//------------------------------// // Ch 24 // Story: My Little Ball of Fire & Vengeance // by Scootaboom1 //------------------------------// Amber Wood As I regained conscious my attention was drawn to a glare at the top of a hill just outside of Ponyville. By the time my mind proceeds that it was coming from some kind of crystal structure. The structure seemed to resemble a human hand giving the middle finger. ... ... ... ... ... ... Who built it, and who are they flipping off? Remembering what happened looked to where Carrot Top and Dinky had been standing as Dinky shouted out, "WHAT IS THAT!!!" Carrot Top replied, "I'm not sure." Looking around I saw other ponies heading for the hill. With a questioning voice I asked, "So... Should we head over there too?" Remembering my presence Carrot Tops' eyes went wide and her head turned in my direction she called out, "AMBER!!!" Suddenly I felt the crushing force of an earth pony hug. Fortunately my throat was not completely crushed and I managed to choke out, "Can't... breath..." She loosened her grip around my neck and looked at me with a stern look, "What were you thinking, squaring up with that centaur! And don't you pretend you didn't. I saw you take on a fighting stance before your magic got drained. Even if no fight came of it you could still have been hurt badly." Looking to the ground I pawed at the dirt with my hooves knowing that I really was planning to fight him. With an exasperated shout Dinky exclaimed, "Lecture later! I want to see the thing on the top of the hill with every pony else!" Carrot Top looked around and saw ponies heading in the direction of the hill and sighed, "Sure... But remember that this is not over." I shrugged and chuckled as I my way next to Dinky and changed the subject, "Soo... Dinky what do you think the crystal thing on the hill is?" Dinky skipped happily, "OHH! Maybe it's a new playground for the school!" I smiled, "Humm, probably not. Though maybe it's a new tree house castle for Princess Twilight Sparkle or something." Chuckling I smiled and thought to myself that there was no way that was true. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... *At the base of the hill* ... ... It really is a castle tree house. A bit tacky but it does look somewhat impressive. The crowd was gathered in front of the doorway of the castle. They were in various states of awe and intrigue of the castle. Blinking at it I said, "I should have bet on it being a castle tree house..." Dinky hummed in reply, "It's really more of a tree shaped castle if anything." I rolled my eyes and said, "Not the point." As more ponies began to gather the front door of the castle opened to reveal the four alicorn princesses, element bearers, and Discord. The crowd of ponies started to go quite as Princess Celestia cleared her throat, "Attention all my little ponies..." Princess Celestias' gaze paused on me for a second before she continued, "... Princess Twilight Sparkle has defeated Tirek and returned him to Tartarus. Not only that but all the magic stolen by Tirek has been returned to where it belongs." The cheers were as loud as the stadium during the Equestria Games. With that the three senior princesses began to fly off into the distance. As the crowd began to chat away again Dinky asked me, "Hey do you think Princess Twilight is going to move into this castle?" I thought for a moment before replying, "Probably not, the Golden Oaks Library is a rather nice place to live. Though I suppose she can use it for her princess business." Dinky hummed, "Ya, your probably right." Walking up to the front door of the castle I looked to Princess Twilight and asked, "Hey princess, can we look around the inside of your new castle?" Slightly flustered from the sudden question Princess Twilight responded, "Oh umm, sure." I smiled and looked back to Dinky and said, "Come on Dinky, let's go check out what the view is like from the top of the castle!" Dinky reared up in excitement and said, "Ohh! That sounds like it would be fun!" The first thing I noticed about the castle was that it was much bigger on the inside. The main entrance hall alone was already larger than the base of the tree castle itself. Which now that I think of it this kind of magic is fitting for magical world like this. Next to me I heard Dinky, "Wow......... Oh, an echo! Echo!" As we made our way up the stairs I noticed other ponies entering the castle to look around the new castle themselves. As we made our way through the castle I was in awe of the massive hallways with such high ceilings. Before we even knew it we were at the at the top of the castle. Confused I commented, "Humm, that's strange I don't even feel winded at all. Yet here we are, already at the top." Dinky enthusiastically suggested, "Maybe the inside of the castle changes to help those inside." Thinking about it for a moment I replied, "that makes sense I guess, but that sounds like pretty crazy magic." Dinky who had run up to the window was in awe, but her expression soon changed to a more muted one, "Hey Amber what used to be where that burned crater is?" Looking out over Ponyville I saw multiple such craters but one near the town center caught my eyes, "Eeyup. That is where Princess Twilight lived when she moved to Ponyville, the Golden Oaks Library... I guess that means she will be moving into the castle." As Dinky looked down upon Ponyville I noticed something in the distance. As it approached I recognized a familiar silhouette and face. Nudging Dinky in the side I pointed her gaze in that direction and her face brightened with a massive smile, "MOMMY!!!" Landing on the ledge Derpy said, "Sorry I'm late. I just don't know what went wrong." As the two hugged I smiled and suggested, "Hey why don't we all get ice cream to celebrate." Together they both began chanting, "ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM!" I could almost hear Carrot Top rolling her eyes and sighing.