Six months.
It had been six long, anxious, sorrowful months since Princess Celestia had heard or seen her Faithful Student, or her two friends. Six months of searching the entire world for the three Elements of Harmony. Six months of trying to console various friends and family members, while her own heart was breaking.
And six months of joining her sister in scanning the night sky, searching for even the slightest glimmer of hope.
Celestia looked up at the moon, and reviewed the facts. Half a year ago, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Applejack took part in an experimental teleportation ritual, one which had gone horribly wrong. She knew that none of them were dead; if that were the case, the other Bearers would no longer be in touch with their Elements, and the Princess knew this was not the case. But strangely, when she used tracking spells on the missing elements, the signal always pointed to the stars.
The Princess of the Day pondered this. Who was capable of pulling this off? Nightmare Moon was gone, never to return. Discord was fully reformed, and was down in Ponyville consoling the remaining Element-Bearers. Chrysalis had been rebuilding her people at the time (before coming to Canterlot to make peace), and Sombra had yet to remanifest himself. Outside of those enemies, nopony was powerful enough to banish them.
She wandered about the Royal Gardens, trying to clear her head. As much as it pained her to be without Twilight, wallowing in her sadness would not bring her back. Only action through understanding had any hope to save the Element-Bearers. She paid no attention to her path, as she remained deep in thought. When she snapped out of it, she had reached the top of a small hill, where her sister was staring intently at a patch of night sky. The same patch of sky the signal pointed to.
"Something troubling you, my sister?" Celestia asked, placing herself next to Luna.
"I sense something, Tia." Luna answered, never moving her eyes from that spot. "Can't you feel it?"
Celestia blinked, and opened her senses. Yes, there was something out there. Something primal, focused, and utterly unknown to her.
"Yes, Luna." She replied. "That's odd. How long have you been aware of it?"
"As long as I've been able to see that star." Luna pointed to the sky. In the distance, a bright star -glowing blue and red and green- that was glowing brighter than the Moon, and was growing in size by the second. They realized it wasn't a star... it was a meteor.
And it was heading right for them.
The Royal Sisters quickly summoned their power and focused on the ball of energy. In their long lives, they had seen the power released from an impact upon Equestria. If the crater happened to be on or near a city, it was considered lucky if there were even two bricks standing on top of each other. If it landed, the alicorns may survive, but all of Canterlot would most certainly not.
Using the telekinesis that could move heavenly bodies, the Sisters wrapped the orb in their energy, and pushed back. They strained under it- the thing was booking it, moving faster than a cannonball in flight. Still the Diarchs pushed back, unwilling to let countless innocent ponies die.
Across the Kingdom, ponies everywhere could see the glowing meteor, now on a collision course with the castle city. Celestia and Luna dug their hooves into the dirt, sweat dripping off them, faces contorted with exertion. But still, they pushed back.
Indeed, the object seem to slow down by quite a degree, the pulses slowing down in their timing. Interestingly enough, the meteor was now beginning to make a sound. Not the roar of a space object, as would've been expected. No, it gave a pulsating, whirring sound, like a giant generator slowing down its spin. Ponies could even judge the size of the object, which was around the size of a carriage.
Before it made impact, the Sisters gave one final push, slowing it down enough to crash softly into the dirt below them. They saw the meteor, in fact, was not a meteor- but was, in fact, a magical shield, still pulsing with its various energies. Celestia could see that there were individuals inside of it. She began approaching it, walking cautiously as the outer shell dissipated.
Inside the inner shell- which was mostly see through- were nine distinct individuals. Three of them were dragons, although much smaller than ones known locally in Equestria. Another group of three were tall and bipedal, resembling a race of mythic creatures known as "humans". While there hadn't been a human living in Equestria for some five thousand years, Celestia knew enough of the old legends to know what a human looked like. And the last three... the last three were definitely ponies; a unicorn, a pegasus and an Earth pony. And each of them were wearing armor of some shape or form.
The shield disintegrated, showing that two of the "humans" and the unicorn were generating a combined shield, while the dragons covered everyone with their wings. They were huddled up, eyes shut from the journey. Then the unicorn- who was wearing a strange helmet with a metallic visor- looked up at the alicorn, and lowered her shield. Feeling the change in energy, the others opened their eyes, lowering their shields and retracting their wings.
The humans and dragons looked around, obviously trying to identify where they had landed. But the ponies looked straight at Celestia. The unicorn lifted her visor, revealing a purple coat, purple and red mane, and purple eyes filled with curiosity, determination... and tearful joy.
"Princess," Twilight Sparkle murmured, her voice full of hope and relief, "Is it really you?"
Celestia's lip trembled, as she said, "Yes, my dear Twilight. You're back home."
Tears ran down both their faces as they stepped forward and hugged. The pegasus and Earth pony, realizing the truth before them, took off their helmets, revealing the faces of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Rainbow leapt up into the air, doing a flip and shouting, "Yeah-ha-ha! We are BACK, baby!" AJ reared up and declared, "Yeee-Haaa! We did it! We're finally home!"
Luna had come down the hill, and was promptly given a group hug from the celebrating ponies. Neither of them really knew the Princess, but were happy to see a familiar face. While the ponies were hugging and bonding, the other six talked amongst themselves.
"So that's it, then?" The oldest human said, his hands resting on the two ancient revolvers on his belt. "Its done. Our Ka-Tet has come out of this alive, and say thankya."
"We sure did." One of the dragons sighed, his scales colored purple and gold. "Its almost a shame, though. I was hoping we were going back to Skylands."
"Its okay, love." Another dragon soothed, this one definitely female. She rested a black and red wing on the purple one's back. "Enoch said that we would all be sent to the homeworld that needed us most. Clearly, Equestria needed us more."
"Its certainly a peaceful world here." Another human put in, this one wearing tattered robes and battered armor. A metallic stick hung loosely from his waist. "You can feel it. I haven't felt this much energy since I was on Dagobah."
"We better watch what we say around those Princesses." The last human warned, wearing a torn-up duster and pentacle necklace. He still had a shield bracelet, some power rings and a wand, and his pockets still had all kinds of ingredients for spells and rituals. "They're at least as powerful as the Faerie Queens, maybe a little more."
"I doubt they would do anything to us, considering how many times we saved the mare's lives." The largest dragon disagreed, speaking through a voice collar on his neck. He was completely black, and was large enough for two humans or a pony to ride. "All the same, we should play it cool while the girls introduce us."
At this point, the ponies finished hugging, and the Princesses finally recognized that there were other people that came along with their subjects. "Twilight," Celestia asked, "Who are your friends here?"
Twilight looked back, and had realized that her comrades had been standing around awkwardly. "Oh, of course Princess." She said. "Guys, this is Princess Celestia. And over there is Princess Luna. You know, my teachers." The humans and dragons made sounds of understanding, and gave the alicorns a mixture of bows and half salutes.
Rainbow Dash flew back, now hovering over the group. "And Princess, let me introduce you to our friends." She pointed to each of them, and continued, "This is Roland Deschain of Mid-World, Spyro and Cynder of Skylands, Luke Skywalker of Tatooine, Harry Dresden of Earth, and Toothless of Midgard. They are the coolest dudes I've met outside of Ponyville, and they have saved our lives more times than I can count."
"Which, admittedly, isn't very high." The one called Dresden quipped.
"Whatever, whizzerd. I saved your flank loads of times, too."
"Regardless," Celestia stated, "It is absolutely wonderful to have you three back. And my thanks go out to you, fellow travelers, for bringing them back home. I am sure that you all have an amazing story to tell, one that everyone would love to hear."
"We sure do, Princess." AJ told her. "Thing is, we've all had a mighty long journey, and ah think ah can speak for everyone on how tired we are, so..."
"Oh, of course. It is rather late." Celestia turned back to the castle, her wing now resting on Twilight's back. "Let's all get inside. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
Following Celestia's lead, the motley group of ponies, dragons and humans began making their way over the hill. Luna looked at the faces of the other travelers, and was rather surprised at how all of them seemed to hold equal parts of relief and disappointment...
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The travelers were given multiple royal suites to rest for the night. However, much to Celestia's surprise, they had all insisted on staying in the same room. It was a habit they had picked up while they were gone, Twilight explained, for as she put it, "Sleeping alone is often a good way to get yourself killed." Celestia relented, and allowed all nine of them to stay in Twilight's old tower.
While there was only one bed- which Twilight automatically claimed- everyone found a place to crash that suited them. Sofas, the floor, even Toothless himself provided some semblance of comfort. But they were not heading for sleep just yet; the ponies felt that they had a few issues to clear up, before they all went to Ponyville.
"Guys," Twilight started, albeit a bit hesitantly, "I know that you all are disappointed for not going back to your homes." No one said anything, nor did they give any indication of how they felt, outside of idle shifting.
Twilight rubbed her hoof nervously. "I know I also speak for Dash and AJ on how bad we feel for depriving you the chance to-"
"Stop right there, Twilight." Luke raised his hand. He shifted on the couch, facing both her and Applejack. "Don't undermine everything we've worked for by saying it wasn't worth it."
"But was it worth it, sugar cube?" AJ retorted. "After all that ya'll have told us about your homes, after seeing the things we've seen, how can we say that our world needed us more than any of you? How is that fair?"
"Maybe it isn't," Dresden pointed out, reclining next to Spyro and Cynder, "But that's just the way it is. I can't control it, you can't control it, none of us can. All we can do is make the best of it."
"Well, maybe we can do something." Dash countered, resting on Toothless's back. "Twilight, maybe we can talk to Celestia, and do some kind of spell-"
"Save it, my friend." Cynder interrupted. "You shouldn't make promises we know you can't keep. We all knew that the odds of going back home were slim to none. This may not be our home, but out of all the places we could've gone to, your world is the best place we could've ended up on. We all have friends or family we've left behind, but as long as we're together, we can get through anything."
The ponies smiled at this, as did the humans. However, Toothless had to say, "Still, if you wish to help us, it would be nice if you could put in a good word for us to the locals. They may not be as understanding as your leaders."
The ponies nodded in agreement, and together they finally fell asleep...
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The following morning, the weary travelers, along with the Princesses and their guards, went aboard multiple chariots, and went down to the picturesque town of Ponyville. While Celestia and Luna had hoped to keep their arrival a surprise, this, however, was not to be.
Word travels fast, especially when it comes to prodigal ponies. A messenger had seen the Ponyvillains and their associates, and had raced off to the tiny town. When she got there, Pinkie Pie was already waiting for her- the Pinkie Sense telling her something really important was going to happen. As soon as the messenger told her, the party pony let out such a gasp that everyone in town heard her. Bringing the begotten pegasus with her, Pinkie Pie went to spread the good news to everypony.
And I do mean everypony; all the ponies and creatures the Mane Six had interacted with was in town, from old friends (like Gilda and Trixie), to great ex-enemies (like Discord and Chrysalis). The town was having a memorial service for their lost heroes, as most of Equestria believed them to be dead. As such, many people came to Ponyville to honor them, some for respect, some for forgiveness. Relatives from all across Equestria had come, from the Apples of Appleoosa and Manehattan, to the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire.
All were in various stages of grief as Pinkie Pie and the messenger broke into the Library.
"Guys! Guys!" She shouted, practically bouncing off the walls. "You won't believe what I just found out!"
Everyone looked up, either teary-eyed or sullen. "Can this wait, darling?" Rarity told her, forehoof wrapped around a silently-crying Fluttershy. "We're not all in the best of states, right now."
"No, no," Pinkie insisted, "Its good news, I promise!" She nudged the messenger, encouraging the blonde-maned mare to speak up. The messenger mare sighed, and said, "Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack are back."
There were gasps all around, and cheers from the youngest fillies and dragon. "I always knew Twilight would get everypony back!" Spike declared, sharing a hug with Scootaloo and Applebloom. "I mean, they're the best ponies ever!"
Discord was stroking his scraggly goatee, pondering. "Tell me, Ms. Hooves," He asked the messenger, " Was their arrival what caused the magic meteor last night?"
"Yep. Not only that, but I was told that six other people came with them. Three dragons, and three... um... Lyra, what are those creatures you obsess about?"
"Humans?" The mint-green mare answered from the back.
"That's it. Three of those came along, too."
The ex-mourners murmured amongst themselves, while Lyra tried her best to contain her fangirl squeeing. Humans weren't supposed to be real- or at least, not any more. The fact that three came along with the prodigal ponies just made things all the more interesting.
"When are they supposed to come back?" Cadence asked, eager to see her sister-in-law again.
"They're supposed to be here in a few hours. "
"Then what're we waiting for?!" Pinkie exclaimed. "We've got a welcome home party to throw them! Let's go, go, go!"
With that, everypony inside went about eagerly decorating and preparing for the big arrival. The town was adorned in images of clouds and apples and magical stuff, in rainbows and purples and oranges. There were cakes and pies and muffins baked, streamers and musicians and party cannons gathered up in town hall. The town was preparing itself to host the biggest "Welcome Home" party in the history of Equestria, as Pinkie Pie had decreed it.
At high noon, four chariots descended upon town square. The ponies looked around themselves, breathing in the familiar air as they disembarked. The dragons and humans, on the other hand, appraised the town with caution and curiosity.
"Hells bells," Dresden commented, "This is just how I expected the place to look- more colorful and happy than Munchkin Land."
"Its not that bad." Toothless replied. "It reminds me of Berk in some ways, only without the sea."
"Where is everyone, anyway?" Spyro asked. The streets were deserted, with not a single pony in sight- truly strange, considering how big Ponyville was.
"Pinkie Pie probably has them all inside town hall for a party." Rainbow Dash pointed out. "You can tell by all the streamers and banners everywhere."
"They were preparing to hold a memorial for you." Celestia said. "Someone must've told everypony that you were back, and Pinkie adjusted accordingly."
"Well what're we waitin' for?" AJ declared, "Let's go see 'em!" The group began moving, but then Luna cut in front of them.
"Stop!" She ordered. "Before you go in there, you should know a little about what you missed back here."
"Like what?" AJ asked.
"Do you remember back before you left, when Fluttershy had reformed Discord?"
"Let me guess," Rainbow grunted, "Discord turned back to evil, and all of his victims are stuck in there?"
"Actually," Celestia explained, "Discord is still well behaved, and in fact is with Chrysalis inside, along with Cadence and your brother."
The three mares looked at her like she was crazy. "Chrysalis?" Twilight said, skeptical to the extreme. "The Changeling Queen? The same bitch who pretended to be my babysitter, and orchestrated the most successful invasion of Equestria in 1300 years? You let her here?!"
"Twilight!" Celestia gasped. "You... Did you just swear? Rainbow or Applejack, I could see, but you?"
"We may have had something to do with that." Dresden admitted, with the dragons snickering until Roland gave them a look. Celestia gave the strangers a glare, and they returned it. Even before their adventures together, these heroes weren't the type to be intimidated.
Twilight frowned. "Princess, I'm sor- No, I'm not sorry." She replied to her teacher. "You can't expect us to just come back and just be okay with a bombshell like that."
"We aren't," Luna countered, "You didn't let us finish. After you three left, Chrysalis came to us asking for forgiveness. Her people had been decimated by the Invasion, and were in desperate need of aid. While we were suspicious of her change of heart, Fluttershy and Discord volunteered to keep watch of her, while the changelings have been allowed back into Equestria. On the condition that changelings give up their ability to shapeshift, they are now full members of our society."
"We understand your concern, Twilight," Celestia soothed, placing a hoof on her armored shoulder, "But you can trust us when we say you have nothing to fear." Mentally, she was reeling from this turn of events. Not only had her favorite student cursed, she used an angry tone on her. She had been like a mother to her, and had always known the mare as being sweet and polite. But now? She was hardly like the sweet young mare she knew not so long ago. What happened to her?
Twilight tried to smile at her teacher's reassurances, but she could only bring up a forced smile. Rainbow and AJ, however, were still scowling. "Anything else we need to know," Rainbow asked, "Before we go in there?"
"Gilda, Trixie and Lightning Dust are in there," Luna told her, "Along with the Wonderbolts and your families. You shouldn't keep them waiting."
Taking a hint, the three mares went inside, while the humans and dragons waited with the Princesses. As they went in, Luke turned to Celestia and said, "Thanks for that heads-up. It would've ended badly for everyone otherwise."
"How so?" She raised an eyebrow.
"We would've killed her eight ways to sunday." Spyro told her. "Quickly, efficiently, bloodlessly. And giving the worst first impression ever."
Luna stared at them in disbelief. "Your kidding, right?"
"Not even a teeny tiny bit."
The prodigal ponies entered the hall, and were greeted by the loudest cheers they had ever heard. So many streamers and ponies jumped out together that the mares could hardly tell who was who. The partiers moved to them, but a pink pony got to them way before anyone else.
"Guys," Pinkie Pie gasped, her voice caught in her throat, her eyes getting misty, "Is... is it, I mean... you're all here? You came back?" She looked them up and down, finding the armor they still wore to be a bit strange.
"Pinkie," Dash murmured, her voice so emotional she could hardly speak, "Is it really you?"
"Well duh, silly," She told her, a tear running down her cheek, "Who else could make a surprise 'Welcome Home' party worthy of the three greatest mares I've ever known?"
The pegasus wrapped her hooves around her earth pony friend, and cried. "Oh, Pinkie," She sobbed, not bothering to hide her emotions, "I've missed you so much."
Pinkie, caught off-guard for a moment, returned the hug in kind, crying as well. "I've missed you too, Dashie." As they held each other, they were joined by Scootaloo, Fluttershy, Derpy, and all the fliers that Dash had been friends with.
Applejack and Twilight were likewise embraced in grouphugs by their families, overjoyed that after months of believing their daughters were dead. Little siblings, older brothers, matriarchs- all were joyful and teary-eyed in the moment.
"Goodness, darlings," Rarity declared, making her way to the trio, "Its just wonderful to see you again. But I just have to ask- Where were you girls? And where did you get that armor? It looks positively stunning."
Indeed, each of the mares was wearing a heavily metallic armor, with an assortment of saddlebags and pockets. The armor color was shaded to each of their coats- orange, cyan and purple. For some reason, the armor around AJ's hindlegs and RD's wings appeared more intricate, more mechanical in nature, but that could've been for any number of reasons.
"Oh," Rainbow chuckled, "If you think that's cool, check this out." Standing proud, her armor quickly started changing color rapidly, from blue to red to green to a myriad of other colors. The ponies- especially awe-struck Scootaloo- made sounds of amazement, as the athletic pegasus used her armor to turn into an actual rainbow.
"To answer your question, Rarity," Twilight interrupted, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder, "Let me bring in some very special individuals; friends that we met along the way."
Applejack tapped on the door three times, hard enough for their compatriots and the Princesses to hear. Taking it as their cue, the group made their way to the door, and entered in a suitably dramatic fashion. In came three men- adorned in black armor and dark-colored robes- and three dragons- wearing various styles of plate armor- walking in with an air of confidence and determination. They were followed by the Princesses, who watched the newcomers with a keen eye and caution.
Needless to say, the sight was rather badass.
The two groups stared at each other- humans and dragons vs. ponies and others- with both the Princesses and the three mares watching them carefully. Before things got too tense, Twilight cleared her throat, and said, "Guys, remember- play nice." Roland shrugged, Toothless nodded, and everyone else smiled. The three mares gave introductions all around, genuinely surprised how many ponies and other creatures showed up.
"So, ladies and gentlemen," Discord spoke up, sitting on a freshly manifested cloud, "I think I speak for everyone here when I ask, 'Where the bloody Tartarus have you been?'"
The travelers looked at each other, and then Applejack said, "Gather up some tables and chairs, then. Its a good thing everypony is here, and that y'all have plenty o' snacks, 'cause our palaver is one that'll go on for a good long time."
"Applejack, what's a pal-ladder?" Applebloom asked. The others began moving tables and chairs together, taking positions all around.
"A palaver," Roland explained, pulling a cigarette out of a pouch, as the Earth Pony pulled her sister onto a nearby chair, "Is a special kind of story. The kind that tells of things in our past, ordeals we've beaten, horrors we've seen. And its also the kind of story that can only be told once."
"So gather round, boys and girls," Dresden finished "'Cause this is a story about a place far, far away. Farther than anything you can imagine. And its about a little piece of madness called Byzantine..."