A Rather Large Adventure

by BradyBunch


Chapter Ninety: The Last Hero

Twilight was weeping.

Nothing was going right. She had delivered the world unto the devil. Her prediction was wrong. And now all of her friends were surely going to turn on her and rend her piece by piece, and she couldn’t blame them! She… had failed-

A sob escaped her throat, and, embarrassed, she covered her eyes with an arm. She didn’t even want to know if or how anypony looked at her.

It was silent, save for a dull scraping. Then she felt a hoof nudge her in the back, and Twilight jolted and whirled around. If this would be the first of her friends to attack-!

But it was Starlight. She had dragged her failing body across the ground with herculean effort just to get her attention. Twilight looked down into her student’s dull eyes and felt a flare of shame creep into her face.

“Don’t cry,” Starlight croaked. She pushed up to reach Twilight’s face and shakily wiped away one of the tears coming down her cheek.

Of course, this just made her cry even more. She held Starlight under the arms and buried her face into her shoulder, squeezing her cold body as tight as she could.

“I’m so sorry!” Twilight whispered between breaths. “I can’t save you! I can’t save anyone! I’m… a failure!”

For a few seconds, the others didn’t interrupt the moment. Fluttershy was the first to gently speak.

“Twilight?” she prodded. “I don’t think you’re a failure.”

Well, that was coming from Fluttershy, always so quick to reassure, so fast to comfort. If an insane pony had blown up the moon, Fluttershy would have reassured him. It didn’t mean anything.

“Neither do I,” Rainbow was quick to say.

Riding on the coattails of her best friend. If she hadn’t said it, Fluttershy would have gotten angry. Still didn’t mean anything. If anything, it exasperated her. How could she be sure if anypony was being honest? She had doomed the world, for goodness’ sake!

“Nor I,” came Tempest’s voice, as rich and deep as a berry.

Well… Twilight’s heart thumped. Did she really?

Starlight’s mouth came near Twilight’s ear. “I don’t,” she managed to say.

Twilight broke down and bawled into her shoulder.

She hated being the one that needed to be reassured instead of Starlight. She wanted to do something, anything, to make up for it. Instead, she was useless. Worse than useless.

A chime, distinct above the constant magic keeping the temple in the air, twinkled in all of their ears. Each of their heads drew up, their ears perking. Twilight groaned. No more. Please, no more today. How could she keep fighting? There’s nothing left.

“Bogey at nine-o-clock,” Rainbow reported, squinting in the direction.

“How do you know what time it is?” Fluttershy asked, staring up into the smoky skies. “There isn’t a sun.”

“It’s a direction,” Rainbow not-quite-so-patiently explained.

Fluttershy swiveled her head appropriately, matching where the others were looking. Indeed, a glowing figure was approaching, as if it were a ghost. He was glowing like the sun, trotting as he hovered.

As he got closer, Twilight thanked heaven for small miracles.

“Freedom!” she cried, setting Starlight down and galloping to where he was about to land. Freedom Fighter’s hooves had no sooner touched ground than he got tackled by Twilight and held in a vice grip.

“Hey, Twi,” Freedom Fighter got out. He sounded tired. He ruffled Twilight’s mane and rubbed her upper back, then winced at the response Twilight gave. “Ow. Ow. Not so hard.”

Twilight broke away from him, and she noticed the details about him. The Element of Sacrifice was embedded deep in his forehead. His left arm was whole again, leaving him a complete pony.

Well, as complete as Freedom Fighter could get. There were burns, still-mending cuts healing in slow motion on his face. His entire coat was ruffled and dirty. Parts of him looked raw and red. And in splotches-

“Is that blood?” Fluttershy whimpered.

Freedom Fighter looked down as if finally noticing it about him, and he made an unsuccessful attempt to rub it out. “Sorry. It’s not mine. Mostly.”

“Mostly?” Rainbow repeated.

“I’m all right,” Freedom Fighter assured them. “Malice is down. So what are we doing all the way up here? Why haven’t we used the Elements to destroy Solaris? Wasn’t that the plan?”

“Well,” Tempest tried to condense. “We needed to summon Solaris before we could destroy him.”

“No other way?” he asked.

Tempest nodded.

“So why haven’t we done it?”

Tempest’s eyes hesitantly traveled to Starlight Glimmer’s body, and upon seeing it for the first time, Freedom Fighter gasped.

He trotted over and knelt. His eyes roamed over her ruined frame. "... What caused this? The stone?" He pointed at the rock in her chest.

"It's corrupted," Twilight said. "And that means we can't use them all…"

"Who says we can't? Haven't we found the others?"

There was a pause. "...No," Fluttershy admitted.

"I don't have mine," Rainbow added. "It'd at least be nice to have."

"Well, as long as Starlight’s alive, there’s always a chance we can use all ten. Let's get moving!" Freedom Fighter urged.

"Where?" Twilight asked.

"To that other mountain," Tempest spoke up, indicating the hazy outline in the distance. "Our only option now.”

“I dropped Pinkie off there earlier to help out Rarity and AJ!” Rainbow remembered, smacking herself in the head. “I only got a glimpse, but something tells me the boys are there too.”

“Besides, I told Firestorm to go over there to look for prisoners when we first entered this miserable place."

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in the air helping us out during the attack," Twilight suspected. "You think something held him up? He'd never stay away from a fight like this!"

"What else could it be? Come on, guys! Let's get moving! I wanna see him again!"

Rainbow's words aroused the ponies to their hooves. Twilight was grateful to go. Keeping the platform in the air might have been no big deal, but she had to constantly have her magic on, and her ears were starting to buzz.

Twilight and Fluttershy gently bore up Starlight's limp frame. Rainbow buzzed in place, holding up Tempest Shadow. Freedom Fighter hovered in the air again, coating himself with a yellow aura emanating from the crystal in his head. As one collective, they slowly flew towards the mountain in the distance.

Twilight could finally allow her magic to shut off. A quick command to the Element of Magic did the trick. The stone platform, once blushing pink, faded its color, and it immediately dropped from sight.

Its sudden descent drew the heads of the ponies down, disoriented all of a sudden from the loss of ground beneath them, and they all wobbled a bit before floating away once more.

A distant boom signaled the destruction of the final reminder of Mount Nevermore's legacy.


After a few minutes of burdened flight, Twilight could see the steep slant of the mountain ahead. She could discern individual boulders if they were adequately large, but the rest of the detail was so fuzzy that Twilight was unsure of where to land.

Her horn had a bead of light on the tip. It didn't do much to help her see, but perhaps it could let anyone beneath know of their approach. And sure enough-

"Hey!" a faraway voice called out. It was familiar and warm to Twilight.

"Spike!" she called in return.

"Twilight!" came his cracked cry. "Over here!"

A red glow cut through the oppressive smoke, waving up and down, and the six ponies dipped until they could clearly see what was going on.

Spike was heaving the Bloodstone Scepter up and down. Beside him was Garble, his hand on Spike's shoulder. And resting on the slope beneath them both were shapes and masses of muted colorful flesh.

Twilight eased up on the landing and leaned Starlight into Fluttershy's arms; Spike was running over to her on his stubby little legs. He hugged her right around the middle, the scepter loose in his hands behind her back. "You're all right!"

No, she wasn't. "I'm… fine," Twilight told her brother. She hugged him tightly. It was the least she could do.

She eased up and patted Spike down, looking for something to ease tension. "Spike, it's… wow, look at you! Leader of the dragons and everything."

"What's left of 'em," he remarked lowly. He gestured with the scepter at the rising mounds of flesh stretching out of sight into the murky black air. "We got hit pretty bad. The eruption kinda blew us outta the air. We can survive the lava, but the smoke really got to us. We had to all meet together here. Still finding a few dragons here and there."

"How many are left?"

Spike's face fell. "Not much. Last we counted? ...Maybe fifty."

"Fifty," Twilight repeated in shock. They'd left with hundreds! Maybe thousands!

"I-it's not like this is every dragon out there," Spike tried to rationalize. "Not every dragon in the country came out to fight--there might still be civilians out there, in the badlands, and..."

But it was said without faith. Both of them knew Solaris would destroy any remaining lives out there anyway.

Spike sighed and kicked the dirt. "Some Dragon Lord I got to be. It was a pretty good couple of hours."

"Would you rather it fall to me in these final hours?" Garble reasoned with a joking grin.

"Knock it off," Spike snapped, and Garble, taken aback, shut it.

A series of tremors beneath Twilight’s hooves signaled the approach of a ponderous dragon. His red head soon emerged from the hazy smoke behind Garble and Spike. His eyes scanned the assembled ponies before landing on Fluttershy, and his countenance brightened immediately.

“Reggie!” Fluttershy cried, growing a smile. “Oh, my goodness, you’re alive! I was worried you might not have made it!”

Raggie sheepishly lowered his head. “Me too,” came his deep reply. “For you, I mean.”

“I’m so proud of you!” Fluttershy told him, adjusting the grip she had on Starlight. “You’ve done so much to help us all out. It’s okay for you to rest now.”

“At the end of the world?” Reggie nodded. “If you say so. It’s okay, really. If I had to die someday, I’d be okay with it now.”

Fluttershy’s face was stricken. Reggie looked so sure of himself and so calm that there was nothing more she could say.

“So you’ve been assembling whoever’s left?” Twilight clarified.

“What else can I do?” Spike asked, shrugging. “Why are you here?”

“We were searching for the others. Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Firestorm, and Noble are missing.”

“You mean Rarity isn’t with you guys?” Spike demanded, looking around. “Where is she?”

“We think under the mountain. Would you like to help us search?”

Spike turned around and deposited the Bloodstone Scepter into a startled Garble’s fumbling hands. “Hold onto that.” He turned back to Twilight. “Lead the way.”

"Good luck!" Reggie called, trying to be helpful.

"Thank you, Reggie," Fluttershy replied. "We'll try to be back."

Twilight took the other end of Starlight and helped Fluttershy flap off and up the slope. Spike jogged to keep up, scaling the steep incline.

The last thing Twilight heard before she moved out of earshot was Reggie asking the awestruck Garble, "So are you in charge now?"


Twilight led Spike up the slant of the mountain. The other ponies had assembled at the summit, clamoring around something or other. They were still too far away to hear it.

“Hold on,” Twilight urged her dying student. “I don’t know what’s been keeping you alive this long, but whatever it is, Starlight, you gotta keep holding onto it!”

Starlight winced as she bumped around in their arms. “Doing my best.”

“That’s all I ever asked of you,” Twilight reassured her. “If it’s your best, I can’t make you give more. Just… please. I don’t know if…”

“You should take your own advice,” Fluttershy said to Twilight. She was directly facing her, both of them carrying opposite ends of Starlight’s depleted shell.

“What’re you talking about?”

“If you had the same standards for yourself as you did for your friends, you wouldn’t be so worried all the time,” Fluttershy expounded, tugging uphill with all her strength.

“No, but… that’s the thing, Fluttershy. I haven’t done my best yet. There’s still so much more I can give, more I can do for you all.”

Fluttershy sighed. “You remind me of Noble. Back in the day.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how to take that. “Maybe… Isn’t it a good quality?”

Fluttershy’s eyes flickered into Twilight’s. “It depends. If everyone is saying good things about you except you, doesn’t that mean you can’t accept your friends?”

“What? I…” Twilight faltered. Of course that wasn’t what it meant!

But if not that, then what?

“...Of course, this is all coming from you.”

“So who better to teach it? I learned it myself.”

Twilight didn’t say anything.

Soon after the last words, the four of them reached earshot of the others.

Freedom Fighter was bending into a huge hole on the very tip of the peak. His hoof firmly grasped an orange one, slowly lifting it out of the hole and revealing Applejack--dirty, bruised, and bloodied over her back, with her mane mussed up and her hat weary atop her head.

As Freedom Fighter pulled Applejack to safety on the outside, Rainbow Dash was ascending out of the hole as well, carrying Pinkie Pie on one arm and Rarity on the other. Once she was above ground, she deposited them both onto the black soil, and all involved began massaging their appropriate limbs.

Spike jogged over to Rarity the instant she hit the ground and collided, almost sending them toppling over the edge again. A quick crystal erupting from behind Rarity saved them both, and they briefly laughed in relief before embracing.

“I am so relieved to see you again!” Rarity assured him, ruffling the spines on his head. “You must catch me up on all that’s happened.”

“Oh, it was no big deal, Rarity. I made friends with Garble, helped Torch charge into battle, ripped out Malice’s eye, became Dragon Lord, grew fifty feet high-”

Rarity’s eyes bulged. “I’m… sorry, you did what?”

“Actually, I lied about growing fifty feet.” He poked her in the belly. “But you believed it!”

Rarity sounded shaky. “W-with whatever else you did, I, er, wouldn’t have discounted it. Look at all that stuff you’ve done!” She cupped his cheeks, gazing into his eyes with the biggest grin. “You’re just that brave and big and strong!” She sweetly smooched his forehead. Then immediately bulged her eyes and stuck out her tongue to the side. “Bleh. And dirty.”

“You’re one to talk,” Spike dismissed, wiping away some of the grime on her chest. Rarity blushed.

“What’s happened?” Rainbow Dash was asking Applejack just to the side. “Didja win?”

Applejack’s faded emerald eyes shifted, first to Rarity, then Pinkie. “Yeh.” She stretched and hissed, relaxing again. “Gave them fellers a real one-two.”

“I gave him a bomb,” Pinkie piped up.

“Good on you. Hey, AJ. You hurt?”

“What am I, a chopped chimicherrychanga?” Pinkie said under her breath.

Applejack, despite a good hiss, got to all fours and stretched out her hindquarters. “Ah’ve been better. But then, so’ve we all. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

“Speak for yourself.” Pinkie exposed her bad arm to Rainbow. The vile black wounds were still as fresh as the time they’d been delivered.

Rainbow’s eyes bulged. “Uh, guys? This might be serious.”

Freedom Fighter came over first. He examined the wounds with distress in his quivering red eyes. Giving one of them a gentle nudge and hearing Pinkie hiss, Freedom Fighter drew his head up. “We’ve got a problem. Twilight, Fluttershy, get over here.”

Tempest adjusted Starlight off of them both. What took two ponies to bear seemed like a simple job for Tempest. She slung the sick pony over her back. “I’ll be fine. Take care of her.”

Twilight and Fluttershy shared a look of mutual appreciation before approaching Pinkie for a better look. Twilight tried to focus the other ponies around her out of her mind. This was far worse up close than from further away.

“Anything you two can do?” Freedom Fighter asked, looking first to Twilight, then Fluttershy. “Mine doesn’t work. It isn’t her Element to bear.”

Twilight was lost. “...If yours can’t do it, what makes you think we can?”

“You’re the Element of Magic!” Freedom urged. “Short of Faust herself, there isn’t anything more powerful.”

Twilight hesitated. Then she ignited her horn, willing the crown atop her head to give her strength. And it came rushing in.

Her head felt open to all the possibilities. Recipes for all potential uses of her power were right there in front of her, almost overwhelming her. But there were some things that felt off limits. Crossed out and slashed through. Twilight couldn't see it all, because there were just so many. But there was one overriding principle guiding her.

The Element could only be used for righteous desires in the name of Faust. She already had the will. Would this have the power?

It needed to.

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked. She felt like she needed to ask. “Do you think this can work?”

“I have faith in you, Twilight,” Pinkie assured her, trying to keep her arm steady. “Just like you had faith in me when I first told you about Pinkie Sense. Remember that day?” She gave a brief chuckle.

Faith. The one thing she needed, but the one thing it seemed so hard to get.

Twilight swallowed. Might as well try. If she was going to, it needed to be the best.

She nodded. “I do.” Her horn bent down and made contact with the wounded skin on her upper arm.

Give me strength! Faust, Celestia… whoever’s listening, I need to deliver on Pinkie’s hope. She needs it. But… so do I. If there’s anything I can do to make up for what I’ve done, I need to do it.

I’d do anything.

Anything?

The words were not her own.

Anything. Just to make it up.

You don’t need to. There’s nothing to repay. You are a good and humble servant, Twilight. I am very proud of you. If my words do not convince you, the only thing that can will be your own.

Tears spilled from her eyes. They cut trails down the dust smeared on her cheeks.

I understand. But still… Please let me have this. Let me… do this. I want to heal my friend. I love her.

A warm touch entered her breastbone. Words entered her head, flowing into her mouth.

“In the name of Faust,” she tremblingly spoke, “I command you to be whole.”

A swirl of dazzling light wormed out of the tip of her horn. It twisted and traveled along the black wound in Pinkie's arm like a caterpillar, leaving a glittering line where once was filth.

Once the light faded, and Twilight blinked to clear her vision, she gasped.

There was not even an old line to show where it had once been.

Pinkie gasped as well. She hesitantly poked the flesh, then jiggled it. A huge smile crossed her face, and her enlightened eyes made contact with Twilight's. "Twilight! It's gone! I-I don't… know what to say!"

"That's a first," Fluttershy joked.

Pinkie playfully pushed the pegasus, then laughed loudly and threw her arms around Twilight's neck, sending Twilight reeling.

"Thank you," Pinkie whispered. "I was afraid I'd have to live with it forever!"

"It's all okay, Pinkie," Twilight reassured. For you and me both.

She patted her back a few times. "And it wasn't all me. I had some help."

"Faust?"

Twilight nodded.

Pinkie patted Twilight a few times before disengaging and displaying her injured hoof. "Well, I could use it again. I hope she doesn't mind."

"That looks very painful," Fluttershy observed as Twilight got to work again. "It must have taken you a while to get out with those wounds."

"Got that righ'," Applejack supplied, just to Fluttershy's left. "We were righ' on our way outta the top when there was a coupla mighty earthquakes that made us start over again." She gestured to the piles of rubble and lava where two great mountains had once stood. "Ah s'ppose they took those down?"

"The big mountain was actually done by me," Twilight admitted, taking her horn off Pinkie's skin. It was as smooth as a foal's bottom.

Applejack regarded her a moment before settling on her rump and putting her head in her hooves. "An' right afterward, the devil 'imself paid a visit. Ah heard everything Solaris said. Twi… Ah hate ta ask, but were you the one who put 'im on the earth?"

"I assumed it would be a similar situation to Tirek," Twilight explained. "It's why we came over here in the first place: to assemble the Elements and strike him in the back."

"So like pokin' a bear?"

"... Yes."

"When ya poke a bear, Twilight, you wake it up and then plug it with buckshot. But we just poked a bear, and we don't have no gun. All it did was get mad."

"What do you mean? Are you saying the Elements aren't going to work? How could you possibly know that?"

Applejack's eyes couldn't meet Twilight's.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" Twilight suspected.

"... Twi, Ah got bad news."

"What could be worse than what we're in right now?"

Applejack stared fervently at the ground. "It's bad. About th' boys."

"Tell me," Twilight said. Something began to sink in her gut. "I trust you to know the truth."

Applejack sighed and fiddled with her hooves. "Ah dunno how else ta put it, Twi." She bent into Twilight's ear and whispered. "Firestorm just… went mad. He started yelling an' screamin' at us all, and he… got into a fight with Noble. They disappeared, and Ah dunno where they are now."

Something twisted in her throat. "Well, we need to find them before it's too late!"

“Find who?” came a new voice.

Twilight whipped her head in the right direction. Emerging from the smoke was a peculiar sight. A pony Twilight had never seen before was riding upright on a plodding bear, sniffing in the poisonous atmosphere.

His grey wings were slightly out, stabilizing him. And his horn jutted out of his forehead, between his unsightly green bowl cut. Twilight’s blood began to rush. It was another alicorn!

Twilight ignited her horn warily. “Stay back!”

He did a double-take upon seeing Twilight. His eyes went to her horn, then her crown. “Are you… the Alicorn Princess?” he asked in wonder.

He knew. He was just like the others! “Back! I mean it!”

“I’m a good guy!” the alicorn quickly defended, keeping his hooves in the air. “I just want to talk with-” He paused, then grew a grin. “Fluttershy!”

“Bedrock!” Fluttershy recognized, pushing her way past Twilight and trotting up to him. “You did make it to higher ground!”

“I knew what would happen once I backed up the lava flow,” Bedrock explained, patting his bear. “I’m not stupid.”

Confused, Twilight shut off her magic and tried to put the puzzle pieces together. So he was the one that caused the destruction of the second mountain?

“I was looking for other ponies out here,” the alicorn--Bedrock--was explaining. “Am I... the last alicorn left?”

“For all intents and purposes,” Tempest Shadow relayed. “We haven’t seen any survivors.”

Bedrock blinked. His head drew down.

"Oh," Fluttershy cooed. She flapped next to him and slung her arm around his shoulder. "I-I bet it hurts, doesn't it?"

Bedrock gave a short nod.

"I know how you feel," Fluttershy assured him. "They were the only family you knew. It must have taken a lot to turn away from them. You must be conflicted… and hurting."

"Was it all worth it?" Bedrock whispered?

"I think that's up to us to make it so."

Bedrock took a shaky inhale and let it out. He was gripping the fur of his bear tightly. "I hope you're right." He was finally able to look her in the eye. "I do know that Solaris is a bad guy. He's gotta be stopped."

It wasn't until he said that that Twilight relaxed her tensed body. He really was on their side. Twilight reminded herself to thank Fluttershy sometime.

Fluttershy patted him on the back. "You mentioned you were looking for survivors. Have there been any?"

"No alicorns," Brimstone reported. He gestured behind him. "But I did see two ponies just over there. They must be part of you guys. I-I'll lead you to them."

All ten of the others turned their attention to Bedrock immediately. After a brief shy moment, Bedrock clicked his teeth and pulled on the fur, and his bear plodded around and began to trod off.

The ten others followed patiently, a frenzied pace in their firmly beating hearts. They disappeared into the smoke, leaving everything else behind.


Bedrock led them in an arc around the top. Once he was opposite where they once were, he carefully led them down the perilous and smooth slant of the mountain.

Twilight was getting more worried with every successive step. They were so close to it all being over. Once they got to Firestorm and Noble Blade, assuming they weren't fighting any more, then she could finally work on healing Starlight.

But whatever the Element was doing to her, it was far worse than a Black Blade. It was far too extensive and internal and unrelenting. It was malicious.

Perhaps she could work another miracle on Starlight. Every minute she was still alive was another miracle.

But if every minute was a miracle, how many of them could she string in a row?

Twilight's heart thundered in her chest. The fatigue and frustration and curses were almost overwhelming.

If she squinted, she could see a blue glow down there. Her heart thumped painfully against her rib cage.

Bedrock pulled to a halt once they were within sight. "I'll head back," he said. "I-it might be personal. Don't want to get in the way."

As he pulled his bear around again, Rarity gave him a glance. "One of a kind, that pony."

"Come on!" Rainbow urged, speeding ahead. "I wanna see him!"

Twilight trotted after her as fast as she could. The others followed in a big group, perilously navigating the slope of the mountain. They drew closer and closer, and Twilight could make out details.

Noble's glowing sword was the source of the light. It was stuck in the rock point-first. Two golden necklaces dangled from the hilt like flags. One of them held a red lightning bolt; the other, an orange X.

Noble Blade was sitting beside it with his back to them, holding Firestorm in his arms. He was looking into the western distance, where Solaris was marching with his endless flames. Noble was unmoving. Somber. He wasn't even aware of their approach until Rainbow screeched to a halt right behind him.

"There you are!" Rainbow exclaimed, throwing her hooves up. "We've been looking all over for you two! Come on, guys, let's…"

Rainbow cut herself off when she saw the tips of Firestorm's mane on Noble's shoulder. They did not move. There was not even any indication that he heard her.

"Stormy?" Rainbow hesitantly asked. "A-are you all right? What happened?"

Noble Blade finally turned his head. Deep despair dulled the color of his wet, reddened eyes. His mouth was tightly shut.

"Firestorm?" Rainbow breathed.

Noble adjusted himself, turning around to face the rest of the group, which by now had just caught up with Twilight. He said nothing. The upright Firestorm in Noble's arms said enough.

His eyes were peacefully closed. There was no indication of madness on his clean countenance. But there was a terrible hole in his chest, cauterized and dark and bloodied.

"No," Rainbow squeaked, a hoof to her mouth and her eyes wide open. "No, no! Storm!"

In the blink of an eye she zipped in front of him and held his face in her own hooves. He was completely unresponsive.

"Storm…" she got out, her voice choking. After a moment of examination, it was finally too much. She ripped him from Noble's weak grasp, clutched him tightly to her body, and bawled harder than Twilight could ever remember. It was an ugly, messy cry that wrenched at Twilight's very soul.

It made Twilight cry too. Two tears traveled down and collected at her nose before dripping off to water the ground. Firestorm… was gone.

The other ponies were also crying by this point. Twilight could hear each of them overlapping. Even Applejack, who never cried, held her hat to her chest, two tears coming down her cheeks.

The weight and failure and despair that had largely been lifted from her came crashing back down once again. It was enough to send Twilight to her knees. She buried her dirty hooves into her eyes and sobbed.

A part of her didn't want to believe it. A part of her still operated under the assumption that Firestorm was still there in her life. But as the reality of it sunk in, it hit Twilight a second time like a punch to the gut. He was gone, and no miracle or magic could bring him back to life.


"Who… did this?" Freedom Fighter tremblingly asked. "How did he die?"

Noble didn't want to answer. Didn't even want to look. But the truth must be known.

"I did it," Noble croaked. His throat was sore from his tears, and he hadn't spoken a word since it happened.

It was silent, save for the sobs and sniffles of the others.

Then he heard the crunch of hoofsteps on the slope drawing closer, and Noble drew his head up, expecting the worst. Sure enough, the only thing he saw was Freedom Fighter's golden hoof smashing between his eyes.

Noble tilted until his back hit the slope beneath him and he slid down a few feet. His head buzzed, and he could barely spare the strength to lean his head up.

Fluttershy was standing between him and Noble, her arm out to the side. "Freedom! No!"

"He killed him!" Freedom Fighter bellowed. His hoof raised up. "Get out of my way!"

"You don't understand!" Applejack yelled, coming beside Fluttershy as well. "Firestorm wasn't well! Hear 'im out!"

"How could he do that?" Freedom Fighter roared. "How could he just-" He made a thrusting motion. "His best friend, Applejack!"

Noble's heart curdled in his chest, and his throat was blocked. Freedom Fighter turning on him, Firestorm dead by his hoof… fate seemed poised against him.

"Listen," Rarity offered, coming to Fluttershy's other side. "Just listen, Freedom Fighter. Firestorm went wild!"

"He kept on spoutin' stuff about how Noble Blade was just maneuverin' fer the throne," Applejack added. "But there ain't nothing further from the truth!"

"Well, what made him think that in the first place?" Freedom Fighter demanded.

"He found out that Noble lied about killing the prince in Black Fang," Applejack replied. "Or rather, we accepted a falsehood before he could tell the truth. He did it himself."

Freedom Fighter locked eyes with Noble. "You really killed the prince?"

Noble, still lying on his back, weakly nodded.

"He got that mad over it?" Freedom Fighter asked, less harsh this time.

"It must have ruined his perception of Noble," Rarity explained. "It probably only took some deceiving by Solaris before he accepted all sorts of conspiracy theories against him. By Celestia, he thought that I was cheating behind everypony’s backs with him! It’s horrible!"

"He held him up to such a high standard," Fluttershy finished. "Once he found out he had kept a secret, he must have spiraled out of control and attacked him. I-is that right?"

"Precisely," Rarity concurred.

"Well, at least this time he didn't lie about killing somepony," Freedom Fighter darkly muttered.

"I never tried to attack him!" Noble spoke up. "You have to believe me. I love him. And I never tried to just impale him. It was an accident! If I could do it all over again, I could have tried something different, but he was flying right at me, and I just held the sword up, and…"

Noble couldn't finish. The image in his head upon saying the words was too vivid, even hours after. And spouting it all off sounded pathetic to his ears.

"Freedom," came Twilight Sparkle, the voice of reason. She had a hoof on Freedom Fighter's heart. "They're telling the truth. Please."

Freedom Fighter's eyes were wet. "Twi, I can't just-"

But he never finished. After making eye contact once more, an understanding transferred between Noble and Freedom Fighter.

A moment or two passed. Then Freedom Fighter made a broken sound and stomped off to the side. Twilight followed at a measured distance.

Fluttershy turned around and hovered above Noble, reaching an arm down. To Noble, even as dirtied, singed, mussed, wounded, and tired as Fluttershy looked, it still seemed like the closest thing to an angel he had seen all day.

His hoof clasped with hers. With all her strength, Fluttershy pulled him up to all fours. After adjusting himself so he wouldn't slip, Noble took his first few steps back to the others.

"Well, now we have an even bigger problem," Tempest quietly observed. "We're an Element bearer down, and another on the way. It's impossible-"

"We don't know that!" Twilight was quick to refute. But as she spared a glance at Firestorm's body being rocked in Rainbow's weak arms, she suddenly didn't look so sure.

"Twilight." Rarity paused. "It's… over."

Twilight plopped to her rump and slowly bowed her head.

There was a period of silence amongst them all. Noble, however, did not say anything because he was too busy thinking.

It couldn't be! Not after all they've done! Not after all they'd been through! There had to be something more, something they could use to save the day. Faust Herself had promised they would succeed!

His mind redirected to Black Fang Redoubt. But not because of who he had killed, but rather what he had done. He had escaped from that awful hell with the aid of the Goddess. Could she do the same here?

The lessons he had learned came into the forefront of his mind. Trust the Goddess. Honor is not of the world. One step at a time along your path.

Many are called, but few are chosen.

What was that supposed to mean? What happened to the others who were called but not chosen? Or perhaps they could be chosen at another time?

Many are called, but few are chosen.

It repeated, and Noble focused on it. Perhaps… Faust had plenty of righteous souls on the earth. Was ten souls really all she could spare out of her family to bear the Elements? Of course not, since he himself was one of the backups after the original bearers in heaven were killed or corrupted. Was it not inconceivable that there were backups after that? Faust had backup plan after backup plan to account for the agency of her children’s choices.

And regardless of their agency, Faust could use anyone to bring forth her righteous purposes. She worked through them to their advantage. His mind drifted to Sunset Shimmer, Flash Sentry, and their human variants. Queen Novo. Princess Skystar. Shining Armor and Winter Gleam. Each of them held heavenly potential and helped them on their journey.

Come to think of it… in their dimension, Sunset Shimmer, despite originally being a pony, was one of the partakers of power beside the humans. They had all been given necklaces that seemed suspiciously familiar to their Elemental powers… from a place called Everfree. She had been redeemed from being evil, right? Was it possible that she could have been a candidate for the Element of Redemption?

And Skystar and Novo actually held and used the Pearl with Freedom Fighter's Element inside. But anypony who was not an Element bearer was not permitted to wield its power, if not directly touch it. So either the Element was safely contained in the rock and allowed anypony to touch it--which Noble doubted, since Skystar could use a fraction of its shell to turn them into hippocampi--or they were called worthy of using the Element.

Heck, even Prince Blueblood had been given one. Perhaps Celestia purposefully knew it was an Element and wanted to entrust it with him, or perhaps both parties just didn’t know it was an Element. It didn’t matter. Blueblood had kept it hidden and locked away for so long, dismissing the gift given to him by his aunt, and so it became blind to him that he wore an item of extraordinary honor. He only ever saw it as a trinket, a necklace, and so never attempted to use its power. Or perhaps he did, but it was dull and dark to his response because he lacked heavenly honor. Again, it didn’t matter. Whatever the case, Blueblood had been proven to be an unworthy wielder, and so its inheritance was taken from him and given to Noble--a better, albeit imperfect, version.

The Elements could be used by anypony that was worthy of it. Its power could only be wielded by those who exemplified those traits and aligned their will with the Element’s. It was more open-minded than the alternative.

Was this all just a big rationalization? A coping mechanism? A desperate clutch at the last straw in a burning hay bale? Maybe it was. A lot of it was very shaky ground to stand on. But maybe it wasn't. All Noble had to go on with was faith. But perhaps that was all he needed.

Faust never gave a commandment unless there was a way to do it.

“Noble?”

The gentle voice broke him out of his reverie, and he focused on Fluttershy, her hoof still in his. “Yes?”

Fluttershy’s eyes were directly looking into his. “Can you… hold me?” She looked down and kicked the dirt at their hooves. “I just... I feel so… helpless.”

Noble felt on edge. The discovery he had been planning out! He needed to try it out! But Fluttershy needed this.

He embraced her, gently guiding them so they were sitting down. Her body close to his felt solid and warm, and it was the only thing that really made his senses feel like they were living again. Fluttershy like a tether to the world that had been ripped away from him since he had… well, since Firestorm’s death. He hugged her even tighter than before.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy whispered. “It’s just always worked before, and I didn’t want to… face the end alone.”

She sounded cracked, about to cry. So many things were likely playing a part in that. And Noble suddenly didn’t want to let go. Perhaps Fluttershy was expecting them to stay like this until Solaris’ job was complete and the entire earth had been swept away before him. And a part of him dearly wanted to stay with her. Die in each other’s arms, having fought to the end.

But they hadn’t fought to the end. Not just yet.

He let go of her and got to all fours. Seeing her distressed face, Noble gave the most reassuring smile he could. “It’s okay,” he said. “I just… want to try something.”

Fluttershy destitutely nodded. Noble felt a pang in his chest. But he turned away and went against the slope to get up to his sword, and the Elements resting on it.

Once he reached it, Noble could feel a few curious eyes upon him. He ignored them and took up the necklace with the orange X. He reverently slid it over the hilt of his glowing sword, looked into the Element embedded into the crosspiece of his weapon for a moment, then turned around to look for a specific creature.

Spike was sitting next to Rainbow Dash, whose cries had subsided by now but was still clutching Firestorm’s body to hers, being careful not to disturb his fatal wound. Spike watched it all with a soberness Noble had not before seen from him.

"Spike," Noble gulped. The dead pony's inheritance was clenched in his hoof. “I wanted to talk.”

Spike didn’t turn his head to regard him, but he did nod it. He was probably distracted, or dealing with the shock.

It was good enough for him. "Too many times on this journey, I have seen you prove your courage. You have risen far above who you once were."

Spike's gaze tore itself from Firestorm's body and hesitantly eyed the jewel in Noble's grip.

"I… would not ask this of you if there was any other way. If you felt unworthy of bearing this responsibility. But…"

Spike's eyes bulged. "Hold on!"

Noble felt a twist in his gut. This could go really good or really bad. "Saving me and Rarity from Black Fang is reason enough for you to be worthy. And you were closest to Firestorm out of the three Guardians, Spike. He would want this."

"Would he?"

"... I'm sure," Noble reassured him, trying to sound as solid as possible. "If nothing else, he would want to see this end.”

“Are you sure this is going to work? I hope I don’t…” He made a slicing motion with a finger.

“Faust would not give us an instruction without a way to do it. I’m… fairly confident about this."

Spike did not seem alleviated.

“Spike,” Noble said. “Please.”

"Am I… really the way?"

"Do you want to be?"

Spike's lips trembled. His tiny little fists were right. His gaze went from Firestorm's body to the Element, then at the ground.

"I'm…" Spike started. "...afraid."

"That’s okay," Noble gently urged. "It means you’re courageous. All I’m asking is, do you want this?"

Spike did not answer. But his eyes never left the jewel in Noble's hoof.

"Because when I tell you that you are worthy of this gift… I am telling the truth."

Spike wanted it. Noble could see it. But he was still scared. What could make him take that fateful step?

“You’ve done it before,” Rainbow croaked. Both of them looked at her. Rainbow was a mess. Red in the face and wet and trembling. But clear, cracking words were coming from her mouth. “For me… remember Discord?” She gulped, which looked like it hurt, and continued. “You can do this, Spike. We believe in you.”

And the spark in his eye flared.

It was slow. But Spike's trembling hand rose up.

Noble Blade gently placed the Element onto Spike's palm and closed his fingers around the remnant of his friend's power and memory. It was no longer touching him. For a wild moment, Noble wanted to seize the jewel back. He couldn’t let go of his friend! Not now! But the feeling subsided, and Noble’s hoof dropped and did not reach for it again.

Spike, with trembling hands, unclasped the necklace, took his hands behind his head, and refastened it.

By now, everyone else was eyeing him with anxiety, trepidation, or fascination. Twilight was shivering in place, bouncing slightly on her hooves. She was mouthing something under her breath; Noble couldn’t quite tell.

“Try it,” Noble urged in a whisper.

Spike, after a moment of hesitation, concentrated.

A pulse of orange emanated from the Element. It was gentle and subdued, but Noble thought that was just him getting used to it. Sure enough, Spike concentrated some more, and the light became more powerful.

“Spike,” Rarity whispered. “You’re glowing.”

Spike grinned. “Thanks.”

“No, look, you’re glowing!”

Spike looked down at his hands. Indeed, they were encased in white. He flexed his fingers effortlessly and examined other parts of him. He was shining all over his body.

“How do you feel?” Noble prodded.

“Warm,” Spike answered. “Like I…” He drifted off. “Noble? Wh-what’s happening to me?”

Noble had to avert his eyes. Spike was glowing ever brighter.

Spike clutched the Element, but it couldn’t contain the power now on display. The Element had lost all color by now and had grown so bright, none of them could directly look at it. Most of them closed their eyes to a fraction.

After only a few moments, the light died down enough that they could look.

Spike was still there, dimming from the heavenly influence. So was the Element. But instead of orange, the X on the necklace was a pure and vivid green, matching Spike perfectly.

Spike held it up to his face. A small tear was building up in his eye. Perhaps it was just from the light. But there was something else in his eye. Something grateful.

“It worked,” Spike whispered.

“It worked,” Noble repeated, more to himself.

“It worked!” Twilight exulted. She gripped Freedom Fighter’s arms. “He can do it! He’s actually-!” She didn’t finish. Instead she took some stable breaths, then turned her attention to Starlight. She slowly trotted over.


Starlight was propped up against Tempest’s legs, her head in Tempest’s lap. Her breaths came slow and steady, and her head gently tilted up. Once Tempest saw it, she didn’t turn away. The proof was there. There could be a way.

“Tempest,” Starlight whispered. She tapped the other pony’s leg. “I want to… give it.”

Tempest’s eyes were shivering, ever so gently. “Twilight could heal you like she did to Pinkie. You could live!”

“But the Element will still be bad.” Starlight’s blackened, sickly hoof rose up and rested on Tempest’s breastplate. “Don’t worry about me. I want... to do this.”

“You’ll die!” Tempest whispered.

“For you,” Starlight replied.

A tear fell from Tempest’s eye and splashed on Starlight’s skin. “I don’t want anypony to die,” Tempest weakly got out. “Especially not for me.

“You’re a good pony,” Starlight said. “Please. Let me do this.”

Tempest’s mouth twisted in anguish, and she bowed her head.

“I am… the Last Hero,” Starlight got out. “This is… who I was meant… to be.”

Tempest stared, her breaths deep but silent.

“You… have a pure heart,” Starlight wheezed. She took several labored breaths. “In the name… of Faust… I name you the bearer of… the Element of Redemption.”

“Starlight,” Twilight gasped.

She lolled her head to the side. “Hey, Twi.”

Twilight swallowed hard, taking Starlight’s hoof in hers. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want it, Starlight, please.”

Starlight took her last inhale. She looked like she wanted to say something. But the words just couldn’t come out.

Twilight felt Starlight’s hoof turn brittle, like ashen wood. With a crunch, her hoof tightened, and tiny black pieces fell from it and blew away. Twilight watched in abject horror as the rest of Starlight’s body broke apart and disintegrated into ash. Her face was the last to go, crumbling apart and caving in. The corrupted black stone fell with a dull thump into the pile it created.

Twilight bowed her head, tears fresh in her eyes. It really did seem like it was too much. But instead of overwhelming sadness, Twilight felt a sense of reassurance come over her. A whisper of encouragement came and went. This was less a death and more of a transition into the next part.

Tempest’s hard hoof wrapped around Twilight’s shoulder. She was surprised to see that if anything, Tempest was even more weepy than Twilight had been. Her other arm was covering both of her eyes. Twilight gently set her other hoof over Tempest’s shoulders in a form of sisterly compassion.

For just a little bit, they stayed like that. Then they felt a tickle on their legs, and they both looked down.

The ash that was once Starlight Glimmer was rising up in a swirl, accompanied by a wind that had definitely not been blowing before. It was  coagulating together and condensing into a sphere. Coming from the depths was a light steadily growing in intensity. It made Twilight and Tempest cover their eyes and squint.

The ball of light moved closer to Tempest Shadow, almost as if it were curious. It made one circle around her head, leaving a trail that made it look like she wore a halo. Then it rushed into her chest, and Tempest screamed.

“Tempest!” Twilight cried.

But Tempest made no other sounds; it was a yelp of surprise, nothing more.

The ball of light grew two shining golden strips along Tempest’s neck. Tempest’s hooves fumbled until they could feel it on her skin. Once the light died down, all could see the result. It was solid gold.

And the ball of light slowly faded away, and Tempest opened her eyes in time to see it leave entirely. She panted, then felt the jewelry around her neck.

Tempest Shadow’s Element was a yellow ball embedded halfway into the golden necklace. Tempest held it up to her face with a look of fond remembrance.

Once she put it down, she could see everyone else staring at it. One by one, they all looked at their own Elements as well.

They were ready.

"How do you feel?" Twilight asked.

Tempest took a deep breath. "There's something… I've never had this part with me before. But i-it's filling a hole. Like this was meant to be."

Twilight smiled. "I think that's Faust."

Tempest slowly nodded. "Maybe. I'm just… not used to it."

"In due time," Twilight reassured. "Everypony needs a mother like her."

After another moment, Twilight turned to the western sky. The apocalypse was still inexorably advancing.

“Come on, everypony,” Twilight said. A fresh gleam was in her determined and hopeful eye. “We’ve got a job to do.”

Noble handed Rainbow Dash her own Element, who took it with reverence and fastened it with a shaky breath. He then took his sword out of the rock, gave it a swirl, and pointed it at the miniscule figure of Solaris far on the horizon. “Now or never.”

“Let’s do it,” Tempest resigned.

The ten bearers closed their eyes and dug deep within themselves, opening themselves up to the flow of the Element’s power.

An unearthly wind picked all ten of them off the ground and sent them hovering in place, surrounded by ethereal, glowing light.

For the first time since Discord had been broken out of stone, the Elements were being used how they were always meant to be used: in harmony. And with four missing Elements now restored, the surge of power was unlike anything any of them had felt before.

The individual powers of the Elements seemed miniscule now. The vast potential they all had was something that no power in heaven, earth, or hell could take away.

Each of them simultaneously opened their eyes. They were a solid, high-intensity white. And as each of them tilted their heads back, a stream of distinct colored light shot out from them.

The beams all met together in a tremendous, explosive sphere of solid light high in the air, and almost instantaneously, each of the ten souls were teleported in there as well.

Each of them exuded a frighteningly intense aura, transfigured into eternal beings for this single purpose. Their figures wavered and shimmered, as if being seen through a terrific bonfire. Their manes seemed longer and flowier, their skin shinier.

If a pony saw this sight, he would have regarded them as bright angels. If a Nox saw it, he would have seen the ponies as fiery, destroying devils.


Malice’s eye burst wide open.

That sound! That rush of power! It couldn’t be… It was-!

“Impossible!” he gasped, trying to pry himself up with his remaining exposed limbs. “NO!”

He tried to tug himself out from under the boulder, but there was just enough remaining of his body pinned underneath that it could not be done.

“FATHER!” he shrieked, for all the good it could do him at this distance. He reached out imploringly to the distant devil. “FATHER, PLEASE! FIGHT! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!”


The Corrupted Element contained a portion of Solaris’ will. So it resisted the power of the Elements far above them. But nothing could resist the presence of the Goddess.

The cracked, battered, forgotten, and untethered rock hovered in the air. It shook so hard from the forces around it, it vibrated. Then, hitting a climax, the Corrupted Element shattered in a dark explosion, throwing dead pieces to the wind and evaporating.