//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23.) Reunion 
// Story: Blaze 
// by Blazing_Mane01 
//------------------------------//

     "Hurry and get out of bed, Blaze. We're gonna go free the elder."

I sat up in the bed. "Are you crazy!? By now, Princess Celestia could've set it under guard, for... ... ...some reason --"

"Blaze, there's a lot of 'what if' possibilities about this matter. What actually matters is, the elder isn't completely guilty. His side of the story will be invaluable to bust Ivory."

Confused, I ask, "Okay, and why can't we just try Ivory for dubious intentions against royalty as it is? As I see it, we already have all the 'evidence' we need."

Twilight looked at the diary, which was hovering above the saddlebag on her back. She then dropped her view to the floor and snickered. "...And here I am, about to hatch some insane plan --"

"No, you're right," I jump out of the covers in front of her, and put a hoof on her 'shoulder.' "The elder's opinion does matter, in this case."

The whole time, she just looked at my hoof. "But you just said --"

"That doesn't mean the elder's opinion isn't useful. He could know some serious shit we never even considered!" 

She finally looked up at me, so her purple eyes could meet with a colorless pair of my own. I recall this moment at several different times with me and Faded Ivory, back when. The other pair of eyes used to be blue, not purple. Now that I'm thinking about it, Twilight doesn't resemble Ivory as much as I previously thought. I guess I couldn't stop thinking enough about Ivory to make an actual comparison. Plus who knows what Ivory really is inside? ... ...I mean, her true nature; her actual intentions. With Twilight, it's almost as if I know her in and out already...

I trust her.

Twilight finally said something. "So you wanna go through with this?"

I nod, nearly tapping her horn with mine. "Absolutely."

She backed her head away for a moment. Guess I pulled it just a bit too close with that nod... I step away from her as well. I begin to turn, but stop as I hear sudden movement from the other end of the room. Before I can see, Twilight already had her hooves interlocked around me. Unable to process the incident fast enough, I took a quick breath and held it for a second. Once I pieced together what just happened, I let it out and lifted a forehoof of my own.

I backed up just enough so we could see each other eye to eye again. "And what's this all about, Twilight Sparkle?"

Guess she had to think about it, because she didn't respond right away. "... ...I don't know."

I lifted my eyebrow, figuring she was trying to hide something.

She repeated herself. "Wow... I really don't know!" The odd part is, she was smiling when she said that.

"Pffft," I say as my other forehoof also finds its way around Twilight's neck. 

Thinking back on it, this is the first 'official' time I've actually returned an embrace from Twilight. Sure, I may have lifted one forehoof, but something about this time made it seem necessary for me to return it completely. 

For a moment, we just stood there, captured in the other's embrace. I slowly remove my right forehoof, place it on her chest, and lightly push her away. "All right, let's go." I head for the door.

Twilight laughed. "You wanna walk? Hey, I guess you can if you want to. I'm not going that way, though."

I tilt my head.

In response, her horn begins to glow. It grew brighter... Brighter...

I finally got it. "Mmm... And why didn't you do this earlier today?"

Twilight grunted, "Load too big.., Two ponies... Much easier..."

"Aha," I raise my head in comprehension, then walk over and place my left forehoof on her back. Slightly nervous, I sigh as I close my eyes, ready to enter the wormhole.




POOF!

I open my eyes to see the ruins of Canterlot in the dusk of night.
My mother does very well in making the night beautiful. Regardless of the scenery, there's something about the dark that makes you wanna sigh and relax. I can't wait to see my mother again.
I was too busy looking at the sky to observe the ruins of Canterlot. Once I looked down, I barely saw the few members of the Royal Guard left alive, along with the princess of the sun. There were also a bunch of other ponies there. Mostly unicorns, since that is the majority of Canterlot's population. They all look to be picking up pieces of large rubble with their magic, attempting to restore the city buildings of Canterlot to their original beauty.
Thinking of magic finally made me look over to find Twilight Sparkle. If I'm not mistaken, she should be right beside me. I glance over my shoulder, but do not immediately find the lavender unicorn.

"Twilight?" I sort of shout in confusion.

"Mmm?"

In response to my call, there was a mumble at my hooves. I look down to find the apparently-weak purple pony and say, "What are you doing on the ground?"

She winced, and tried to pick herself up, but only failed and stumbled back to hit the dirt. Defeated, she slowly tapped her horn.
I tried to interpret what this message meant for exactly .5 seconds. The spell. The spell was too difficult. Not the teleportation part - she does that all the time - the distance must've been enough to make any other pony pass out from exhaustion.
But then again, what normal unicorn could teleport you from Ponyville to Canterlot, a distance of several miles?

I lowered my head to nearly eye level. "Do you need help?"

She turns her head for a moment to think, then looks back up into my eyes and nods.
At that very moment, I grabbed Twilight's left forehoof with my magic and draped it across my neck, so that Twilight would at least be able to stand. Then, I asked, "So where do we go?" In my mind, it seemed like a pretty stupid question, but who's to know for sure, right?

Twilight mumbled, "Let's talk to the princess..."

For reasons unknown to me, the word 'princess' instantly let fear creep out of my conscience. I'm not sure exactly what scares me right now, but "Something tells me that talking to the princess would be a bad idea. Maybe we should go back to where we faught the elder first? See if he had been moved?"

I knew by the way Twilight shifted in place that she wanted to facehoof. "We don't need to tell her that we want to free him, Blaze. We could just ask if we could..." She trailed off.

I perked my ears up completely, just in case I might've missed something. "We could what?"

"Oh, be quiet for a minute, would ya? I'm thinking!"

The sudden hostility, as I call it, made me jerk my head away. "Well, excuse me. I'm just a little uncomfortable being out here in the open like this."

"What, you don't like my company?"

That quickly brought a smile to my face. I exhale in an attempt not to laugh, then catch my breath. "No, I could care less about my company. I mean, Celestia's right there! She sent us home not too long ago! Don't you think she's gonna be kinda suspicious if she finds... us... out here... like, this... ... ..."

Now it was Twilight's turn to laugh. "She should understand. I know the princess."

Again, I try harder to keep from bursting with laughter. "Uhh, Twilight, I don't think you get it--"

"Of course I do! It would seem odd to see an enemy you defeated in it's stone-encased prison," she said sarcastically.

I have to lift my left forehoof to my mouth to keep from laughing now. Twilight has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about! We're conversing about two completely different topics, and making a bit of sense in the process!
She finally noticed that I was holding back from laughter. Though she didn't say anything; she did sigh, however. But I don't think that's hint enough to assume that she finally gets it.

"Can we go now?"

Her question snaps me back to the situation at hand. "Uhh, yea. Sure."

On my foreright, Twilight and I slowly each took one step forward. Toward Canterlot. Toward the Elder.

Toward Celestia.