//------------------------------//
// Part 7: 5 Friends and a Funeral 
// Story: MLP: Equestria 
// by Draconis187 
//------------------------------//

MLP: Equestria
Part 7: 5 Friends and a Funeral
Author: Draconis187

That train ride back to Ponyville was the longest one I've had to endure. Manehattan was freed, the changelings’ queen captured, but Discord escaped. The cost for our small victory? Of the 800 ponies and 350 griffons that went in, only 398 ponies and 238 griffons came out, and that was including the wounded. Discord fled to parts unknown, we lost Twilight and almost lost a lot more. Celestia was gravelly injured and Luna was also hurt.

I’ll admit I got some scars as well but nothing beyond minor, that was not the worst battle I've faced but it ranked pretty high up in the top five in terms of the effect it had on everypony. Once we got back to the train station in Ponyville, the whole town had turned up to celebrate our victory since all of us didn’t die. Funny, I doubt any of us other than the griffons felt like heroes. The griffons came out, beaks held high, marching in sync with each other to the roars and whistles of the crowd. Even their wounded carried themselves with pride. When we came out our heads were hung low, we were devastated both physically and emotionally. Nightmare wouldn’t smile; Pinkie’s mane and tail fell flat; Dash was dragging her wings on the floor; Fluttershy hadn’t stopped crying since we left Manehattan.

The ponies cheered until they saw our faces. Red Heart, some other nurses and griffon medics were bringing out our dead and those too wounded to walk. The crowd gasped at some of the wounded’s condition, and some parts of the crowd fainted upon seeing the dead. The mayor of Manehattan came forward thanking us for saving the city. I turned to him with a very cold expression.

“What good is saving a city that was empty in the first place?! Now it’s filled with nothing but the dead!” I snapped. He was very taken back. “I gather then you do not want that statue we were going to erect for you?” He said, still trying to keep a smile on his face.

“If you want to build a statue, build it for those who gave their lives, they are the real heroes.” I retorted. Nightmare and I kept walking towards Twilight’s library to break the news to Spike.

When we got in Spike was asleep in his bed upstairs. I walked up to wake him up. I nudged him with my nose, he brushed me away. “Just 5 more minutes Twilight.” He said sleepily, without looking to see who it was.

I nudged him again and this time he opened his eyes. He looked surprised to see me. He rubbed his eyes and got up out of bed. “Why’d you wake me up? I was having a great dream. Let me guess: Twilight wants me to reorganise her library again?” he said with a frown. Spike you are in for the worst day of your young life.

As we walked down the steps, we saw that Luna and Celestia were standing with Nightmare. Celestia’s arrival made sense since Twilight was her personal student. Luna was once Nightmare and Twilight was one of her first friends since coming back from banishment. Spike looked around, trying to see where Twilight had gone. He stopped when I put my hoof on his shoulder, he looked up.

“Spike there is… something we need to tell you. It’s, it’s about Twilight.” I said. Spike’s eyes were wide open, he was looking at our scars and marks. “She, she… she’s gone Spike.”

“Where did she go? When is she coming back?” Asked Spike, clearly not understanding what I was saying. Celestia walked forward and put her hoof on Spike’s shoulder and shook her head. “She’s not coming back?” His eyes started to well up with tears. He grabbed Celestia’s leg, holding on for dear life.

“No! She has got to come back, she always does!” Spike shouted, tears running down his face. “HOW?!WHY?!”

“She over-exerted herself beyond the point her body could handle. It gave up on her after using the Elements to try and defeat Discord. They did not work, so Discord is still free and this…” Pulling out the box we put the broken tiara in. “Is what’s left of the Element of Magic.” Said Celestia.

Spike grabbed the box from Celestia and looked into it. He was still crying, and there was nothing any of us could say to help him feel better. He lost his first friend, the one who raised him since he was an egg. His whole world had shattered and he was left with the pieces, it was up to him to pick them up or leave them.

The rest of the Mane Five had separated: Pinkie went back to her family’s rock farm; Dash was in her home, she wouldn’t leave; Fluttershy locked herself in her cottage, still crying; Rarity was so depressed she lost her love for fashion and Applejack stopped working, she spent the day in an empty field, slowly digging a hole with her hoof.

The news spread all over Equestria, but it was a two sided blade: Chrysalis was defeated but Twilight Sparkle had died in the process. The Crystal Empire came to offer their condolences, including her brother and sister in law; a travelling magician named Trixie came to offer her sympathy; everypony Twilight helped in her quest to understand the magic of friendship, had come. There were thousands of ponies, from all walks of life.

The funeral we planned for her was to last three days. The first day we would hold a remembrance service, showing everything Twilight had done in her life. The second day those closest to her would give a speech of their experiences with her and she was to be committed to the ground on the third day.

Walking around Ponyville had become sad, nopony smiled anymore. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had given up trying to find their Marks. The library was closed, and ponies were laying flowers at the base of the tree. Spike had not come out since we told him the news. The three day ceremony was starting in four days, enough time for everypony to get organised.

When Nightmare and I got back to our castle, our staff were pleased to see us both still alive. I faintly smiled back while Nightmare just nodded, seeing something was amiss, they made a large feast for us and the Star Guard. We ate but we didn’t speak much, other than me asking how Lyra was doing. Lyra was sleeping in her room, and her condition was improving. At least we weren’t going to lose another pony to this damned war.

After we all finished, the guards and staff went to bed. I teleported myself to the highest tower. This tower was an open roof observatory, with a telescope, star charts, everything you would need to track and see the stars. Twilight gave them to me when the castle was finally finished. I looked out into the darkening horizon, wondering why a world so filled with love can be filled with just as much hate? My sadness was turning to rage, Discord WILL pay for what he had put us through, Chrysalis as well.

We placed Chrysalis – who was still trapped in the mirror – in a dungeon, deep beneath the castle. I met Nightmare on my way down there. She could see I wanted answers, she probably did as well. The mirror was sealed in a clear case that only Nightmare, Luna, Celestia or myself could open. Chrysalis was smiling at us, how I wanted to smash that smile off her.

“My, my, I see someone is a bit angry. I can gather why. Twilight, without her the Elements are useless aren't they? Once I am free agi-” I was NOT in the mood.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!” I shouted, Nightmare looked at me and Chrysalis was a bit stunned. She started to smile again. “Now, tell us where Discord has gone.” She began laughing at us. She chose the wrong time to push my buttons.

“My dear, Discord will be wherever he can cause the most mischief of course. Where exactly that is, I can not say since I am not in the best position to find out.” Chrysalis said. Even when trapped in a mirror she still thinks she holds all the cards? Time to end this.

I took the mirror out of the case and teleported all of us outside. We were standing in the middle of the training area. I placed the mirror down in the centre of the ground, I spoke to Chrysalis again. “You sure you do not know where he is?” She shook her head with a smile and laughed. “Fine. No info, no reason to keep you around.”

“You can't destroy this mirror, you said so yourself, remember?” She laughed. I smiled back at her. “Why are you smiling?” She asked, I could hear she was a little off-kilter.

“Simple, the mirror may be indestructible but… the spirit that resides within can easily be released into the Void. I put you in that mirror and I can take you out. Enjoy oblivion.” I said. This was true: the one who put a spirit in the mirror can release it back into the world. Sadly for the spirit, it goes straight to the afterlife, Void, whatever one’s interpretation is of the place you go when you die. Chrysalis looked very nervous.

“You wouldn’t dare. It’s not in your nature to be so ruthless.” She said, still standing her ground. I still smiled.

“Then you don’t know a thing about me!" I retorted. I concentrated on the mirror, it was glowing the same pale blue as my mane, the color my horn usually glows when performing magic. Chrysalis was looking around, scared and begging for me to stop, I didn’t. I continued until we saw her come out of the mirror, she was translucent but there. She looked around, frightened. As she was about to say something she started to dissipate, as if she was dirt being blown away by a giant fan. Nightmare and I looked at each other for a second and laughed.

Funeral Day One:

The remembrance ceremony was being set up by Luna and Twilight’s parents. We used a large open field for everypony to sit. Luna was going to project images through a series of crystals that Cadance and Shining Armor brought with them from the Crystal Empire. The Cakes and the Apple Family baked a lot of food for everyone to eat during the intermission and the ceremony itself.

I was in my human form, sitting next to Nightmare. Sitting next to us was: Celestia (the doctor said she should put her hooves up and rest as much as possible); Pinkie (her mane was still flat and her coat had dulled in colour); Rarity (her mane and tail were matted and tangled); Fluttershy (she stopped crying but hung her head low, she had not spoken to anyone since she got out of her cottage); Spike (he was holding on to the box with the Element’s remains in); Applejack (she was very thin, as if she was barely eating anymore); Dash (her coat was dirty and she smelt like she had not bathed in days); Shining Armor; Cadance. That made up the front row.

A remembrance works by using crystals to project the memories of the deceased. This is done by a unicorn (or Alicorn in this case) and the memories are projected from a series of other crystals to project a 3-D image of the memory. Those close to the deceased can also have their memories projected in tandem with the deceased which creates an external view of the memory (like watching a TV show). 

We all had our memories of Twilight put into crystals. This was the biggest remembrance in Equestria’s history. There were fourteen crystals in total. Each one was the same colour as our coats with a faint glow that matched our manes. There were 8 larger, clear crystals that were to act as the projection crystals. Luna and Twilight’s parents stood on a raised, marble platform. Luna’s horn glowed and the all the smaller crystals rose into the air. There was a crystal that stood as tall as an Earth Pony and was an opaque turquoise colour.

The smaller crystals fused themselves onto the main one and then Luna fired off a beam at the multi-coloured crystal. The beam then bounced off it, splitting into 8 multi-coloured beams. The beams then hit the projection crystals and then the remembrance got started.

I saw an instance of Twilight playing in the park when she was still a filly. She was playing with Cadance, innocent and happy. There was another showed Twilight arguing with Shining Armor, he was going to the Royal Guard Boot Camp and would not be back for a few weeks. Twilight was sad, tears falling from her eyes while Shining was calmly trying to explain to her. There was another where she tried to turn the page of a book with her magic, which she eventually succeeded. There were many other memories, both happy and sad.

We soon got to when Twilight met Celestia, when she got enrolled into the Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Celestia saw Spike’s head poking out of the roof of one of the towers and went to investigate. Turned out it was due to a little filly, who had also turned her parents into plants. Celestia calmed Twilight down and took her as her protégé. Twilight’s parents said it was one of the happiest moments in her life.

The next part that was shown was Twilight coming to Ponyville for the first time to stop Nightmare. We saw how she met the rest of the Mane Six. Then came the part where Nightmare had imprisoned Celestia, which set Twilight on her journey to Nightmare Castle. The rest of the Six went with her and together they found it. Nightmare had hidden herself behind her wings when we saw the various traps and obstacles she put in their way.

Then we sped it up to where Twilight discovered that – despite the Elements being destroyed thanks to Nightmare – the spirits of the Elements lived within them. Then Twilight and the Mane Six used the Elements on Nightmare and freed Luna. We stopped after that for a brief intermission, so we could grab some food and drink. I got Nightmare and myself some muffins and milkshakes from the stand that the Cakes put up. Mrs. Cake took me to one side and gave me a cake to give to Pinkie Pie.

The cake was a double-layer strawberry sponge cake with hot sauce instead of jam in the middle. There were the words: ‘Pinkamena Diane Pie’, I gathered that was her full name. Pinkie was still sat in the front row of the remembrance, her head was hung low. I put the cake down next to her with a smile, only for her to push it away.

“Pinkie, you have to eat something.” I said. “Eating cake is almost a hobby for you.” She looked at me with a huge frown, tears welling up in her eyes. She instantly grabbed me, crying and holding me so tightly I thought I was about to pass out.

"I MISS HER SO MUCH!!” She shouted between her sobs. “It’s just not fair!” I managed to get out of her hold and raised her head so she could see into my eyes.

“Pinkie, we all knew that many of us might not make it back. In truth I thought I was going to die in Manehattan a few times. Twilight fought for her friends, for her friendship with all of us. Do you think she would be happy to see you like this? Would she smile and say: ‘that’s Pinkie Pie, my friend and the most cheerful pony you will ever meet?” She shook her head. “If you won't smile for yourself, do it for Twilight. Honour her by smiling again, we will get Discord.”

She smiled meekly at me. “That’s better, not quite a Pinkie smile but it’s a start. Have some cake, the Cakes made it with hot sauce in the middle instead of jam.” As I turned to leave, I heard Pinkie say softly: “Thanks.”

I needed to get the rest of the gang to get their heads back into the game. When folks have lost hope in something, they must find a new reason to hope again otherwise all is lost.

The intermission ended as I sat down next to Nightmare again. I saw Pinkie’s coat was a bit brighter when I looked towards her again. She saw me and gave me another meek smile as she took a bite out of the cake. Baby steps Pinkie, baby steps.

Luna started the ceremony again, picking up after Nightmare was defeated. We saw how Twilight eventually gave up trying to explain Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense. The incident with the parasprites; Nightmare Night where Luna got help from Twilight and her friends and felt loved for the first time in 1000 years; how her friends ‘ruined’ the Grand Galloping Gala; the fight against Discord where he got the Mane Six to turn on each other, but he was beaten by Twilight who found a reason to fight after she had lost hope. There were many other memories, but the one with Discord interested me a little. I shook my head and had another muffin, Luna eventually got to when I arrived in Ponyville. Twilight was the first pony I met here in Equestria. The projections showed me getting ‘exiled’; my appearance as Nightmare Moon at the wedding; me scaring her by jumping off Sugarcube Corner’s roof; my secret magic lessons with her and Rarity. We got up to the day of the battle but it stopped there since it was too painful to continue.

The sun had almost set once the remembrance finished, Nightmare pulled me to the side, looking a little worried. “Michael, I’ve looked at the rest of Twilight’s friends. They all seem to be very depressed. I feel we need to help them somehow.” I nodded.

“I know what you mean. I've spoken to Pinkie during the intermission. We need to talk to the others, they can not go on like this. They have lost all hope, Twilight kept them together and now she’s gone. They need another pony like her to remind them that losing one friend is not the end of the world.” I said.

“How about you? You're strong, caring and you know them well enough don’t you?” She said.  I shook my head. “Sorry Nightmare, I'm no Twilight. My friendship with them isn't quite the same. I do have another play I can make though. One that may get them to stay together long enough so we can beat Discord. I will need you to talk to them as well. We only have two more days after this, the clock is ticking.”

Nightmare nodded and we parted ways. I was going to talk to Dash, Rarity and Pinkie (again) while Nightmare was going to talk to Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike. We had until the end of the remembrance since they were all planning to leave Ponyville afterwards. Dash was applying for a transfer to Fillydelphia; Fluttershy was going to Trottingham to apply for a position as caretaker at one of their zoos; Applejack was going to Dodge Junction to work on the Cherry farm; Pinkie was going to go back to her family’s rock farm but hopefully my talk helped her reconsider a bit but I had to be sure; Rarity was going to go to the Crystal Empire and start a boutique there; Spike was going to go join up with some dragons that migrated to the north about a month back. We had to deep-six their plans. It’s what Twilight would want.

Everypony was dispersing, we told Lyra and the guards our plans, and so they headed home without us. Nightmare was going to Fluttershy’s cottage first while I saw Pinkie was still here, slowly eating her cake. I saw that Surprise was there as well, her mane was flat as well but she was trying to cheer Pinkie up by the looks of it. Once she saw me, she flew off so we could talk alone.

“Pinkie, we need to talk.” I said as I walked up to the former party pony. “Do you still want to leave Ponyville?” she nodded her head slowly but then she shook it. “Not sure? Listen: leaving fixes nothing, your problems will just follow you and get worse the longer you run from them. We still need you Pinkie, we still need our friend.”

Pinkie looked at me and smiled more brightly than the first time. “Pinkamena. I'm going by my proper name again. You’re right though. All I'm doing is running away from my problems, but it won't make them go away.” She looked determined. “We will get Discord for this, for Twilight.”

“Pinkie, the best way to honour the dead is never revenge but to live on.” Pinkie looked at me, unsure of what to say. ”Pinkie, pl-“ she cut me off.

“Pinkamena, I don’t want use ‘Pinkie’ anymore. I’ll reconsider going back home. Just until we beat Discord, I’ll see after that if I’ll stay in Ponyville or not.” She said. I was a little rattled by the fact she didn’t want to be called Pinkie anymore. She seems to have fallen – emotionally and psychologically – further than I had thought. If the most cheerful pony I've ever met got this depressed, what about the others? Will Nightmare be able to convince them?

I called it a day and went back to Nightmare Castle for dinner and bed. The guards and I sat inside the Banquet Hall as we usually did. Lyra was eating with us, thankfully recovering from her injuries, thanks to Bon Bon’s care. I think her special talent should have been medicine like Nurse Red Heart. We had only been eating for 5 minutes when we saw Nightmare return, looking somewhat cheerful. Then again, under these circumstances you’d be forgiven if you weren’t bouncing off the walls with glee. She sat down next to me, levitated some food onto a plate and we talked about how everything went with Applejack.

(Nightmare’s POV)

After Michael and I split up after the end of the remembrance, I decided to speak with Applejack first. Fluttershy had locked herself back in her cottage so I was not going to be able to speak to her, unless I break down her door and since this WAS Fluttershy we’re talking about, I knew that tactic would make the situation worse. Applejack on the other hoof did not, but she would just lie around, which was unlike her since she was the hardest working pony you could ever meet.

I flew over to Sweet Apple Acres and found her brother: Big Macintosh. He wasn’t much of a talker but he did point me in the direction of the spot Applejack spent her days. Again I flew over to my new destination, and saw her laid on her back, looking up at the stars.

“Twilight, why’d ya have to go and do summin so stupid? I dunno what to do. Even heading ta Dodge seems mighty cowardly of me.” She spoke, having not noticed my presence behind her.

“Applejack, there is a matter I wish to speak to you about.” I said as I walked up to her. She got a little startled, but she relaxed when she realised it was me. “I have come to ask you to reconsider your plans to leave Ponyville.”

“Sorry, but ma mind is made up. I'm goin’.” She said adamantly. Celestia, give me strength… Applejack got up and proceeded to walk back home. I ran and cut her off, a little annoyed with her attitude.

“Now listen here! Everypony knows you will never let your friends down if you could help it! If you go to Dodge, you will be letting your other friends - who are still alive and well by the way - down! And most importantly: you will be letting yourself down! I doubt your family will be able to cope with you leaving as well!” I said, almost shouting. I have no clue as to how I'm going to cope trying to convince Fluttershy since she had become a recluse. AJ looked at me for a second and sighed.

“Fine, I’ll reconsider fer now. Happy?” I nodded. “Applejack, I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for you and the others. The worst thing to do now is lose hope.” She looked at me, giving me that look you see when someone is thinking. I teleported to Nightmare Castle and found Michael was busy eating in the Banquet Hall with the guards. I sat down next to him and got myself some food. We spent the rest of the evening talking about the results of our conversations. At least we had two out of the five Bearers of the Elements staying, even if it was temporary.

After we finished I asked Michael to meet me in my room. He nodded and said he would be there shortly. The guards went off to bed as well, some were still on duty, protecting the castle despite they would rather be in bed as well. As I stood in my room, I looked out of my window which overlooked a decent part of Equestria. You only saw empty fields and parts of Everfree but it was a tranquil sight regardless. I started to look about my room I had decorated a while ago, there were two tapestries hanging on the walls: one Bon Bon had requested and one Michael had done. The one Bon Bon had done was of me in my ceremonial armour, standing on a hill in the night with the moon hovering above my head. The other was Michael as Starlancer, Lyra, Bon Bon and myself standing together on the steps in the main hall. We were all smiling with our heads facing the viewer, most ponies said it made them nervous because of the shape our eyes.

I continued to look about my room, contemplating over the fact that I would never have thought that I would live in the castle I was defeated in. The statue of myself was moved into the main hall since I didn’t want ponies coming into my room to view it. I had a large, navy blue four poster bed up against the wall. The drapes were completely black with silver edges while duvet’s design had my Cutie Mark covering most of it; the rest of it was black. I had one of Rarity’s mannequins wearing the dress she made for me some time ago by the cupboard I keep both my ceremonial armour and my battle armour. The swords that were made for me were hanging on a plaque, on the wall between the tapestries. I returned my gaze outside, wondering how long Discord planned to wait before making his play.

I heard the door creak open. Thinking it was Michael, I called out without looking to see who it was. I heard the sound of laughter but it wasn’t Michael’s laugh, it was Discord’s! I turned around and tried to get my blades but they were missing! The laughter continued until the god of Chaos and Disharmony revealed himself. He stood by the tapestries, looking at me with a sly grin and holding my blades in his claws.

“Hello my little pony, how are you?” he said with a small snicker. “Looking for these?” he asked as he waved the blades about.

He placed them on top of each other and… squashed them? It was as if he was playing with putty instead of one of the toughest metals in Equestria. He stopped and showed me his handiwork: he turned them into a single, red apple. He chuckled as he took a bite out of it.

“Why the long face? They were just hanging there and I was hungry. N-” he started to say but we were interrupted by Michael who had just walked in. “Can't we ever have a decent conversation without you interrupting every time?” he said, throwing his arms up dramatically.

Michael ran up to me and turned to Discord. “What is it you want now Discord?”

“Oh, not much other than the usual: spreading chaos wherever I go and having a good time in the process. But I am here on a social visit. We are going to play one last game. It is very simple: I give you a riddle and you must solve it before the deadline. The deadline will be three days from now, so you should have plenty of time to solve it. Your prize should you win is my unconditional surrender. Should you fail, a large part of Equestria will vanish off the face of the planet. I have only one rule: only you two may know what the riddle is, nopony else otherwise you forfeit and I win. So willing to play?” he said with a smile.

I turned to Michael who was thinking hard. This could be our only chance to stop him permanently. After a minute Michael spoke, “Do we have your word you will surrender without a fight? Even if we were to turn you back to stone?”

Discord glared at him, “As much as the thought of spending another millennia as a lawn ornament isn't on my list of fun things to do to pass the time, I’ll honour my word. You can ask Celestia if you want and she’ll tell you the same thing. So, do we have a deal?” He extended his lion claw towards Michael who shook it vigorously. Discord rubbed his claw, evidently sore. “Right, here is your riddle: This place is cold and desolate, but by its citizens it is protected, its heart you must seek, and you will find me at the peak. Got it? Now if you’ll excuse me, I'm off to cause some chaos in Saddle Arabia. They're a laugh riot!” 

He vanished, his laughter echoeing through the room. Which left Michael and myself to think about his riddle. He turned to me and asked, “So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

I shook my head, “It isn't as important as this. Any ideas about his riddle?”

He looked at me with concern. “Not sure really. I’ll head off to the Library tomorrow. There may be something there that can shed some light on this. You head for the funeral and talk to the others. Tell them only what they need to know about this meeting.”

I nodded and he left for his room. This was a strange turn of events. What did Discord have to gain by giving us a riddle? Surely he would try to stop us from figuring it out? It started to get quite late so I went to bed. There was no use trying to figure out riddles when you're sleep deprived.