Apple Bloom was awakened by the sensation of raindrops hitting her face sometime shortly after sunrise. The skies were overcast, a sharp breeze fell from the nearby mountains, and a damp chill was in the air. Thankfully, her poncho provided her with good protection against these elements. After a brisk breakfast, she and the Warden set off once more.
Despite the gloomy atmosphere, the mood felt different than in days past. Apple Bloom felt hopeful and joyful. Not only did she and the Warden reconcile earlier, but she was going to be home by the end of the day! The Warden also seemed to be feeling a bit different as well. His gait was a bit more energetic, and he seemed to hold his head a bit higher than usual.
Despite this new, invigorating mood; Apple Bloom was still tired after they set off. The excitement of the night before had left her feeling a bit drained. More than once, she curled up within her poncho and fell asleep on the Warden's back, regaining what energy that she had lost the night before.
She woke up from her final doze right before lunch, and after stopping for a quick meal in drizzling rain, the two set off again.
The terrain had become a lot more rugged as the morning passed, with rocks and mountain peaks towering above them as they approached the final obstacle between them and Ponyville.
It was during this upward trek towards a pass within the range that Apple Bloom finally decided to make good on the Warden's promise.
"So… Mister Warden?"
"Yes?"
"Ah know that ya promised to answer mah questions last night…"
"I did. What do you want to know?"
Apple Bloom had to think for a moment. There were several big questions that had been circulating within her mind during the day, but some of them seemed to be somewhat personal. Namely, she wanted to ask about his family and what had even happened for them to be harmed by Nightmare Moon, in an effort to try to understand fully why things turned out so tragically for him.
However, opening with that struck her as being… Wrong.
Was reopening all that trauma really the best course of action?
Perhaps a less impactful question was needed.
"What happened to ya last night?" Apple Bloom asked, having chosen which question to ask. "Why weren't ya able to fight back?"
The Warden didn't immediately answer, cocking his head slightly to the side as he thought of how to reply.
"It's a side effect of capacium poisoning." He answered after a moment's hesitation.
"Ya can get poisonin' from wearin' the armor?!" Apple Bloom asked, sounding a bit alarmed.
The Warden shook his head, somewhat to her relief.
"No. It can happen if you are exposed directly to the energy that molten capacium gives off, though." He assured her. "If enough of it gets into your bloodstream, it can cause neural degeneration. Specifically, it gradually takes away your ability to move."
"O-oh…" Apple Bloom murmured. That took a far more depressing turn than she had hoped for. "So ya gotta inject medicine into yourself to stop it?"
He nodded. "In a sense. It stops the degeneration and boosts my ability to use motor functions. It requires regular doses, though."
Apple Bloom thought about his answer for a moment, then spoke.
"Ya forgot to take it last night?"
He sighed and nodded again.
"Yeah…"
Apple Bloom could not help but feel a pang of guilt pierce her soul. He likely forgot because of how she had made him angry yesterday. Sure, he took the blame, but she could not begin to imagine the fear that would have come with completely losing her ability to move.
"Ah'm… Sorry about that…" She murmured slowly. "It sounds like a horrible sickness to live with…"
The Warden glanced back at her, and seemed to notice her shift in spirit.
"Well, it isn't all bad, I suppose." He said in a reassuring tone. "It does come with quite an amazing side effect."
"Huh?" Apple Bloom questioned, looking just as confused as she sounded. "How's losin' your ability to move amazin'?"
"Because that's not the side effect I was talking about." He responded. "You see, while the capacium does damage my motor functions, it also grants me some of the characteristics that it possesses."
"Like?"
"Like the ability to absorb magic and limited immunity to magic spells."
"Wait, really?!" Apple Bloom asked, her eyes widening in wonder as the Warden nodded.
"To an extent, yes. I can't use said magic without the help of my armor, and I can't absorb quite as much as it can either." He replied, looking out ahead. "But it was enough to allow me to resist having my earth pony magic taken by Tirek."
"Tirek couldn't take your magic?!" Apple Bloom asked, still sounding astonished. If that was true, then he was the only pony who had managed to do so! Even the princesses couldn't match that feat.
Yet again, the Warden had managed to amaze her.
Meanwhile, he simply nodded.
"I know. I guess there's a bit of a silver lining to being poisoned." He remarked, wincing slightly as a gust of wind caused a few snowflakes to fly into his face.
Apple Bloom drew in her poncho tighter in response to the gust, concluding that they were encountering snow now instead of rain because of their altitude. They were about halfway up the mountain range, after all.
After a few seconds, the wind let up, and another question came to her mind.
"How'd ya even get poisoned in the first place?"
The Warden took a deep breath, indicating that she had perhaps asked something painful. Apple Bloom flinched internally, remembering that he had said that he could not guarantee that he wouldn't get upset.
Still, he also said that if he did, he wouldn't get upset at her.
In any case, after a moment, he gave a swift reply.
"I was exposed to the energy when Nightmare Moon-"
He fell silent, staring off ahead uncomfortably.
Apple Bloom began to wonder if even asking him anything in the first place was even a good idea. Internally, she berated herself for bringing a painful subject back up.
Then, he seemed to awake from his daze.
"Sorry. I- I promised to be truthful." He said in a subdued manner. "I was exposed when Nightmare Moon attacked me and my family. She blew up the reactor, and I got a heavy dose before I got taken to some other universe. That's how I got poisoned."
Apple Bloom felt disbelief. Was Princess Luna really responsible for not only taking his family, but saddling him with this horrible sounding illness?
Slowly, unconsciously, a question escaped her mouth.
"Why? Why would she do somethin' like that?" She asked, sounding as if she were in a daze, only realizing after the fact that she had asked such a question.
The Warden shook his head sadly.
"Do you remember what I had said about the relationship between the sisters?" He asked somberly.
Apple Bloom debated whether or not to inform him that her question was unintentional. However, he seemed to be willing to explain, and she did want a bit more context in regards to his past. In a swift moment, she decided to simply listen to what he had to say.
She nodded quietly, her ears raised and ready to hear his explanation.
"Well, as I said before;" He began, "Princess Celestia took after her father. Like him, she was domineering, petty, prideful, and jealous for attention."
Apple Bloom suppressed a small wave of anger upon hearing him speak of Celestia in a negative manner. Unlike last time, she now held a lot more belief in the Warden's words. Still, she found it difficult to discard her favorable perception of Celestia.
Meanwhile, the Warden continued.
"Princess Luna was not quite so flawed. She was caring, kind, and genuinely protective of her subjects."
This statement immediately caused Apple Bloom's thoughts to shift in a jarring manner.
Did he just praise Princess Luna?!
After all that he had said about her, it was shocking to hear him say such things about her.
"However," He continued; "she never quite got the reverence and adoration that she deserved from her subjects. Over time, she began to grow envious of her sister's popularity."
Apple Bloom nodded slowly. While she was familiar with the tale of Nightmare Moon, she had not heard it told quite like this before. It was a bit surreal.
"Celestia should have addressed that as soon as it became clear, but that meant that she would have to share the adoration of her subjects with Luna. So, instead of getting over her own pride and helping her sister overcome her bitterness, Celestia simply did nothing to fix the problem.
Apple Bloom felt her heart sink a bit. She knew where the story was going next.
"One day, Luna snapped." The Warden said somberly. "She gave in to her innermost, darkest desires; and became Nightmare Moon. She tried to kill Celestia, who had finally come to realize how poorly she had treated Luna. Celestia brought out the Elements of Harmony, but because of her guilt, she could not bring herself to banish Nightmare Moon, giving her a chance to escape into the night."
He fell silent, and for a minute, the only sound that could be heard was the blustering wind.
Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion. Wasn't Nightmare Moon banished to the moon? There was no way that she had escaped Princess Celestia.
"That doesn't sound quite right." She remarked confusedly. "Ah thought she was banished."
"Well, she was." The Warden explained. "But it is at this point in the story where I come in."
Apple Bloom's ears raised in interest. Was he about to finally explain how exactly he fit into this narrative?
"As you may know, Nightmare Moon prevented Celestia from raising the sun in an effort to bring about eternal night. Naturally, this drew my attention and I went to confront Celestia in order to understand what was going on." The Warden said, adding: "When I arrived at the castle, I gave her an ultimatum: Banish Nightmare Moon, or I would find her and stop her by any means necessary."
"By any means necessary?" Apple Bloom asked, her ears lowering. "Y-ya didn't mean-"
The Warden nodded. "If Celestia couldn't banish her, then that left one alternative to save Equestria: Kill Nightmare Moon."
This left Apple Bloom feeling disturbed.
"But doesn't that seem kinda drastic?" She asked, her expression showing her surprise.
"Under those circumstances, no." He responded. "Bear in mind that Equestria was at stake. If Celestia and I failed to stop her, all ponykind would be living in darkness, under the rule of yet another tyrant."
He paused, and looked back at her, his gaze seeming to pierce into her soul.
"Assuming that Celestia had failed, would allowing Nightmare Moon to live be worth allowing all of ponykind to suffer for centuries to come?"
This question provoked some deep thought from Apple Bloom. It seemed horrible, to think that the Warden seemed to have no doubts that resorting to killing was a proper course of action.
Still, he had a point. When everypony else's well being was on the line, and there was no other options left, was there anything else that he could do?
After a few moments of thought, she responded.
"Ah… Ah guess not…" She murmured, glancing downward as she did so. "But didn't ya at least try to think of somethin' else to do besides killin' Princess Luna?"
The Warden looked downwards as well, Apple Bloom's question causing him to think before answering.
"I suppose I did, but there was nothing else to do." He replied, glancing back at her. "Make no mistake, I didn't like the idea of possibly having to kill her. That's why I went to Celestia first; to give her a chance to banish Nightmare Moon and defeat her without harming her."
Apple Bloom was sent back into thought upon hearing this reply. Her disturbance faded somewhat, now understanding that he didn't take the prospect of killing a pony lightly. This also made it clear that he was willing to make choices that seemed to be impossible to make.
"What happened next?" She asked, wishing to continue the story.
"Well, as I said, I told Celestia that she needed to find and banish Nightmare Moon, or else I would take action." The Warden continued, stopping and sighing before adding; "However, neither of us realized that she was eavesdropping on us. She didn't dare show herself while Celestia had the elements and I had my armor, but she did overhear our conversation. Needless to say, once she realized that I was also a threat, Nightmare Moon decided that I needed to be dealt with."
The Warden paused again, lowering his head and closing his eyes as another gust of wind brought more snow flying into his face. Apple Bloom did the same, raising her poncho to block the oncoming barrage of stinging snowflakes.
Once the wind let up, she lowered her guard to the elements once more, and the Warden did the same.
"You okay?" He asked, sniffing and looking back at her as he did so.
Apple Bloom nodded.
"Eeyup." She replied.
The Warden drew his mouth a bit tighter, and looked back out ahead, resuming his pace.
As he was looking back at her, she could have sworn that she saw a few tears in his eyes, most likely a result of wind driven snow flying into his face. But she couldn't quite say for certain, for she was beginning to feel dread and sorrow grip her heart as his story progressed.
She knew how it was going to end: With the destruction of his family. But that didn't make listening any easier.
If it wasn't easy for her to hear his story, then how was he really feeling about it?
Meanwhile the Warden had gone silent, his ears having lowered as his overall mood visibly changed, having gone from energetic in the earlier part of the day to now almost depressed.
Apple Bloom wondered if he was going to resume his tale. This possibility made her apprehensive. Would she not find out what exactly had happened to the Warden's family after all?
Then, with a low, saddened tone, the Warden broke his silence.
"After I confronted Celestia, I flew back to my home, unaware that Nightmare Moon was following me." He explained, his ears having drooped very low, visibly indicating his sadness. "After I had taken off my armor, she revealed herself and cornered me, my wife, and my daughter…"
His voice trailed off, and he closed his eyes. He took a slow, shuddering breath, shaking his head slightly. Then, he opened his eyes and raised his head back up, staring off into the distance.
Although he was trying to not show it, Apple Bloom could tell that he was greatly saddened. Once again, she felt a pang of guilt for even asking him to bring up this painful subject once again. This time, the urge to act upon this realization grew too strong for her to ignore.
"Hey, ya ain't gotta continue if ya don't want to." She told him gently, sounding concerned.
The Warden looked back, and a vague hint of a smile could barely be seen on his face.
"Thank you for your concern," He said in an appreciative manner; "but telling you isn't going to hurt me."
The Warden sighed once again, and looked ahead.
"In any case, Nightmare Moon cornered all three of us. She gave a speech about how we were going to pay for aligning ourselves against her, and she tried to kill us with a blast of magic."
He took a moment to pause and take a breath, then resumed.
"She missed, and hit the gatekeeper instead. It exploded, and the raw, cosmic energy fueling it escaped, tearing open portals between other worlds. I… tried my hardest to shield them, but…"
His voice fell away for a moment, and he shook his head before resuming.
"Time and space was ripped to shreds for a few seconds, but it was enough time to rip me away from Equestria… And my family…"
He took a shaky breath, closing his eyes and bowing his head.
Apple Bloom felt a lump begin to arise within her throat. She could not even begin to fathom the degree of grief that the Warden had to be feeling at the moment. Although she had lost her parents, she had no memory of them. To lose two family members after knowing them for so long, was a concept that broke her heart.
Perhaps it was the fact that Granny, Big Mac, and Applejack had undergone such a tragedy with the loss of Bright Mac and Buttercup that had made her so sensitive to this. On occasion, especially on the anniversary of their passing, Apple Bloom would feel a bit out of touch, seeing how much more the family's loss seemed to affect them rather than her.
Still, on such occasions, they would welcome Apple Bloom's efforts to comfort them.
Without thinking, Apple Bloom did what she usually did to her family members when they were feeling down.
She leaned forward and wrapped her forelegs around the Warden's neck, closing her eyes as she did so.
He raised his head, and he went tense for a moment, but soon relinquished and relaxed.
"Ah'm sorry..." Apple Bloom said quietly, feeling guilty that she had made him feel such a way. "Ah didn't mean to make ya feel so bad..."
She felt him shake his head.
"It's alright, young one." He said, sounding far quieter than she had ever heard him before.
Apple Bloom released him, and shuffled back a bit, resuming her usual position as they continued upwards, the slope becoming less intense. After a few minutes of silence, she asked a question.
"What were their names?"
The Warden shot a brief glance at her, giving his answer.
"My wife's name was Edelweiss. My daughter was Barbette."
"What were they like?"
"Beautiful and precious. Both of them." He replied, his voice starting to sound aloof. "They changed my whole outlook on life and showed me that I was meant to be far more than a warrior."
To Apple Bloom's surprise, a slight smile began to appear on his face, despite his saddened eyes. It seemed as if talking about his family was bringing him a form of serenity.
"Do you know about the edelweiss flower?" He asked, his question catching Apple Bloom a bit off guard.
"Ah do." She replied, her knowledge of plants allowing her to answer quickly. "It's a white an' yellow flower that often grows above the treeline on mountain slopes. It's known to represent both resilience and beauty."
The Warden nodded.
"Correct." He sighed. "Like her namesake, she was beautiful and deceptively tough. She grew up an orphan on the streets, but she didn't let that define her. She was kind and loving, but her compassion was her true defining trait."
Apple Bloom envisioned the mare in the last picture that she had found in the cottage. Although it had been several days at this point, she could still envision her quite clearly. The kind, blue eyes and the calming smile on her face brought a peaceful feeling to Apple Bloom's heart.
No wonder the Warden loved her so much…
"She showed me compassion and love at a time when I needed it most. If it weren't for her, I would certainly have become a slave to anger…" The Warden continued, shaking his head. "She changed my life, and showed me that I was meant to be so much more than a violent warrior bent on protecting ponykind at all costs."
"She sounds like she was a good mare." Apple Bloom remarked, looking at the Warden with an earnest expression in her shining, orange eyes.
"You have no idea…" The Warden sighed, before continuing. "She was the love of my life, a light which kept me from getting lost in the dark. I simply could not imagine life without her. I thought things couldn't get any better, then we had Barbette."
"Your daughter?"
He nodded slightly.
"She turned my world upside down in the best way possible." He said with a smile. "She was a part of me, an extension of my body and soul. Both me and Edel knew that we had the opportunity to give her a childhood which neither of us had, and we didn't squander it. We gave her the option to not take up the mantle of Warden. We didn’t want her to have a childhood that she would resent."
Something stirred deep within Apple Bloom’s soul upon hearing this. She understood all too well the value of having parents who loved their children and gave them a good upbringing. It was a blessing which she did not have, albeit it was obviously not the fault of her own parents.
The fact that the Warden and his wife were determined to love and raise their own daughter in spite of their own difficult childhoods and that the Warden was willing to potentially end his family’s long-lived traditions had stirred up a new feeling of admiration within her. Yet again, he had indirectly proven that was not the evil pony that others viewed him to be.
While Apple Bloom was processing this, the Warden kept on.
“Although we gave her the option to back out of being trained to become the next Warden, she simply seemed to become more determined to take up the mantle. Barbette was just as loving and tough as her mother, but shared my courage and willingness to do well by our ancestors. She truly possessed the best traits between me and Edel. She would have become the best of the Wardens, no doubt about that.”
He fell silent for a moment, inhaling slowly and exhaling, sending a cloud floating out away from his nose.
“But now… Equestria won’t ever have the blessing of having such a heroic young mare rushing to its defense in times of need…”
Apple Bloom felt her heart sink as the Warden bowed his head and closed his eyes. Together, the two remained silent as he continued up the slope, which was growing less and less intense. To each side, the mountains' rounded, snow covered peaks towered above them as the last of the trees and grass passed by. Soon, the terrain became exclusively rocky, and it seemed to Apple Bloom that they were approaching the summit of the pass. In addition, the snow stopped falling, and she could see patches of blue sky through breaks in the clouds.
After what felt like a few minutes, her thoughts still revolved around the Warden's lost daughter. She remembered the small suit of armor that she had seen in the lab, and how it shared the cutie mark of Barbette.
"That armor in the lab… Was that your daughter's?" She asked, hoping to perhaps shift the conversation somewhere else.
He nodded and looked back at her. "It was. I made it for her."
Apple Bloom's eyes lit up. The thought that a filly had a suit of mechanical armor like the Warden's had left her enamored.
The Warden seemed to take notice.
"You seem to be blown away by the fact that my daughter had a suit similar to mine."
Apple Bloom nodded in agreement.
"Ah do! Did it allow her to fly and do other things that earth ponies can't do?"
He nodded.
"To an extent. It could fly, and it's made of capacium, but it doesn't have all the weapons that mine does. It was intended for training, after all."
Apple Bloom nodded, understanding what he was saying. It made sense to her. Perhaps giving a filly a suit of armor that could kill an alicorn was not exactly a good idea.
"That sounds smart." She remarked. "Still, Ah can't help but wonder what it would be like to use somethin' like that."
"I know." The Warden replied, looking back with a slight smirk. "The expression on your face said it all."
Apple Bloom smiled back, wondering if her thoughts were really so obvious.
Just then, they reached what appeared to be the crest of the mountain pass, and she could not help but catch her breath.
Below them, a familiar landscape opened up. Off in the distance, to the southeast, was a collection of buildings.
Ponyville.
From the town hall, to the castle of friendship, to the big red barn at Sweet Apple Acres, there was no mistaking it.
It was home.
The Warden stopped upon reaching the top, and took in the scene as well.
For a minute, they both sat in silence, gazing upon the distant town below.
"So," The Warden asked; "that's Ponyville?"
Apple Bloom couldn’t answer for a few seconds, she was simply too excited and overjoyed to finally see her hometown.
“Eeyup!” She exclaimed, breaking her silence.
The Warden nodded, squinting to take a clearer look at the distant town. "Huh. Seems like a nice place."
However, Apple Bloom didn't hear him. Her mind was in a massive rush. The fact that she was almost home had finally sunk in for good. She was going to see Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Applejack, Granny, Big Mac, and everypony else again!
Both she and the Warden sat atop the pass for a moment, looking down. Then, the Warden looked back at her.
"Hey…" He said in a subdued tone. "Thank you."
Apple Bloom broke from her thoughts and looked confusedly at him.
"For… What?" She asked.
He looked at her, his green eyes showing an expression of gratitude.
"Thank you for listening." He clarified. "It… It may sound a bit sappy, but I feel as if some weight was removed from my soul when I told you about my loved ones. I've never told anypony about them in such detail before. It feels… Relieving."
Apple Bloom's eyes widened in a combination of wonder and joy. "Ya mean ya feel better because Ah was willin' to listen to your story?"
He nodded.
"I guess so, but you did far more than just listen." He explained. "You asked. You showed genuine concern and interest in my past. You saved me from the Chimera, and you don't treat me like a criminal. In fact you almost treat me like a…"
His voice faded away, as he seemed to struggle with coming up with an answer. However, Apple Bloom already knew what he was going to say.
"Ah treated ya like a friend?" She asked.
Deep down, hopefulness was growing within her. Was he coming around? Was he admitting that they were friends? Did this mean that perhaps other ponies would be able to see him as she did, and give him a shot at redemption?
He looked back at her, and a gentle smile began to show.
"I… Guess so."
"Then… We're friends?" She asked, her hopefulness ever clear in her voice.
The Warden nodded.
If Apple Bloom didn't have an injured leg and wasn't sitting on the Warden's back, she would've started jumping for joy!
She did it! She had befriended the Warden! He didn't have to suffer so badly any more!
Just like how Fluttershy had befriended Discord and helped him reform, Apple Bloom had helped the Warden overcome a massive hurdle towards redemption!
He deserved it. He had saved her several times, showing bravery, intelligence, skill, kindness, and nobility which she had never had personally seen before! He regretted his attack on Canterlot, and clearly needed a friend by his side.
It thrilled the filly to think that she had accomplished something that the other ponies probably would've considered to be impossible.
A feeling of accomplishment flooded her heart as the Warden began working his way down the slope away from the pass.
She had definitely performed an act of friendship that even Twilight would be impressed by! But more importantly, she had opened the door for the Warden to potentially be changed for the better.
She sighed happily as they worked their way down, towards the town which she called home.