//------------------------------// // Goodbye Dear Friends // Story: Night Patrol 2: Awakening // by Foxgear //------------------------------// Night Patrol 2 Awakening Chapter 75 By Foxgear Upon the shattering of the black Alicorn Amulet and releasing magic back into the world. The first thing Luna and Sixes did was collapse to the ground, both blacking out until the heat of the nearby lava forced them to move to a safer location to rest. Shacking up in a small cove far from the blast zone of their battle with Minerva, the two ponies fell into a deep slumber. Even as they slept on uncomfortable rocks and sand, the warmth of each other’s body was enough of a comfort to bear it. For twelve hours, the two slept. When they woke up, they had only one mission. To get home and get Templar back! So, they flew! As fast as they could. With Luna’s power of the Sun and Stars, they never faltered in their path, hitting the coast of the sea on the first day. Flying over five hundred miles in half a day. They thought they were making good time as they searched for a port with a ship to take them across the sea to the next continent. Instead, they found a giant-sized Alicorn of the Sea pony variety, terrorizing the local populace. Trying to establish a territory for itself. The Sea-green Alicorn demanded offerings from the ponies of the small port town, feasting on their crops and livelihood. After the battle with Minerva, the Sea Green Alicorn was barely a footnote. Sixes pierced its skull with a Celestial Javelin, and Luna burned up a star to incinerate its body. Upon the formation of its gem, they shattered it like the Black Amulet. Returning the magic to the world. In thanks, the town offered to take them across the sea. This allowed the couple to rest while traveling. Once halfway across, Luna teleported them the rest of the way. From there, Sixes carried her on his back into southern Hispania. They probably wouldn’t be welcome, but the Hispania ponies had other problems besides recovering from the war and the monster attacks. Another Alicorn was trying to make its mark. This one a mustard yellow and proclaimed to be the Alicorn of Spice. He tossed exploding rice at them, so he had a very confusing power set. Nonetheless, as before, they trounced him. Earning another favor. This time they were given a small airship to fly in. Luna slept while Sixes kept watch, not trusting the crew. Another day passed. Marking the third day since Minerva was defeated. Sixes pondered how many lapsed during the battle. It hadn’t seemed that long, but he guessed a day. He worried about the time ratio between worlds. As by his best guess, four days have passed. Once more, they made it halfway across the ocean, and Luna used her magic to teleport them again. They landed in the waters off the coast of Evernight in the southeast. Luna, wholly exhausted physically and magically, was dead weight in the water. Sixes grabbed his sinking wife, struggling against the waves to shore. He staggered wobblily across the sandy beach with Luna on his back. Rather than wait for his wings to dry, he carried her on foot. They lucked out, finding the railway within the hour. With a clear path, Sixes ran full tilt for Night Haven to their home. Following the tracks would take longer, but the road was clear, and he knew where he was going. Not having to fight through the thick trees and vines of the Everfree forest was a huge boon too. Plus, there was the chance he could find the train, a rail cart, or even just some ponies to pull them in a wagon. He would find none of them, only abandoned and scorched towns. This only spurred Sixes harder. As soon as his wings were dry enough, he took to the sky. Making a beeline for the castle. By nightfall on the fifth day, he made it home. Luna finally stirred after he crash-landed on the balcony. The two ate whatever wasn’t spoiled from their kitchen, bathed, and took a truly short power nap. It was the absolute bare minimum to recover from the long five-day journey home. Putting a little magic into Luna’s dresser mirror, they activated the portal to the other world and stepped through. They could finally have their child back. Templar Apple ran across the Canterlot city park towards his older siblings, Hymn and Waltz. He chased after them with great vigor, parkouring through the playground equipment. They had two older siblings, his oldest sister was Arizona, and his eldest brother was Andante. Both were at school. Learning magic! Apparently, this was a new thing in the world. He wouldn’t know. He was only born ten years ago. His dad was watching from a bench, though people called him Mac or Big Mac. His aunts Applejack and Applebloom called him the latter the most. He loved his family, and they loved him. Even if he didn’t look anything like his other siblings, who had blonde or red/orange hair, it wasn’t anything scandalous. He was adopted. It’s not like they could hide it. The ashen skin tone and blue hair kind of gave it away. Though Aunt Sonata had blue hair, however, it was a different shade of blue. His dad and his Aunt Sunset told him stories of his birth parents regularly. Aunt Sunset was a weird relation because she was his real father’s granddaughter, but his mother wasn’t her grandma. It was too complicated for him to really understand. Anyway, both his dad and Aunt told him stories of his birth parents and how they were great people with heavy responsibilities who loved him. He kind of just nodded his head to this because as much as they sang their praises, he’s never met them. Maybe Sixes and Luna were his Father and Mother, but Mac and Adagio were his Daddy and Mommy. That was just the way he saw it. Sliding down the slide, Templar skidded to a stop for reasons he didn’t understand. He felt something like a presence in the back of his mind. On instinct, he turned to his dad, Mac, speaking to two people he didn’t know. It was a man and woman. They looked familiar, yet not. His mother, Luna, had a counterpart in this world. So, he kind of knew the image of his birth mother. The woman fit the description yet didn’t. Her face was eerily like Mrs. Luna’s, but that was where the similarities ended. The lady was taller for sure. His parents would be mad for thinking it, but her… milk jugs were more prominent too. Besides that, her hair was all wrong. It held shades of blue on his own head, but there was this weird orange highlighted bang that fell between her eyes. The man beside her looked like a mix of his Godfather Ferocious and Mr. Stryker Six. With an odd mix of red and gold in his flame-like hair. Still, Templar couldn’t help but look at his own ashen skin and notice how similar the shade was. It made him very afraid. Despite that, he walked towards his dad, his palms sweating. “That’s him… he’s gotten so big….” Luna said as she and Sixes stood beside Big Mac, watching their son play in the park. The smile on his face was a relief for her. He was a cherished and happy child. She made the right choice in her heart. But it was that same choice that made her heartache to see the baby she left behind, now ten years old. She gripped Sixes’ hand, conflict brewing in her torn heart. What did he think? This would be the second son he didn’t get to raise. Mac understandably was in an awkward position. “We tried to hold off making anything official, but by three years old, it was time to shit or get off the pot, as they say. Sorry.” Luna shook her head vigorously, “No, you don’t have anything to apologize for. In a perfect world, this shouldn’t have happened, but… it did. I’m glad he’s happy. You raised him well, Mac.” Her grip tightened as she looked to her husband, “Sixes…?” Sixes responded to his wife’s hand squeezing by squeezing back, knowing what they had to do. “It’s probably karma or punishment for how I treated Crusader. I didn’t want anything to do with him for so long for petty reasons. Now, I have a son I would give the world for, but it’s obvious what would happen if we took him away from you.” “Sixes…” Luna was in tears but agreed with her husband’s reasoning. “Here,” Sixes dropped a literal bag of gold coins in Mac’s hand. “For Luna’s treatment, and there some more for Templar’s schooling.” Mac reluctantly pocketed the gold. Adagio would be pissed if he turned it down. “Are you sure about this? I know we’ve adopted and raised him, but he is still your child. He’s a sharp kid. He’d understand….” Luna cut him off, “No. As much as we want him, he’s yours now. That’s how he sees it, at least. We’re strangers to him. It would be cruel and selfish to take him now.” She spotted Templar approaching them in the corner of her eye. The poor dear was trying to hide it, but he was terrified. Mac was right. He was sharp. “We’ll pop in when we can. There’s still a mess in our world to clean up. We’ll also drop off gifts, but until Templar’s an adult and wants to know us, we’ll leave him in your care. It’s the right thing to do.” Luna didn’t know who she was trying to convince by saying that over and over, probably herself. “Come on, let’s go. He doesn’t look thrilled to see us.” “Yeah,” Sixes took Luna in the crook of his arm, letting her cry in his shoulder as they exited the park. “Dad…” Templar nervously approached his adopted father. “We’re they here to take me?” Mac wondered if that instinct came from his pony side or some strange magic, scooping the young boy up in his arms and carrying him towards his siblings with a reassuring smile. “No, they were just some old friends saying hi, because they were in town. You don’t need to worry. You’re right where you belong.” Templar hugged his neck, perhaps not wholly reassured. “Do you promise?” “Yes, I promise,” Mac said to reassure his son. After rounding up the rest of his kids, he took them all home. Where Adagio was waiting with a fresh apple pie and ice cream. When the kids were asleep, he told her what happened today and what happened to Equestria. “I guess we won’t be vacationing there anytime soon,” Was all she had to say, but he knew she was upset about her homeworld getting wrecked. When Mac turned off the lights to sleep, he found he couldn’t sleep. His mind plagued by the thoughts of Sixes and Luna. If he were in their position, he’d probably be screaming at the sky. Sixes and Luna returned to Equestria utterly heartbroken. They knew it was the right thing to do. It would have been cruel and selfish to rip Templar away from Mac, but it didn’t hurt any less. Especially for Luna, who had only gotten to hold her child for a few months before having to give him up. She was so broken up about it, she even forgot to ask Mac what became of Cadence and her child but didn’t have the fortitude to go back. Not right away. Her mournful musing was cut short by Sixes. “How long were we gone?” Wiping her tears, Luna answered, “About two hours, why?” “Well, it’s definitely been more than two hours here.” Sixes opened their bedroom door to show their living room, with a very pregnant Essex sleeping on their couch. “The time ratio between worlds must have flipped, so it’s reversed what it was before, and an hour there is a month here. Following that logic, the time streams should be in sync in ten years. Is that right, Dusk?” Luna asked aloud, but neither the Alicorn of Time nor her messengers appeared to confirm or deny. “Ten years, I guess that’s my punishment,” Sixes said sadly, still probably beating himself up over Crusader and now Templar. “It’s our punishment,” Luna corrected, placing a blanket over Essex. “I wasn’t much better to Crusader. And it was my choice to leave Templar with Mac. If you look at it another way, there is still a mission we have to finish in this world.” “The remaining Alicorns.” Sixes answered grimly. Luna nodded, both knowing that if there were two, there were more. Would be gods trying to reclaim what they lost. And they were the only two ponies that could defeat them. “If Templar ever comes here, I want this world to be one worth visiting.” Sixes nodded, “Yeah, the last patrol.” He looked at his sister’s sleeping form. Besides not being a great father, he wasn’t the best brother either. And he wasn’t getting much better. “Can you put every pony to sleep? Like a deep sleep?” Luna nodded, “Yes, I know a spell like that. Why?” “I want to look around and not give away we’re back. I want to see how things are going without us. Plus, I need some materials.” Luna wasn’t a hundred percent sure what her husband had in mind but fulfilled his request and cast a powerful slumber spell over the entire castle. With carte blanche, the couple roamed the castle. The first spot was Sixes’s or Essex’s office since it was close to the room. He rummaged through the last two months of reports very carefully, making notes on the locations of remaining Alicorns. Seems Essex was planning to deal with them as soon as they gathered their strength, but their roaster of capable ponies was short. “Get copies of these locations too, love,” Sixes said, passing her documents on ancient evils sealed by her and Celestia. That was part of Night Patrol’s mission, though the effort got sidetracked. Next, they traveled down to the memorial wall. It was hallowing to see all the names added. There were some big names, too, such as Topaz and Shamrock. “I thought it was weird he wasn’t nearby,” Sixes remarked on his brother-in-law’s absence. He assumed Shamrock had been on a mission. Sixes left the wall in a hurry, Luna on his tail. She was confused when he procured a compass from storage and some spare paper. “Put some blood on here,” he instructed Luna after inscribing a rune on the base of the compass. “I’ve tuned it to point to us, so Templar can find us if he wants to.” “You study the strangest things,” Luna said, adding her blood to the rune. “What are you writing?” “A letter, to Essex. Explaining what we’re doing.” “Why… you don’t mean to….” Sixes nodded, finishing the note and folding it on the dresser. “You said it yourself, ponies need to learn how to take care of themselves? Returning now would only hamper that. Besides, they seem to be getting along fine without us.” “That’s just irresponsible, Sixes! We are the leaders of Evernight. We just can’t willingly give up our duties in trying times like this!” “Then when? Luna? We’ll fall into the same trap that you and Celestia did! There will always be another villain to defeat, another evil, or problem. We can do so much more out there, defeating the Alicorns and whatever else is out there, then sitting on thrones. You know it! It’s what you’ve been working towards all this time! Yes, we wanted to slowly ween them off relying on us, but they got a bucket of cold water instead. This may be our only chance.” Sixes looked to the portal, to the world on the other side where their son lived. “Maybe we can’t interact with him the way we want, but we can take time to watch our son grow. If only for a little while.” Luna opened her mouth to rebuke her husband but slowly frowned, realizing he had a point. This is what she wanted. The world may have almost ended, but ponies continued to live without her or Celestia. Without any Alicorns to guide them. In fact, it was despite them. Things wouldn’t be perfect, but when were they ever? “Pass that note to me. I have some things I wish to say.” With her conscious clear, Luna took Sixes’ claw, and they once more went to the other world. Just as Essex came through the door. After delivering the compass to Mac to give to Templar when he was of age, the two Equestrians sat on a bench outside of the Magic Academy. They still had a mission to complete back home. And they would finish it, but after they had a good long rest here. They watched their child grow up from afar, traveling the otherworld to satisfy their wanderlust and adventure. Always coming back to the small rural town of Canterlot to see their son. Never getting too close but being there to see him smile was enough. One day, over a year later, they returned to Equestria to go on their last Patrol. On the day they left, they spoke their first and last words to their child, “If you ever want to know more about your home when you come of age, just follow this arrow.” Sixes told the eleven-year-old Templar, ruffing the boy’s hair. “I know it probably doesn’t seem like it, but we do love you, so very much!” Luna said, embracing her baby once more. Templar accepted the awkward farewell, keeping a firm grip on Mac’s hand throughout it. Had it not been for his father’s insistence, he probably wouldn’t let either of them near him. They were just his parent’s strange friends to him. He bore witness to their departure, the two disappearing into the portal between worlds. It would be the last time he ever saw them on this side of the mirror. When Luna and Sixes emerged from the portal, things had clearly changed once more. Their room was no longer theirs. And that was fine. Quietly they snuck past a sleeping Essex once more, with a little black and green filly cuddling beside her. “Alright, time for our last patrol.” Together Luna and Sixes flew off into the night sky. Their mission, to stomp out the last remnants of the alicorns and any evil sealed away. It was their final mission that they would undertake alone. They were the last Night Patrollers. “Let’s start in the wastelands and work our way south!” Luna smiled, feeling free for the first time in centuries. Sixes chased after her, laughing into the night sky, “Sounds like a plan!” And so, the two of them disappeared into myth.