Chapter 20
Light, Darkness, and Chaos
Inside the secret chamber of Star Swirl the Bearded’s Wing, the Aquamarine above shone brightly and Polaris was released from the gemstone. He scanned around himself with a cold glare. A dark presence had taken over the castle and he has twisted it to a demonic maze of pure chaos. Before he could search for this entity, a portal opened before him and out trotted Helpful the Selfless, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each wondering where they were, but before they could converse among themselves, they noticed Polaris with them in the same room. Rarity was just flabbergasted beyond belief at the sight of such a massively handsome stallion. Helpful immediately remembered who he was the second he saw the Star. “Polaris; Librarian of Prophecies.” Helpful greeted delightedly, but a bit confused on how he knew him so much. “How’d you get here?”
“Prince Joyful?” Polaris gasped surprised. “Seems that Magi has cleared your amnesia.”
“Uh…somewhat.”
“Uh, you two know each other?” Applejack asked them curious.
“Joyful has met me under four thousand years ago when he was a colt.” Polaris explained thoughtfully. “Envious has now twisted up this castle into his own image, Your Highness. I can lead you toward a safe route into the throne room without becoming trapped inside.” The Star floated gently across the floor to the door that sealed them inside the secret chamber, and he used his magic to open it wide. “Follow me.” Everypony followed Polaris to the door and were all astonished to find that, what was once Star Swirl the Bearded’s Wing, became a twisted labyrinth of shelves and books. Books even floated across the air and shelves floated along with them. “Oh-no.” Twilight remarked heavily worried. “Envious has twisted and turned our beloved Canterlot Castle into a Maze of Darkness.”
“Just like Magi said!” Pinkie Pie added cheerfully.
“Is there a way down?” Helpful asked for they were awfully high up in a shelf that was too high for them all to jump off. He looked down and there was no end in sight of the abyss under them.
“We just need to walk on the book shelves like so!” Pinkie’s voice shouted as they all spotted her standing on the shelf sideways with a delighted smile.
“Pinkie Pie! How did you do that?” Rarity exclaimed in shock.
“I just watch Polaris do it.” Pinkie pointed out to Polaris walking across the ceiling ahead of them.
“Oh, Celestia! There he goes!” Helpful exclaimed in surprise as he walked onto the shelf sideways with Pinkie Pie. “Magi knows that Star will lead without warning. C’mon!” Helpful ran ahead catching up to Polaris on the ceiling. The others soon followed; a little hesitantly, but they followed, and they were all walking onto the ceiling. “How is this even possible?” Twilight asked Polaris confused.
“It isn’t.” He answered her with no other explanation. A huge, dark laughter filled the room and the bookcases that floated around floated up slowly toward them making a maze-like pattern and they were all trapped inside the maze of bookcases; separated from one another. “This is just like when Discord took over Equestria, now were all sunk.” Twilight remarked scared, but then the bookcases ignited and burned into ashes all around them, and Polaris stood with a small inferno in his horns, but it soon died down to its calmer state.
“Are you all well?” Polaris asked them concerned.
“We’re all fine, Polaris.” Helpful answered him for them. “We should continue moving.” Fluttershy ran over to hug Helpful for comfort.
“Well, I’m feeling a little faint over all this drama.” Rarity answered and she laid onto the floor. “Would somepony please carry me to the throne room?”
“I have the strength to carry you and ten other mares at once, Milady.” Polaris scooped up Rarity with his magic. “I shall carry you.” Rarity giggled excitedly as they continued across the ceiling. It seemed that entire Labyrinth of books stretched for miles, but they found the exit of the massive complex. Helpful was the first to enter into the hallway from the strange library and he helped in his friends as they tried to walk inside with him. As Helpful helped Twilight inside, Polaris landed inside with Rarity laying on his back. The White Unicorn had the hugest smile Helpful’s ever seen from her. It was mostly awkward to him, but he decided to put the thought aside and allowed Polaris to lead them. “I’m glad that’s over with.” Applejack sighed of relief as they followed Polaris into a hallway that seemed to be destroyed from top to bottom with claw marks littered all over the place and numerous items destroyed and scattered around.
“Looks like the Minions had a party last night.” Rainbow Dash remarked a little astonished to find everything so obliterated and ruined. “How are we going to find the throne room; if the castle is just a giant Labyrinth, Polaris?”
“Simple, Spirit of Loyalty.” Polaris explained calmly as they continued. “As we all know that Darkness is the opposite of Light, and if you want to find something lost in Darkness, you would need Light to clearly see everything.”
“I see what you mean, Polaris.” Twilight replied thoughtfully. “But how will that help us here?”
“Let the answer come to you.” Silence settled in around them as they all exchanged looks of confusion. They all trotted up to the door of the hallway’s exit into the ball room. Twilight opened the door with her magic, but all they saw was pitch black nothing. Applejack was the first to start toward the entrance, but she was stopped by Twilight’s voice. “Careful, AJ.” Twilight warned. “We don’t know what Envious has in store inside, so be careful.”
“C’mon, Twilight.” Applejack assured her she was going to be fine. “How bad can it be?” But then as she walked toward the room, she quickly found the edge of the floor, and almost fell down it.
“Whoa!” Applejack exclaimed in shock as she looked down to see that there were spikes sticking out from under. “Now that’s too close.” The others soon joined her and they all gasped in shock to find that the ball room was twisted into a spike pit for not so careful travelers to fall toward their doom.
“Should there be a way to get across?” Fluttershy asked curious to Polaris.
“Yeah! Flying across!” Rainbow answered instead, but then as she shouted, parts of the ceiling fell and hit the floor; making her rethink what she just said.
“Forget about flying, Dash,” Twilight protested, “There’s no way across, and we have no light to guide the way.”
“Ha! You forget, Twilight.” Helpful scoffed proudly as he turned on his wings that illuminated the room slowly. “I have light!” The light quickly changed the room back into its original form as the beautiful ball room. Uniquely, Helpful’s light had an effect on the environment around them all.
“I think I understand what you mean, Polaris.” Twilight told the Star as they trotted through the ball room into another hallway.
“It is grand to know that you are beginning to understand the differences of Light and Darkness.” Polaris replied as he opened the door to let them inside another hall, but then Helpful remembered the discussion he had with Luna about the truth of Darkness.
“Hold on, Polaris, if Darkness and Light supposed to be different, then how come darkness can be kind and caring?” Helpful asked the Star curious. Of course, this was not a good place to discuss about Darkness if the entire castle was twisted by Darkness. His friends just all exchanged looks of confusion. “But, Helpful, didn’t Envious turn this entire castle upside down by using Darkness?” Twilight asked him curious.
“True, but the true Darkness is only sweet and gentle, and everypony doesn’t seem to see that.” Helpful explained carefully.
“If Darkness is so ‘sweet and gentle’ then how come every pony has suffered so much evil from it?” Rainbow Dash inquired to know from him.
“That’s just it; Envious is using Chaos to do all these dreadful things.” The Tan Pegasus explained trying to make them understand.
“Helpful, you’re not making any sense, dear.” Rarity told him.
“What I’m trying to say is that Envious is only a form of Darkness tempted by Chaos to destroy everything.” Helpful explained thoughtfully. “Darkness isn’t the real enemy; it’s Chaos, and it’ll forever be our enemy unless we see the big picture!” Silence sets in a Helpful breathed to settle him calmly. That outburst was just uncalled for, but it made terrible sense. Darkness could be good, for instance, Darkness can help you lull to sleep faster, and you’ll be dreaming dreams as Darkness grows the forests and lets the water evaporate into a fog to water everything that needs it. Darkness protects others for not letting the assailants be able to see at night, and they will often hit or stumble upon something in their path. Darkness become the time of hunting for some animals for them to find food and live. Darkness brings the cold in the summer to help comfort you when you sleep. Darkness is sweet and gentle, it does not want to hurt anyone, but if tempted by Chaos it will attack and hurt you, and in the end, Darkness regrets everything it did to harm others. Chaos is actually Envious’ real power, and will use everything within that power to rule the world in Chaos. Polaris nodded in agreement as the others just exchanged looks of uneasiness. “Your Highness, I understand the concept of what you mean.” Polaris broke the silence. “Darkness is indeed not our enemy, but our friend; Chaos is the liar behind closed doors, and unless we see the big picture, it will be our demise.” Polaris gently floated toward the throne room door. “That is what I meant to teach you all, and it is a lesson well learned.” He used his magic and opened the doors wide; allowing a blast of darkness lash through them, and they could see inside was a dark room. “Proceed with caution, Brave Spirits.” The Star used his magic to set Rarity beside them. “You have only scratched the hard surface of Envious’ power.”
“Are you coming with us?” Fluttershy asked him nervously.
“Unfortunately, I cannot. Magi’s prophesy explained that your friend was to fight Envious, and fight him he shall.” Polaris started to gently float away.
“But where are you going?” Twilight inquired to know from the Star.
“To allow this battle to happen without interruptions. I will suppress the Minions from interfering with the battle so you may have a fighting chance.” Polaris then phased through the doors before anypony could respond. Everypony then turned their attention to the opened doors into the twisted throne room. Twilight gulped nervously as she walked slowly into the throne room and her friends followed her slowly as well, Helpful was right behind Twilight and so was Fluttershy. As soon as Applejack was the last to enter, the doors slammed right behind them and they all turned around and exclaimed in surprise as Envious laughed amused by their fear. Helpful scanned around for any signs, but there weren’t any.
“Show yourself, Envious!” Helpful growled, and then Envious’ reflection appeared in a window on their left.
“Very well then.” Envious crackled evilly. “Since you’re here, Magi must have explained to you everything, Joyful; my dear Younger Brother.”
“You use that term loosely, Envious.” Helpful glared at him coldly. “I cannot be a brother to a Tyrant like you, and I will stop you from destroying everything in this land.”
“That’s what we’re all here for.” Twilight announced and all of them nodded in agreement. Envious just stared for a short moment, but then the reflection disappeared and shadows formed together Envious on his hideous throne.
“Very well.” Envious smirked under his helmet. “If you here to do so, take your best shot.” Envious then laughed maniacally and he formed several other forms of the mane six made out of darkness. They laughed with Envious as he stood and walked beside them. “Cruelty can so amusing at these times.”
“You won’t be able to win this way Envious!” Rainbow Dash shouted angered by this insult.
“Then let us raise the stakes.” Envious then used his Element of Greediness and the floor around them separated into various fragments and leaving each one of them to fight with their darker selves made by Envious while Helpful fights him. The castle was halved to allow much space for them. “Let us begin!” Envious and his dark allies attacked Helpful and his friends, and there was a great battle in the air. Rainbow Dash bucked her Dark Self away into the broken floor, but it quickly stood up and jumped her. Dash blocked her attack and reacted, but her attack was blocked. “It’s like they know our every move.” Rainbow exclaimed in surprise. The others were having the exact same problem; the Pinkie Pies were attacking one another, but they seem to be landing no positive blows; the Twilight were using the same amount of energy every time they would use magic to attack; Applejacks couldn’t seem to get anywhere with their fight at all; neither the Rarities, but Fluttershy couldn’t fight her own self. It was an impossible fight for her, and she frightened every time her dark self would try to jump her, but she would dodge it and the Dark Fluttershy would miss. “Get back here!” Dark Fluttershy snarled; making Fluttershy run as fast as possible away from her, but she was stuck on a floating piece of stone floor floating hundreds of miles above the ground. How could she escape without falling to her doom? Envious slashed at Helpful with his wings, but he gracefully dodged them without getting his mane cut by the blurring sharp-edged wings. “Enough of this!” Envious shouted frustrated as he pinned Helpful in the floor. “You are becoming a large thorn in my side, Oath! It is now time to kill you where you lay.”
“You won’t be able to kill me in this battle, Envious!” Helpful protested as he tried to push the dark entity off. “My friends and I will stop you, and--!”
“And what? Prance off, like this whole mess never happened?” Envious taunted as he interrupted him. “This is reality, Joyful, not some world where everything is perfect and there is no evil anywhere! There’s nowhere to hide from my shadows, there’s no chance to aid your friends, and there is no way to fight when you can’t even control your powers easily! I will win this fight, but first…” Envious pulled Helpful up with his magic and he turned him toward Fluttershy being forced to the edge of her stone platform. “Let’s watch as your pathetic, beloved one perishes.”
“Fluttershy!” Helpful shouted in shock as she tripped over a pebble and fell to down toward the ground below. Envious and Dark Fluttershy laughed in amusement as Helpful’s tears began to fall from his face and they watched as she fell toward the ground. “Helpful!” Fluttershy shouted in her dismay. In that moment, Helpful’s anger kindled greatly against Envious and then his wings shone a powerful light than pained Envious greatly. “The Light!” He shouted as his magic let him go to fall toward Fluttershy. He flapped his wings as hard as possible and the black tips shone a bright red and his speed doubled in power, even tripled. He caught Fluttershy right in the nick of time, and they landed slowly toward the same pond with the waterfall in Everfree till they were just floating a few inches above it. Helpful was not flapping his wings now, and neither was Fluttershy. They both opened their eyes to see that a golden light had enveloped around them and several animals, all Fluttershy’s friends, came and found them floating above the water. Each was astonished as joyous to see such a sign of peace. Fluttershy chuckled as her little animals applauded and cheered for her. “Helpful, they’re applauding us.” Fluttershy looked back to Helpful, but was surprised to find bright colorful lines dash across the tan Pegasus until his entire body was covered in a futuristic design. “Helpful, what is?”
“Going on?” Helpful chuckled as the lines turned white. “I don’t know.” Golden armor then appeared and shifted into place; first at Helpful’s back hooves, and then to his belly and up till his own face was covered in a golden helmet with a black visor. He spreads out his newly armored golden wings and he looked up to the sky. Fluttershy could see seven symbols appear on his armor, the rest were their friends’, but the seventh one seemed to be a heart. “Hold on.” Helpful told her as he launched them into the air with a stream of red light behind them. They soon re-entered the castle and Helpful’s light fixed the floor back into place and the castle collided back to its original form, but it still floated in the air; he also decimated the Dark Mane Six from thin air. Helpful settled Fluttershy beside their friends, and stood in front of them, but his stature seemed quite different than before. He was just as tall as Envious was and his falcon-like wings have grown to a larger span. His armor was golden, his wings were sharpened like Envious’, and it was obvious that he felt no fear toward the Cursed Prince. “Envious!” Prince Joyful shouted in anger. “Not only has thou stolen control of my Elder brother, but you have also tried to defile and murder in cold blood my beloved Fluttershy!” He light seemed to flicker brighter every time he said a word. “Thou will not be given anymore mercy from the Elements of Harmony, I will promise you that!”
“So you actually believe the Elements of Harmony will actually stop me from ruling this land?” Envious crackled evilly trying to make Joyful unnerve, but he stood there with the most hateful gaze through his visor.
“I believe that once this is over, thou will be no more.” Joyful swore gravely. Envious immediately flew straight toward Joyful slashing him with his wing, but it was blocked by Joyful’s wing and they clashed and slashed in close-combat as Helpful’s friend hid for cover. Darkness and Light were fighting for the first time before their eyes, and the symbolism of it all seemed rather detailed, and it reminded Twilight about the last passage in the Prophesy. “’But six Spirits of Harmony will fight with him and they wield the Elements of Harmony thus doubling Joyful’s power, and Envious will be defeated.’” Twilight turned to her friends with a serious look. “We need to help Prince Joyful!”
“What?” Rarity exclaimed in surprise. “We’ll be sliced into pieces in that fight. Do you actually believe we’ll be able to fight Envious too?”
“Yes! Don’t you remember the Prophesy? We are the Spirits of Harmony!” Twilight explained reasonably. “And we can help fight.”
“Alright!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in excitement. “What do we need to do?” Wind then began to swirl around them inside the room; Envious and Joyful were colliding Light and Darkness against each other so much, that it started to disturb the natural balance around them.
“We need to find a position worthy enough for our advantage!” Twilight shouted over the sharp wind as Applejack’s hat flew off.
“My hat!” She exclaimed in shock as it flew around circles in a small tornado that enveloped the room. The others stared in shock as the tornado started to repel pieces of the castle away.
“This is no good!” The purple Unicorn shouted again to allow the others hear her. “We’ll never be able to get a clear shot of Joyful in order for him to defeat Envious if we’re just being broken away!”
“Yeah! Too bad your little colorful egg can only revive others!” Pinkie Pie agreed with Twilight, but then Twilight stared blankly into space for a second.
“Pinkie Pie, say again!”
“Say what again?” Pinkie Pie giggled thinking this was a Guessing Game.
“The thing you just said earlier!”
“Oh, I said, ‘too bad you little colorful egg can only revive others!” The Pink Mare answered her, and then it all was clear to her. She pulled out that multi-colored egg and she examined it carefully. This was the same Good Luck Charm that she saw at a market. It somehow was given to Luckyshoes and its power has just come out of the blue like stand owner said. A very unusual Good Luck Charm at that as well, for its power could revive anypony, but could it also have the power to do anything? She concentrated her magic and the egg activated and shone brightly. “Twilight?” Applejack tried to grab her attention. “What’re ya--?” Just then everything froze in place and things went into reverse, as if time was going backwards, and the castle pieces were linked back together; it all stopped once Envious and Joyful were separated a good distance. Twilight almost hit the floor, but Applejack caught her in time.
“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in excitement as she jumped up and down excited. “Let’s do that again!”
“Are you okay, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked her concerned; she almost fainted before them all, but she lucky enough to recover in time.
“Yes, I’m fine, Aj.” Twilight assured her as she stood up straight. She looked around to see that everything was back to the way it was. Joyful and Envious also noticed this, and they were confused.
“What manner is this?” Envious growled irritated over his confusion. The Mane Six ran over to Joyful and all gathered around him and faced Envious; each certain about this endeavor was close to a close.
“We’re here to fight with you, Your Highness!” Twilight assured their friend, but then she was surprised to hear Envious laughing at them.
“You fools!” Envious snarled as he used his Dark Magic to repel them into the wall.
“Girls!” Joyful exclaimed in shock as they groaned and grunted in pain against the wall they were pinned into. “Thou won’t get away with this Envious!” Joyful growled as he used his Superior Speed to tackle Envious through the wall to the outside, and they fought in close combat again; allowing Helpful’s friends to fall onto the floor and cough for air. Twilight stood up and saw the fighting ensuing outside. “Oh-no. Not again.” Twilight remarked a little unhappy, but before she could reach for the magic egg, Envious pushed Joyful back.
“Enough of these games!” Envious growled and fire began to form around them both in rings and they circled and revolved around slowly, but obviously gaining speed.
“Thou think that rings of fire will be enough to slow me to a crawl?” Joyful uses his Telekinesis and he used the wind to blew the fire away. “Not good enough!” But then the rings came back and they bound around him; making it impossible for him to react back in time.
“I believe they’re much faster than you think, Prince.” Envious assured him darkly as he slowly floated up to him with his wing outstretched to slit his throat. “You never could be able to think straight anyway, you were always so wounded up in fun, and I believe that’s your downfall.” Just as the Dark Entity’s wing touched Joyful’s chin, his black-tipped wings shone a bright orange and the Prince broke free of his blazing bonds; grabbing Envious and drop-kicking him into the castle; making another large hole in its side beside the first one. Joyful then flew back inside and froze time right before Envious was able to slash his head off again. They couldn’t see how exactly he was doing it, but the Mane Six watched in amazement as Envious tried his best to slash into Joyful, but the Prince of Harmony kept reappearing behind him each second it seemed that he had him. “Whoa.” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in astonishment.
“You can say that again.” Applejack replied still watching the battle.
“Whoa.” Twilight then shook her head to get rid of the distraction. If this was going to be their only chance to have the advantage, than now was it.
“C’mon, girls!” Twilight grabbed her friends’ attention. “We need to find a favoring position now!”
“Of course!” Rarity agreed as they all followed Twilight to a balcony on the floor above Envious and Joyful. They could see plainly now that Joyful had Envious backed up to a balcony; disappearing and slashing at him toward the edge off it.
“Here’s a good place.” The purple Unicorn gave everypony their Element and they all walked to their positions. “Concentrate on your Elements; let them flow to Helpful.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” Fluttershy asked Twilight concerned if they’ll hurt Joyful instead.
“It has to work! If we don’t do this now, then we’ll never get to save Equestria.” Fluttershy then nodded in agreement understanding what Twilight meant. They each stood by one another and concentrated their power onto Joyful. The Elements crackled with intense energy and they all enveloped the six in a bright light. Envious noticed this and reacted quickly. “No!” Envious shouted as he tried to fly up to stop them, but Joyful quickly grabbed him and threw the Dark Entity back onto the balcony; almost making him break through and fall off.
“Thou will sit there and pay for you crimes against Father!” Joyful shouted angrily, and then he flew up a feet and waited for the energy to be shot into him for the final blow. Once it did, Envious coughed and twisted in pain.
“No! No! You will not gain control again!” Envious shouted, but then he looked up to Joyful. “Do it, Brother.” Merciful’s voice came out instead of Envious’, and Joyful nodded in agreement as the colorful energy enveloped him and powered his abilities twice as much as he had before, and he shot out a beam of white light into Envious as Twilight opened her white eyes. Envious screamed and exclaimed in pain as the light shot through him and bits of his armor came off. “Noooooo!” He screamed in agony, and then the light enveloped all of the world; healing the wounded from Envious’ plague, repairing towns from the onslaught, turning Envious’ Minions back to the ponies they were before, and restoring the castle back to its former glory in Canterlot. Celestia, Fancypants, Luna, AC Turnip Top, and Big Macintosh all watched with Ponyville as the light changed into a golden ray that eventually let off beautiful sparkles that fell around them. “It’s a miracle, Sister!” Luna joyfully announced excited as they ponies all rejoiced and marveled the falling sparkles. “Envious is defeated and the world is saved, at long last!”
“Indeed, Sister” Celestia noticed Derpy Hooves opening her mouth for a sparkle to fall in and closed it, but she quickly realized that something beautiful doesn’t necessarily mean that it tastes good. She spat it out and rubbed the taste off her tongue as much as possible; making Celestia giggle. “Peace has finally come…” She then realized that since Prince Joyful returned and defeated Envious, she and Luna both had to resign from their Leadership. She sat onto the ground a bit dumbstruck by this thought, and everypony else noticed.
“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?” AC asked her concerned, but his only answer was silence.
“Is there something wrong, Sister?” Luna asked her as well, and the elder Princess sighed.
“Prince Joyful has returned, Sister, and we must give the throne to him, for it was what Father would’ve wanted.” Celestia explained finally.
“Wait a minute.” Fancypants spook up after the crowd gasped surprised. “You mean that you’re no longer leading us?”
“It is what must be done, general.” Luna answered sadly. “We must give him the crown.”
“If that is to be done, but, if you could forgive me for asking, why?” Fancypants wanted to know as much as the others did. Celestia looked toward her castle then to her subjects. It was close time for her reign to be over for a better future for her people, and she walked toward the castle, not answering Fancypants’ question. “Oh, dear.” Fancypants cleared his throat concerned for what was to happen.
“There are some things better left unanswered, Fancy.” Luna told the stallion as she followed Celestia to the castle and they flew off; leaving Fancypants and the others behind.
“What do you think of this, Flight Lock?” Fancypants asked his friend curious, but AC answered instead.
“The beginning of a new journey.” Turnip Top answered, not taking his eyes off the princesses as they flew off.
“Eeyep.” Big Macintosh agreed with his good friend.
Inside Canterlot Castle, Joyful shrank down to his original form and the armor he wore fell off onto the ground; clicking and clanging as his friends came down to meet him. Fluttershy was the first to reach him with tear-filled eyes and she hugged him tightly as the others followed. “Helpful!” Fluttershy shouted with tears of joy. “I thought you wouldn’t be able to survive this!”
“Fluttershy!” Helpful chuckled at his beloved. “I’m Prince Joyful. I can survive anything!”
“I’m just so…so…” She bursts into tears again as she hugged him even tighter. The others watched with glad smiles that this was all indeed very much over. Polaris floated inside to meet them as well. “The crisis is over, and the Prophecy has been fulfilled,” The Star rejoiced delighted as much as they were, “And now His Great Highness will rule over the land as it was intended to be!” Everypony exchanged looks of confusion at first, but then they all realized what he meant. Helpful the Selfless was Prince Joyful and he had to rule the land as should, but how would this all effect Equestria around them? “Do I have to?” Helpful asked him curious, but then another voice entered the room.
“I’m afraid you must, Brother.” Celestia replied as the other ponies noticed her presence with Luna’s.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed in joy, but then she noticed that she did not seem very happy. “Is there something wrong?” Celestia did not answer, but only look down and sigh sadly. Luna patted her sister in sympathy.
“Twilight we must give up our leadership over Equestria.” Luna explained reluctantly as her elder sister lightly cried, knowing that all she has ever done will no longer happen again.
“But…” Helpful tried to protest, but Polaris stared at him reasonably. “Isn’t there another way?”
“Magi’s Prophecy cannot be twisted by anypony, but himself.” Polaris explained calmly. “It is as it should be and we will follow the Prophecy.” He turned his gaze to Celestia and Luna. “When will the Crowning of Prince Joyful begin?” But then a portal opened and Magi of the Seventh Chain stepped out along with Snowy, Sunny, and Spike.
“Hold on now.” Magi protested as he closed the portal. “Truth be told, when I saw the Prophecy before I explained it, I saw Prince Joyful defeat Envious, but I didn’t see him crowned as ruler here. That’s where I couldn’t finish, and I couldn’t leave Raziel wondering if Joyful would be ruler, or not, so I lied about the crowning part.”
“Woo!” Sunny exclaimed in surprise. “Even as an Immortal Sorcerer, he still has problems with guilt.”
“Sunny!” Helpful and his friends all laughed. Spike ran over to Twilight and hugged her tight.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Twilight.” Spike told her delighted. “I worried if you were gonna be okay.”
“Well, now there’s no need to worry.” Twilight assured him kindly as the other dragons walked over to their friends.
“You mean to say that Prince Joyful was never meant to be crowned?” Celestia asked Magi curious.
“The Star Symbols’ power and standards are higher than any of ours, You Majesty.” Magi explained carefully. “It was not my fault that they would not tell me everything that happened. Even Polaris; Librarian of Prophecies, doesn’t know.” Every pony turned their attention to Polaris; who nodded in agreement.
“But—wait—I thought you are a star.” Twilight protested a bit skeptic.
“It is true that I am, but the Symbols never explain to me everything.” Polaris explained carefully. “They just give me the Prophecies and tell me to keep it.”
“Say, who are these Star Symbols anyhow?” Applejack asked curious.
“Star Symbols are the Guardians of our world, Applejack.” Magi explained to them carefully. “Even though I may tell the Prophecies doesn’t mean I create them. They send heroes to us in the most unpredictable of places, and often times these heroes are unlikely to be chosen for such responsibilities to save everything in the world, but back then, we respected their authority over us and what they gave was nothing to be laughed at. They had a secret hidden inside; a center. Prince Joyful was one of those unlikely heroes back then.” Magi continued to explain. “He was one of the most playful princes I knew and he never went to any classes; mostly because, he thought they were boring and a waste of his time and life. Of course, at the time, everypony thought that Merciful was to be crowned the new ruler. Until, the Star Symbols showed us the sign we were waiting for a long time. Joyful was to be the next ruler, but then the unexpected happened as Envious tried to take over.”
“The Unexpected happened?” Twilight repeated confused. “But I thought you said they could predict anything.”
“They could, but they didn’t tell us this for a reason.” Magi explained. “The time when Joyful lost his horn, I tried to fix it back on, but it couldn’t be restored. His horn held immense powers beyond imagination, but it might have still been more powerful than the power I have now.”
“Interesting, but what does Joyful’s horn have to do with this?” Twilight inquired to know.
“Well, as Envious took over the castle, I took Joyful’s horn and broke it into pieces and I used the most powerful forms of Magic I knew at the time, and I formed the perfect masterpiece: The Elements of Harmony. Your ancestors and I defeated Envious after that.” Magi explained carefully. “That is why he holds them all inside him. He is the Elements, and he is you. You were all brought to him because you are all meant to be together.”
“That makes sense.” Applejack replied thinking about what he meant so far.
“But the question still stands.” Luna grabbed their attention. “Will you be the new Prince of Equestria, Helpful?” Helpful stood there for a moment and thought about everything that happened so far as he looked at his friends. He remembered all the laughs they had, all the hard work they’ve been through, all the team effort they’ve shared, all the memories they’ve had together, all the hard times they’ve pulled through, and all the love they’ve shared amongst themselves. How could he leave his greatest treasure in the entire world, in all his life? Helpful could never abandon his friends for anything. “No.” Helpful answered; making every pony gasp surprised. “Besides,” Helpful turned gaze to Fluttershy, “These are my friends, and I’ll never ever leave them for all the spoils of the world, or even a single chance to start over in life. I love them all, and I love you, Fluttershy.” The Shy Mare couldn’t take Helpful talking so much that she immediately kissed him in the mouth right after he finished, and they held it for quite the moment. It was passionate, loving, and above all their first. Once it broke, they could both swear to be hearing the wedding bells bonging and fireworks exploding in the sky as they both stared into each other’s eyes deeply and sweetly. “Woo!” Sunny broke the silence excitedly. “Fluttershy, you just kissed yourself one Prince Charming! Ha, ha!” Every pony applauded and exclaimed shouts of delightfulness. Helpful and Fluttershy exchanged looks of embarrassment, but decided to left the moment be theirs as they continued to applaud. Then Applejack noticed something limp out of the balcony into the throne room. She looked over to it and found that it was Prince Merciful! He somehow survived the blast and he now has full control over his body, but he was hurt badly as he hit the floor hard. “Merciful!” Applejack exclaimed in shock as she ran over to him concerned. The others soon followed her, and Helpful lifted Merciful off the floor and his wings shone a bright pink as he stood his elder brother up.
“Are you alright, Brother?” Helpful asked him concerned. Merciful then pulled off his helmet with ease, revealing his face to everypony. His white eye had been the same ever since, but his hair had oddly grow a little too long as it hit the floor below. “Oh, sorry.” Merciful apologized humbly. “Three thousand years and you don’t have any control over your body; your hair tends to grow too long, especially if it’s just made out of darkness.” Applejack didn’t say anything; she only hugged Merciful tightly and warmly.
“I missed you.” Applejack told the Dark Blue Alicorn, confusing her friends a bit. “I thought you were hurt badly, and that I would never see you again, but…”
“I’m here now.” Merciful assured her with a grand smile that made her cry on his shoulder. Everypony allowed them to have a moment in privacy, but then a light shone on Helpful’s flank and everypony gasped in amazement.
“Helpful, your Cutie Mark!” Fluttershy gasped as it appeared before them. It was a shield the had the shape like Shining Armor’s, but it had a different design, such as a yellow cross with a circular center.
“My Cutie Mark!” Helpful exclaimed in joy; hugging his flank. “My Cutie Mark! It’s here! It’s here! I finally have my Cutie Mark, and I remember everything now! I am to be protector of others, even when I’m not trying!” Helpful finally noticed that everypony was staring at him oddly, but then they all laughed with Helpful as they continued to the inside.
The trumpets sound from the Royal Guard, returned from their tortures of being Minions of the dreaded Envious, whose name was long forgotten, they were sounding the time of the Awards Ceremony in Canterlot Castle. Everypony far and wide came to this momentous occasion. In fact, one hundred fifty--two stallions were awarded by Celestia for their bravery and sacrifice to the crown, including Fancypants, Flight Lock, AC Turnip Top, and Big Macintosh, who were all awarded the Medal of High Honor. Merciful having his hair cut and having himself cleaned up for this occasion, stood by Celestia’s right side as Luna stood on her left, and Celestia held up ten Medals of Equestria; given to only the completely loyal, self-sacrificing, and bravest of all of Equestria. “Hel—.” Merciful cleared his throat to correct his younger sister. “I mean, Prince Joyful, Twilight Sparkle, Sunny, Spike, Snowy, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.” Celestia begun gladly. “It is with great honor and delight that I give each of you a Medal of Equestria.” She gave each of them a Medal embedded with a brightly colored diamond. Under it had the design of Equestria’s flag with the sun and moon. “And from now on you are to be respected and well-remembered of you self-sacrifice to save this world and us.” Later, the Awards Ceremony progressed to the feast and every pony ate a lot of food, including Merciful, who hasn’t ate in three thousand years and only being a figment of his sanity. He scarfed down all the food before Applejack could start. “Geeze, Merciful.” Applejack remarked a little surprised on how he ate so fast. “Since when was the last you ate?” Merciful burped loudly and excused himself.
“Three thousand years ago.” Merciful laughed at the joke of it all. Jacko Lantern and Soarin’ sat with their friends and they explaining what they could remember so far from being Minions and all.
“I say, that’s quite the startling story, boys.” Fancypants remarked surprised.
“Yeah, and it was just terrible.” Soarin’ explain to him. “Strange that I can’t remember everything though.”
“Yeah, me too.” Jacko agreed as he rubbed his head. Twilight, her parents, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence were all having a conversation with Magi and it was going awfully swell, and as for the others they conversed with themselves, but Helpful noticed that Fluttershy had been missing from the room, and looked around to find her at the balcony broken and she was only looking up to the moon. He walks over to her slowly and sits next to her. “The celebration’s inside. Why aren’t you with us?” Helpful asked her curious, but she only sighed sadly.
“What do you think will happen next?” Fluttershy asked him still staring at the moon.
“I don’t know, Fluttershy.” The Tan Pegasus answered her, “But don’t you think that it’s not the time to be thinking about yet?”
“Well…” Fluttershy thought aloud. “You’re right. I should be inside with the others.” She turned around and kissed Helpful’s cheek. “I’ll see you inside.” She continued past him to the celebration, but Helpful did not follow, he instead stared the moon with a cold glare.
“Beautiful as you are, you hold more secrets than Magi does.” Helpful breathed silently, but then he trotted back into the party with his friends.