~ April 22nd, 1020 ME ~
‘4:00am‘
The harmony shockwave created by star illuminated the entire night sky with beautiful colors matching that of the elements. Red, blue, orange, green, pink, and purples shown more brilliant than the northern lights. Twilight was shocked by all of the things happening simultaneously. For one, Tirek had instantly been turned to stone when the expanding blast from Blazing reached him. For another Blazing had disappeared from the spot he’d been just moments prior. The light surrounding him while they used the elements had been so bright that she couldn’t look at him, but now he was gone and not even a hint of evidence remained that his body had ever been there.
A whirlwind of emotions swirled in her mind. They had defeated Tirek, but at what cost? Her worst fear had come to pass. Blazing was gone and she hadn’t really been able to respond to the last words she had heard him say: I love you. She kept waiting for him to reappear, but he didn’t. A massive cheer started to go up from another section of Canterlot followed by more celebrations elsewhere. He had really done it. She wasn’t sure how or even what the rest of the city looked like, but Blazing had been the catalyst for their assured victory.
Twilight’s friends did their best to comfort her. Spike was visibly upset too. He had taken a liking to the guy. They were all sad. The one who had brought them off the path to destruction wasn’t even able to see what had happened. He wasn’t there to join the ponies cheer.
As for the rest of the city, things had progressed quickly after the magic of friendship and harmony had done its work.
Changelings were retreating into the sky, their Queen having been defeated. Sombra was a statue ready to be added to the castle gardens. The Nightmare was nowhere to be found, although Luna was discovered sprawled out in the dirt of central Canterlot park. At this point, the royal sisters wouldn’t know what to do with all the villains turned stone.
Both ponies and changelings alike were scattered in the streets. The losses were a great number and the wounded were even more, but the carnage was behind them. The war was over in an instant. All that remained was to restore the damages that had been done. One question was stuck in Twilight's mind and she was determined not to rest until she had found the answer. What happened to Blazing?
“It’s an honor to finally meet you.”
One moment Blazing’s body felt like it was burning up, the next he was surrounded by nothing but a starry void.
“I’m sure you have many questions but first I must say it’s not often I have visitors, you’re the first human I’ve ever met.”
Blazing was very confused by this point. His body felt different and he could tell he was back to standing on four legs. Looking down at himself and going cross eyes confirmed it: He was a unicorn again, horn and all. The one thing off about his horn was that it was charred black and had cracks all over it. He certainly wouldn’t be using it any time soon. Turning his head to the right he saw the source of the voice. The mare that spoke had a glassy white coat and a purple crystal like mane. She had addressed him as a human so she certainly wasn’t just anypony. “Who are you?” Blazing started
“I’m harmony. The one responsible for helping ponies to their destiny.” Blazing was now even more confused. Harmony? Harmony was a tree… Harmony became Twilight's castle… Harmony had never been described by anypony he’d talked to as a pony, and she definitely wasn’t in the book he read about the elements of harmony either. Nevertheless he continued with his next question.
“Harmony… you were the one that spoke in my head warning me about the coming danger?”
“That I was.”
Blazing realized that he was wasting valuable time after having just been on a battlefield “Are my friends alright?! I need to go back and help them!”
“Don’t worry! Rest assured your friends are safe thanks to you.” He would have to settle for taking her word for it.
“Alright Harmony, where are we? I’m pretty sure this is not where I’m going when I die.”
“You would be correct again. This is a separate dimension sectioned off from where you had been. As for why you’re here since that is assuredly your next question… well that’s complicated. I’ll answer by explaining what happened after your senses began to shut down.
You successfully merged my power with the elemental ability ‘star’ creating a much safer explosion than had the spell been used by itself. However, star comes at the price of the user being unable to stop the chain reaction of the spell. In order for the spell to work, the elements first returned you to being a unicorn so that you could be a part of the magic field again. Eventually all of the magic that you had been given ran out and the spell began to fuel off of your very life force. Once the magic had expanded beyond Canterlot, I brought you here to cancel your spell. You’ve been unconscious ever since.”
“And my horn was a cost of the spell?”
“Yes, I’m afraid that as a pony you may never be able to use magic the same way again.” Blazing didn’t care so much about that. He was alive! He had thought he would die and he had felt like he would, but according to Harmony she had saved him.
“How long have I been here?”
“Time is different here. Could be minutes, could be hours. You have no idea how closely I had to watch you to time that teleport.”
“One last question: what’s next?”
“That’s for you to decide. You have a difficult choice ahead of you. From here I can send you to two places. Either you can return to Earth as a human and continue where you left off or you can go back to Equestria and see where your path leads you. This is not linked to the destiny you received with your cutie mark, this is your free will. I know not what comes next.”
“Home…” Blazing trailed off. He had only been gone for two weeks but it had felt like a lifetime. At first it was obvious. The war was over. He could leave now without feeling the guilt of abandoning ponies in need. That thinking didn’t last long, however. This choice was much more complicated. He recalled the real reason he had stayed in Equestria and the ponies he had decided to protect. Other than his future aspirations as an engineer, Chase Waters didn’t have anyone to return to on Earth. Nobody was waiting for him…
Then he saw a picture of Twilight in his mind. Twilight was more organized than himself, lovably awkward, incredibly kind, and very dedicated to her work. She’s beautiful on the inside and on the out. She was special. That wasn’t the end of it. Spike’s fun personality came to mind. He thought of Pinkie pie’s gigantic smile. Applejack’s down to earth nature. Rainbow Dashes competitiveness. Celestia’s sincerity. And the list continued. He wasn’t alone anymore. Blazing had good friends.
“I choose… Equestria!” He exclaimed.
“Very well. May your future be bright Blazing Waters. You have restored harmony to Equestria.”
‘8:22am‘
Back in Canterlot, Celestia had raised the sun on a new day. Ponies were able to leave their homes again and the work was ongoing to care for the wounded, repair the city, and help Ponyville refugees return home. Twilight was busily occupying herself with reports on what had happened and coming up completely blank on what had happened to Blazing. Unless the elements went against their very nature and destroyed him he had to be alive… somewhere.
Soon ponies were gathered for a public address from the royal sisters. Celestia started speaking first.
“Citizens of Equestria! Thanks to the service of many brave Stallions and Mares the war is over!”
A cheer erupted with the sound continuing to roar for many seconds until Celestia raised a hoof.
“While we have proven our resilience, victory wasn’t without sacrifice. There are some special honors to be awarded to ponies that risked their lives for our future, our children’s future, our grandchildren’s future.
The first pony that would be receiving the highest award possible, is no longer-“
Celestia stopped talking abruptly as a gasp went through the crowd. She followed some of their eyes to a spot above where she stood on the balcony overlooking Canterlot. High overhead a rainbow light similar to that produced by the elements of harmony was shining in a small pony sized sphere. Out of the light came a figure that slowly lowered towards the balcony. Blazing Waters levitated down to come to rest beside Celestia and left her speechless from the whole spectacle. Many ponies in the crowd were confused by the pony that had appeared wearing the royal seal until a purple alicorn came barreling up from behind the new arrival and smothered him in a hug. “You’re alive!”
Blazing returned the hug and whispered in Twilight's ear, “Harmony saved my life.”
Celestia quickly picked up where she left off, although her speech had been slightly modified for the better.
“The golden heart award is awarded to honor bravery, and selfless service to the crown. The recipient is a pony that risked himself to save others. A pony that was dragged into the conflict, yet volunteered to lend a hoof. This award goes to the pony that saved Equestria, Blazing Waters!” Celestia levitated the medal over towards Blazing and lowered it on his head. Everypony in the crowd celebrated, and the ponies present on the balcony had huge smiles, Pinkie Pie’s smile being the biggest.
Blazing couldn’t help but put on a huge smile himself. “It’s good to be back.”