//------------------------------// // Final Arc part one // Story: Ruining Harmony // by Artaelian //------------------------------// Twilight and friends didn’t see Sunshine Blaze the next day. It had been Rarity who had gone to the front door to see if he was waiting outside, as she woke up before the others. This had led them to debate if he had remained at the ruins of his old home town during the night. The conversation quickly led to an agreement, that Rainbow Dash would fly to his ruined hometown and see if Sunshine Blaze was still there. She had returned with the news that he had gone, and no sign showing where. “Guys,” Rainbow Dash held her head up high, “I know we have it good here in Irvest, we’ve gone from fleeing for our lives to being highly successful here. But you know we can’t stay here. We have to go back with him and save Equestria from Ulysses.” “It’s not that easy, Rainbow,” Applejack spoke up. “If we were asked four years ago, we’d have agreed right away. But we’ve rebuilt our lives now, and Sunshine Blaze is asking us to just ditch our jobs and responsibilities here.” “There’s more too, guys,” Twilight stood up off her purple pillow, “I suspect that the incident he showed us may have, in some way, messed with Sunshine Blaze’s mind. Not to the degree of his brother, but the way Sunshine Blaze wants to get stronger. It suggests he thinks by stopping his brother, everything Ulysses has done will be undone.” The other ponies looked at each other for a moment, before looking at Twilight. “So, you think he’s not aware that his mother is dead, and thinks Ulysses has just trapped her somewhere?” Rarity questioned. “Exactly. I put together what we saw, combined with what Captain said. Sunshine Blaze said he’d never forget, he didn’t show any sign he understood that when his mother stopped breathing, it was because she’d died. And Captain said he found Sunshine Blaze there, watching those events. He’s looking for a way to free his mother from a spell that doesn’t exist. That, along with the fact that he’s had help before, and Captain has always taken him away from the end result before seeing it. Sunshine Blaze has no concept of the finality of death, if he even knows what death is.” They each let the thought sink in. The only feeling that they felt for Sunshine Blaze was pity. It would hurt him a lot when he finally understood the truth of his mother. -- Sunshine Blaze appeared the day after at around midday. It had been Rainbow Dash this time who had answered the door, as she had been about to go out and buy some food. She let him in, and followed him up to the first floor. The six friends sat on their pillows, and only Rainbow Dash was not visibly uncomfortable. Spike walked from the kitchen and held a glass filled with water out for Sunshine Blaze, who took it with his mouth, and tilted his head up and back, emptying the glass in one go. “Thank you,” he said to Spike, looking back at the six friends, “yesterday, you saw what Ulysses was capable of, and how he begun. I know you all have new lives here, but I still come here to ask. Will you all return with me to Equestria, your home, and defeat Ulysses, once and for all?” “Of course I will! For what he did to Cloudsdale five years ago, I’ll be more than happy to go beat the snot outta him!” Rainbow Dash stood up, her wings raised off her back. “Well, since I’m a respected scholar, I guess I could just say I’m going there for some sort of new research, but I’d need time to convince others to pick up the research I have underway.” Twilight spoke up. “And ah just can’t up and leave my farm. Ah mean, we may never return. Ah want it to be run by the right ponies.” Applejack added, rubbing one front hoof with the other. “Yeah, same for my shop.” Rarity and Pinkie Pie said together. “I’ll need some time to make sure Shining Rays can handle all the animals by himself when I go.” Fluttershy said softly. Sunshine Blaze groaned with annoyance and sat down. “Ok, so you all need time. At most, you can have three months. But let me put it to you this way. Equestria is your home, and it needs you. If you don’t want to, and would rather stay safe here, well, I’ve an elder brother to bring to justice. I want to see him pay for his crimes, and I’ll do that with or without you.” he said. Twilight now stood up, and walked up to Sunshine Blaze. She smiled and looked out of the balcony doors, at the crimson sky. “We know how important this is Sunshine Blaze. Had you asked four years ago, we’d have left right away. But you went off on your journeys, and we made lives for ourselves. It won’t be so bad, in three months, we’ll be ready, and we’ll all defeat Ulysses, you have my word on that.” They said no more after that, and Sunshine Blaze excused himself from their home. The seven friends spent the rest of the day talking, knowing that the following day would see them prepare to leave their lives in Irvest far behind. -- Three months later -- The water lapped the harbour walls gently, as Rainbow Dash stared out to sea. It had been three months since her friends had agreed to return to Equestria and save it from Ulysses. As she stood there however, she remained the only one to be at the harbour of Port Equis, watching Captain boss his crew around on the deck of his ship, with Sunshine Blaze flying around doing something. Every so often, Sunshine Blaze would stop, look at something, then continue on. It was pretty odd, and Rainbow Dash hoped he would explain what he was up to later on. That was, of course, assuming her friends hadn’t backed out of their choice to return to Equestria... “Hey Dashie!” Pinkie Pie almost shouted happily, as she bounced beside Rainbow. “About time somepony showed up. Where are the others?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, Twilight said she’d be right behind me, same for the others. Rarity said she’d lock up the house. Something about everything still being there if we get a chance to return.” Pinkie smiled, still bouncing on the spot. As Rainbow Dash looked behind Pinkie Pie, she saw that her pink friend was right. Walking at her usual pace, with Spike on her back and saddlebags carrying some of the books she had bought in Irvest, with the rest on a wooden cart being held behind her by Spike, was Twilight. A little further behind her was Applejack, also with saddlebags but nothing else, and Fluttershy, who didn’t have saddlebags. Rarity however, was nowhere to be seen at that moment. It took another half an hour, according to the nearest clock, for Rarity to show up. Silently, the seven friends finally boarded the ship. “Ah good,” came the Governor’s voice. On the harbour, he walked towards the ship surrounded by six guards, “when Sunshine Blaze said you would be leaving today, he failed to specify the time. And now, Ms. Rainbow Dash, before you depart, here is what you left in my safe keeping six years ago. The element of Loyalty.” With a clap of his hooves, a unicorn in a black suit walked up the gangplank, a box floating by magical influence before him. It opened up, and the unicorn levitated the golden choker from the box and around Rainbow Dash’s neck. “I can’t believe we were about to head back without this. Thank you Governor.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “You are welcome,” he turned as if to leave, but held still, “and you can of course call me Governor Fountain Pen. Until we meet again.” And with that, Governor Fountain Pen departed the harbour, the six guards and unicorn surrounding him as he left. As Rainbow Dash walked to the hull side of the deck with her friends, the ship shuddered slightly into life as the unicorn crew members levitated the gangplanks out of the way. None of the friends said anything, as they watched the main harbour walls, which lead out to sea, passed by the ship. The silence remained even as Port Equis, and Irvest itself became a dot on the horizon. “Do... do you think we’ll ever come back here?” Pinkie Pie asked. “I don’t know Pinkie. I mean, the house is always there, we could come for visits now and then. But let’s focus on what we have to do first.” Twilight replied. “Yeah, finding Ulysses and kicking his flank!” Rainbow Dash stomped a hoof against the deck. “And seeing what he’s done to Equestria while we’ve been gone.” Rarity added. -- The week passed rather uneventfully. For the most part, Twilight arranged with the crew and Sunshine Blaze to see what would become of all the vital items they had brought back from Irvest, learning that the crew would split up, Captain taking half and hiding to await further orders, the rest going with Sunshine Blaze and the friends to take the items where required. Golden Wings, hearing of what the seven friends were heading for, had called on the help of the other sages, and made spells which would hide them from Ulysses’ sight while aboard the ship. Unfortunately, it meant Rainbow Dash couldn’t fly above the sails. But she saw this restriction as more of a challenge, attempting to fly on a crowded and busy ship, without hitting anything. She had impacted one wall on the second day, but true to what she was capable of, the wall came out worse for wear than she had. And she had only left with a slightly bruised ego, and in the end she was much less irritable on the return journey then she had been when sailing to Irvest. The others had remained the same as they had on the first trip back. Captain no longer had to hide gems from Spike, simply because there were none currently on his ship. Each one of the seven friends made themselves busy, in an effort to forget one fact. They were returning to Equestria. They had no idea how bad things had become, or if indeed, anyone they had seen alive before leaving were even alive now. It played heavily on their minds, and was not aided by the fact they were not sure how to even defeat Ulysses as long as he still had five of the Elements of Harmony. “Land HO!” shouted one of the crew above deck. Rainbow Dash toppled out of the hammock she had been napping in, impacting the floor below chin first. She stood up and shook the ringing out of her ears, and followed after Rarity, as all seven made their way above deck. They were all hopeful, that maybe in his six years in Equestria, Ulysses had realised his errors, and had been kind, and that what they would see would be an Equestria no different from the one they had remembered prior to fleeing for their lives, except for the position of the sun and the moon on the sky. Rarity and Fluttershy turned away, unable to look at the sight. Twilight was muttering to herself, and Spike sat on her back, his jaw hanging open from shock. Pinkie Pie, who had been excited at the idea of seeing something good simply sat still, disbelief set in on her face. Applejack uncharacteristically had tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and she was fighting hard to refrain from actually crying. Rainbow Dash looked on ahead, her anger increasing even more than it had during the week of sailing. She couldn’t bear to look at the sight, but at the same time, she couldn’t look away. The whole landscape before them was black, covered in scorched earth, burnt forests and somehow, even the mountains were now black. Equestria lay in ruins, with no signs of life.