the opposition.
Captain America led the opposition with shield and hammer in hand. Many more ran and charged with him, never again leaving Steve Rogers to stand alone. Black Panther sprinted and matched Captain America in speed. Thor gave one last bellowing battle cry, his red cape flapping behind him and Stormbreaker gripped tightly in his right hand. Korg emerged beside the God of Thunder, wielding not only his laser rifle, but his mace, as well. Mantis surprisingly took the lead amongst her fellow Guardians, no fear in her eyes, every ounce of adrenaline pushed in her sprint. Pinkie Pie bounded and galloped alongside them, the biggest grin joining the fiercest glare on her expression. Daredevil shot out his billy clubs, mask closing over him and red eyes emerging onto the battlefield. Tempest Shadow emerged in a flash of magic, joining the massive crowd and leading the armies. That wasn’t all.
Applejack gave a thunderous, “Yeehaw!” She galloped as fast as her hooves could carry her, the farm pony glaring and smirking and dipping her head low as she matched speeds with Captain America. With Black Panther. Giant-Man charged behind them, his stomps shaking the earth and crushing nothing but the dirt below him. Not a single life of the Avengers was harmed. High above and flying lower to the ground, Captain Marvel joined the likes of Fluttershy, Star-Lord, and Falcon. Spider-Man swung from Giant-Man’s wrist, eventually reaching the tip of the iceberg and flying alongside Twilight Sparkle, Iron Man, Rescue, and War Machine with Rocket and Derpy hanging on his shoulders. Sunset Shimmer, Ghost Rider, and Nebula sprinted from below. Rainbow Dash, Doctor Strange, Rarity, and Spike flew from above. Scarlet Witch glided forward with the crimson on her palms keeping her airborne. Starlight Glimmer, Quake, and the Incredible Hulk finished off the masses and joined their team. Their friends.
Their Avengers.
Together at last, with the armies following behind them, the Avengers narrowed the distance between their forces and Thanos’. The two armies met in the center of the wasteland, creating the heart of the battlefield, and birthing the next monumental stage for the Battle of Earth.
The armies collided.
It was a flurry of bodies and madness and screams within milliseconds. Explosions consumed the skies and rocked the earth. The first waves of Wakandan warriors and Royal Guard lowered their spears the moment they collided with the Outriders. Bodies were stabbed, trampled, impaled, thrown about, and shredded once the tips of each army met. Captain Marvel led the assault in the skies, firing her photon blasts down below and incinerating any alien caught within her line of sight. Frank and James followed close behind her, the Punisher and War Machine firing every arsenal of weaponry they had and constantly dive-bombing the crowds of Chitauri and Outriders. Rocket fired and screamed like a madman atop Rhodes’ shoulder. Derpy’s own Domino Gun fired every other second, the volley of lightning striking the earth and killing various Chitauri upon each impact. Celestia fired a golden beam of magic from her horn that followed a similar trail as Carol’s, slicing entire bodies of Chitauri in half.
Luna raged and landed right in the largest crowd of Outriders she could find, decimating them with her magic and twin swords flailing about in her dark blue auras. The Princess of the Night was unleashed, having experienced both death by her own moon and resurrection seemingly out of the blue having birthed a new idea of fury into the Alicorn. Iron Man led the three Iron Mares into the fray, repulsor beams sounding off as Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity flew side to side, up and down, and alongside Tony Stark as they blew apart dozens of chariots and starships. Their flaming carcasses collided with the earth, creating various domino explosions as they impacted tanks and groups of Chitauri. Sliding forward, Steve tossed Mjølnir directly into the face of a rampaging Chitauri Gorilla. Thor rammed Stormbreaker’s head into the ground in front of him, a volley of lightning shooting forth and eviscerating the battalion of Chitauri Elite directly ahead.
The first wave of Asgardians and Ravagers met the Chitauri, screaming as they drove their swords and spears into the alien menace. The Ravagers either slid forward or stood in place, unloading every drop of their ammunition into the bullet sponges of Outriders and Chitauri. The Wasp enlarged and drove her boot across an Elite’s face, the alien focusing only on the Asgardians and unable to see the pint-sized Wasp before it was too late. Before she grew and kicked its faceplate in. Valkyrie swooped downwards on her stallion, slicing the head clean off a Gorilla trying to reach for Hope van Dyne. The Wakandan tanks fired their resounding barrage into the skies and towards the waves of Chitauri, the blue energy blasts ripping apart starships and disintegrating aliens by the dozen.
Dragons flew overhead and dive-bombed the earth with streams of fire. They scorched the lands and the Chitauri caught within the flames. Pillars of fire rose from the battlefield, spreading and growing longer and longer, like fiery serpents slithering across the landscapes. Spike was with them, blowing torrents of green fire upon the waves of Outriders beneath him. They screeched and cried as their bodies were consumed by the green flame. A swarm of dragons impacted and consumed an entire Leviathan, bringing it down to the battlefield in a resounding crash and wave of dust.
The wave washed over the masses, the battalion of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents walking forward and firing relentlessly forward into the dust and smoke. Outriders screamed and fell dead. With the dust fading, the madness remained. The Hulk fell from above, bringing with him a chariot and slamming it into the ground. He threw a Chitauri by the head clear across the battlefield. Dragon Lord Ember swung the Bloodstone Scepter across the face of an Elite, its body flailing and spinning in mid-air before landing to the dirt to Ember’s left.
The Dragon Lord jammed her scepter ahead of her and screamed, “Forward!” The armies of dragons, griffons, changelings, Hippogriffs, ponies, buffalo, and yaks flowed free past Ember.
A Leviathan swam above her head, roaring out and nearing its razor-sharp teeth into its intended target. To Ember’s shock, she witnessed Scott Lang rear back and drive his fist into the Leviathan’s face. The shock wave from the punch could be felt by all, the Leviathan crashing to the ground head-first, tipping skyward, and landing on its back upon several dozen Outriders. Killing them all instantly. Giant-Man ripped his feet free from the ground, several Chitauri planted on the bottom of his boots flying and scattering.
Down below, T’Challa spun in mid-air and slammed his foot across the face of an attacking Outrider. He landed neatly on both feet, extending his vibranium claws and slicing them at the next Outrider. Behind him, fighting Outriders with her older brother, Shuri drove her own vibranium claws into the chest of an alien hound. Both donned in Black Panther armor, the siblings spun and fought with the skill of experienced dancers—warriors—reunited at long last.
Beyond them and atop a mound of rock, Yondu whistled and shot his hand and eyes in the direction he willed for his Yaka Arrow. The arrow soared in a stream of bright crimson, through various crowds and impaling each alien through the chest and head. Gazing behind him, Yondu cut off his whistle and caught the arrow without even looking. He spotted Kraglin and his band of Ravager scum finally catching up, unloading their laser weapons into the Sakaarans trying to swarm Yondu.
Cheese Sandwich’s party tank rolled onward, crushing various Chitauri along the way. The grounds beneath the towering tank were pure chaos, mixtures of Asgardians battling Chitauri in close sword combat, Wakandans fending off the Outrider horde, and Equus’ armies fighting the Sakaarans on the earth and in the skies. Drax leaped forward, screaming maniacally as he proceeded to stab a Chitauri Gorilla in the back. With the Gorilla’s focus turned back to Drax, Korg was able to break free from the creature’s grip. He spun around, slamming his mace across its face.
Flying over the Kronan, Pepper in her Rescue armor destroyed a Necrocraft with a repulsor blast from her Ion Cannons. The Ion Cannons hovered around her, bending to her will and enhancing each blast she fired. She managed to catch the familiar red and gold Iron Man suit flying by and stopping right next to her, her husband’s own repulsor blast destroying a chariot intending for Pepper with her back turned. Neither left each other. They hovered together, spinning in tandem and firing every arsenal of repulsor they had. Tony Stark and his wife spun and fired, incinerating the crowds of Chitauri in the skies and on the ground.
The War Horse flew over their heads and entered the battle, a reverberating battle cry emanating from its horns and filling the air with its intimidating presence. The warship’s cannons demolished the crowds of Outriders and Chitauri down below in a barrage of death from above. Even the skies were not safe with the War Horse entering the fray. Any chariot, starship, or Necrocraft that flew close to attack were instantly blown out of the sky. The cannons atop the ship’s deck were constantly moving, constantly firing, constantly killing. Following it, the rest of the Equestrian Grand Fleet and the Wakandan jets collided with the chariots, starships, and Necrocrafts in a massive dogfight. Airships led and piloted by Captain Celaeno and Grubber either plowed through the destruction or fell while consumed in flames. Dragons cried as they attacked the swarm of starships, bodies and ships falling like rocks in the cluster of laser blasts and explosions.
With the skies infested and consumed by war, the grounds of the battlefield were an even grander form of chaos. One that Discord found particular splendor in. The draconequus slithered across the earth, transforming various Chitauri to whatever household item or object he desired. He was as slippery as an eel, untouchable and unhittable and utterly devastating to the Mad Titan’s armies. Frank Castle landed roughly on the ground, sliding forward and driving his fists into the Outriders leaping for him. He aimed his arms forward, the miniguns on his shoulders and machine guns on his gauntlets unloading into the crowds of Chitauri before him. The Punisher roared, various rockets shooting off from his back and striking the earth in random directions forward, each blast taking an alien or several dozen with it.
War Machine touched ground not too long after Castle’s dominance on the battlefield, dropping off both Rocket and Derpy and taking off once again for the skies. Rocket aimed his dual pistols to the mound of rubble before him, killing each Sakaaran aiming their rifles for the duo. Derpy’s eyes centered ahead, watching as Bucky Barnes, the White Wolf, fired relentlessly into the crowds of Chitauri charging them. She flew next to him, helping with her Domino Gun.
The Element of Honesty slid beneath the swing of an Elite’s blade, not even bothering with it and not needing to. The Ghost Rider behind it wrapped the Elite in its Hellfire Chain, disintegrating the Chitauri into nothing but red-hot ash. The Spirit of Vengeance roared to the heavens blistered with fire and explosions, chaos and warfare, death and destruction. The Rider roared to it all.
Paying the demon no heed, Applejack narrowed her glare to the Gorilla turning its attention to the lone Earth pony ahead. It snorted, slamming its fists into the dirt and stampeding for her. Applejack didn’t slow down. She didn’t hold back. She picked up the pace, smirking to see the pink blur on the battlefield zoom towards her and latch itself to the Gorilla’s back. Pinkie Pie emerged atop the Chitauri Gorilla’s shoulder, poking it madly in the side of the head and constantly screaming in its ear. The Gorilla halted, growled, and reached for the pink nuisance. It grabbed nothing but air, Pinkie Pie always so elusive and popping up all over the Chitauri’s body.
With Pinkie distracting it, Applejack galloped forward and delivered a swift buck into the creature’s stomach. It gave off a grunt of pain and flew back into a mound of rubble. Before it could rise back up, Fluttershy flew up to its face, wings extended and fury flowing free from her voice. But most importantly… her eyes.
“Stand down!” Fluttershy ordered. The Stare burned in her eyes, reaching the Chitauri’s and melting easily through its blue visor and golden faceplate. Hitting it where it hurt most. Whimpering, the Gorilla fell down and stayed still in the dirt and rubble.
Smirking at that, Fluttershy hovered downwards until her hooves gracefully touched the dirt and rubble beneath her. That victorious smirk did not last long on her lips, especially when that all-too-familiar voice cried out her name.
“Fluttershy!”
Spinning to her right, Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her breath was taken from her. Flying high above and directly for her, her close friend Twilight Sparkle appeared through the smoke in a violet suit of armor. “Twilight!” the Pegasus exclaimed, flying forward and meeting Twilight halfway for a powerful and much-needed hug. The two mares spun in mid-air, eventually gliding back to the ground and breaking apart from there. The tearful smiles each mare shared with one another was interrupted by the southern drawl, one that took Twilight’s breath away.
“Is that Twilight Sparkle Ah jus’ heard?!” Applejack called from the distance, galloping forward and joining the two. Mainly, she met with Twilight and crushed her in a bone-splitting hug. Twilight didn’t even mind it—plus, her suit protected her—and returned the hug.
“I-I can’t believe it!” Twilight cried, breaking from Applejack and darting her eyes from both her to Fluttershy and back again. Applejack and Fluttershy’s warming smiles only continued to grow just seeing Twilight being so ecstatic to see them. They couldn’t help it. Neither could Twilight. “You’re here! You’re all actually here!”
“Not all of us!”
Twilight knew that voice. She spun to meet it with the biggest grin she could muster. From the trembling Chitauri Gorilla’s back, Pinkie Pie hopped on top of it and waved excitedly to the Alicorn. She then proceeded towards Twilight, each bounce growing faster and faster and cutting off the distance.
“Pinkie!” Twilight exclaimed with a tearful grin, catching the bounding Earth pony in a tight and spinning hug. Pinkie met her with an equally-as-powerful hug, nearly denting the Iron Mare armor Twilight wore. Impressive, Twilight imagined, before breaking off and pressing her hooves onto Pinkie’s own and staring into her friend’s eyes. The kind she thought she would never see again. Twilight was breathless, almost speechless. “This is unbelievable!”
Emerging from the fiery battlegrounds of Armageddon, Rarity rose and planted herself atop a pile of concrete and rubble. After having lost track of Twilight and Rainbow, she traced their locations and noted that Twilight was frozen while Rainbow was everywhere at once. She made it easier on herself and followed Twilight’s location. Yet when she finally found her, when she spotted Twilight standing below, she noticed that the Alicorn wasn’t alone. She gasped, tears already building on the corners of her large, pearly eyes.
Rarity cried out, “Girls, you’re alive!”
“Rarity!” all three mares called with joyous and tearful smiles to go around. Not even using the repulsors from her Iron Mare to reach them, Rarity rushed down the mound of rubble and joined the group of mares she knew by heart. She hugged them all. First, Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie. Applejack. They were alive. They were all alive. Rarity had to be dreaming. It couldn’t be real.
Breaking the hug and staring into Applejack’s emerald eyed, Rarity knew at that moment that it was real. All of it. They had done it after all. More tears fell free from Rarity’s eyes, the mascara flowing in dirty rivers down her cheeks. But she smiled through it all, a smile that could never break now.
“We need to get Rainbow here!” Twilight said, raising her hoof up to the comms in her ear. “Rainbow, we’ve found them! The girls, our friends, they’re here! Track my loca—!”
In a blur of rainbows, the Pegasus in the suit of armor tackled her fellow Pegasus to the ground. A quick yelp from Fluttershy was all that was heard before everypony turned accordingly. There, they could see Rainbow Dash holding Fluttershy in an all-powerful hug. They could have sworn they saw tears leaking from Rainbow’s eyes as Fluttershy gently padded her armored back. A few chuckles shared between Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity before Rainbow finally moved on. Moving first to Pinkie and then to Applejack. The speed of which she moved was shocking to say the least, but not unbelievable for Rainbow’s standards. Rarity met Twilight’s astounded expressions, smiling softly. Twilight smiled in return, unable to stop the grin any longer.
Even with the madness of war unfolding around them, the six best friends smiled and hugged one another.
“You guys have no idea what we went through to get you here,” Rainbow gasped, her grip around Applejack tightening further and further. Rainbow closed her eyes, managing a tearful smile and whispering, “But it was worth it. It was all worth it.”
“Yeah, Ah’m sure it was. You’ll have ta tell us about it after all this,” Applejack explained, pulling Dash off of her and playfully smacking the Pegasus’ armored shoulder. Rainbow rubbed her foreleg across snout, sniffling and wiping the lingering tears away. A rippling explosion shot out across the battlefield, a Ravager warship crashing to the earth and consumed in flames. The six mares all flinched and stared to the fireball rising higher and higher before eventually fading away. Leaving just the battle itself fading back into their ears. Applejack turned back and cleared her throat. Her friends turned her way.
Rubbing a hoof gingerly through her mane and then on her foreleg, Applejack managed a weak chuckle and asked, “A-Ah know this might seem like a bad time as well, but… y’all wouldn’t happen ta have mah hat now, would ya?”
Rainbow grinned, pointing her armor-covered hoof right to Applejack’s chest. “Be right back.”
With an extra set of nanoparticle wings extending from her back, Rainbow zoomed off with an explosion of repulsors trailing her. She flew faster than any of the ponies had ever seen, the Iron Mare having greatly aided her in terms of speed.
Pinkie whistled aloud—the Yaka Arrow in the distance quickly shifting in her direction before flying off when Pinkie stopped—and gazed back to Twilight and Rarity’s armors. “Wow! Those sure are some fancy suits you got there!” she said, tapping the tip of her hoof into Twilight’s Arc Reactor. She suddenly gasped aloud, spinning about wildly and darting her widened eyes in every direction. Pinkie screamed, “Were we gone for like twenty years instead?! Is this really the far future?! Why isn’t everything chrome?!”
Twilight and Rarity just laughed. They really missed Pinkie Pie.
Applejack planted her hoof on the mare’s back to stop her from bouncing, chuckling and stating precisely, “Calm down, Pinks! Doctor Strange said it himself: It’s only been five years.”
With Pinkie finally ceasing her bouncing, it allowed Applejack to drop her hoof. A different sense of sadness filled the mare’s eyes, her ears slightly drooping and a weakened sigh leaving Applejack. With a sad smile, she said, “Then again… that’s still a long time ta be away from everything ya know and love.”
Rarity’s own expression flattened at that. Twilight’s ears fell, the Princess of Friendship shaking her head with a weak chuckle. She closed her eyes. A sad smile joined her and mirrored Applejack’s.
“You don’t know the half of it," Twilight whispered.
The sounds of haunting warfare echoed around them for a brief second or two. Rainbow was disappointed in herself for being a second late, but regardless, she arrived and skid across the dirt. Twilight opened her eyes and turned towards the Pegasus. Everypony did, especially Applejack when she noticed what Rainbow was holding in her hoof.
The brown hat lay on Rainbow’s armored hoof, the dull fragments of the Elements of Harmony resting inside of it. Applejack noted that, brow rising, expression turning up to meet Rainbow’s invisible one behind her mask. The Iron Mare helmet materialized back, revealing Rainbow’s ecstatic eyes and facial features. She explained rather quickly, “Here ya go, AJ! Might be scratched up a bit, though.”
Applejack grabbed it with her right hoof, staring somberly onto her hat and smiling in the end. A sad smile, yes, but a warming one nonetheless. Turning back to Rainbow, AJ nodded gratefully and said, “None ta worry about. An’ thanks, Rainbow. You have no idea how much this hat means ta me—”
Her voice simply began to fail her. When the minuscule cry could be heard from her hat, Applejack simply stopped talking. Her mouth lay agape, brow furrowing tighter and tighter until she eventually let her eyes fell back to her hat. Rainbow Dash’s heavy breathing began to grow calm, the Pegasus slowly following AJ’s eyes. Fluttershy and Pinkie were quick to join them, both of their eyes widening at the sight of it. They crowded together, Rarity and Twilight the last ones to gaze deeply into the wonder that was occurring deeply in Applejack’s hat.
When Twilight laid her eyes on them, it was beginning to make sense. She gave a soft gasp and remained silent, simply witnessing the Elements of Harmony alongside her best friends. No voice was needed. Nopony made a sound.
To their astonishment, they watched as the shattered fragments of the Elements of Harmony began to shudder and glow. The dead and dull rocks and golden necklaces trembled together for several seconds, only growing more unhinged. They twitched, flinched, rolled, spun, until they eventually shot up like a multitude of miniature rockets right from the hat. Each mare backed away only slightly, their heads turning skyward in unison, all six ponies gazing wondrously to the Elements of Harmony hovering over their heads.
They slowly started to spin above them, the dozens of fragments coiled together in a large circle, just large enough to mirror the circle of ponies beneath them. And to the mares’ continued stance of utter shock and awe, they witnessed not one, not two, not three, but all five necklaces quickly reform before their very eyes. The gold and gemstones found their correct placement without the aid of the ponies below, an unfathomable sense of raw magic consuming the Elements in an aura of pure whiteness. That same magic flowed from each pony, rising up to unite with the Elements of which they proudly donned. It was only getting brighter and brighter, nearly blinding. Some looked away, like Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Twilight stared on, lost in the shimmering whiteness and pure majesty of the miracle unfolding above her.
Her tiara was the last Element reformed, a cry of pure magic sounding off as each necklace was repaired and finalized. They slowly floated down, latching around the necks of their respective pony. Applejack with the orange gemstone, the Element of Honesty. Pinkie Pie with the bright blue gemstone, the Element of Laughter. Fluttershy with the pink gemstone, the Element of Kindness. Rarity with the dark purple gemstone, the Element of Generosity…
Rainbow Dash with the red lightning bolt. The Element of Loyalty.
Twilight Sparkle with her golden tiara finally resting upon her head. The violet star. The Element of Magic.
And all of them shimmered. All of them were alive. All of them…
Fluttershy caressed her necklace, her gemstone, and smiled sweetly. She lifted her eyes to her Alicorn friend and told her, “I think they’re finally ready, Twilight.”
After a moment of finally catching her breath, a moment of staring in disbelief to her own Element, Twilight smiled back. She met Fluttershy’s eyes, Applejack’s eyes, and Pinkie Pie’s eyes. She shook her head, whispered proudly, “No… we’re ready.”
She and Rainbow smiled and nodded to each other. Rarity, as well.
Applejack smirked, raising her hat and placing it back where it belonged. With a swift tightening, Applejack lifted her eyes and sent that glowing smirk to her friends. To Twilight. She nodded. Pinkie Pie bit her lower lip, the mare bouncing in place to see that bright and powerful smile return to Twilight Sparkle’s face. Fluttershy smiled to her friends, seeing the life and love return to them once again.
Twilight planted her hoof firmly ahead of her, staring to the ongoing war with her best friends beside her. The wind and external forces pulled at her mane, at her being, but could never push her away from her friends. Never again. The six ponies, the six Elements of Harmony stared and stood steadfastly into the face of utter destruction.
“Let’s do this, girls… together this time.”