The next morning, Royal sat on the sofa, speechless. His nightmare had reduced him to a sobbing, incoherent mess the previous night, as if he had been the one drinking instead of Vinyl. Was that horrible, horrible dream sequence the fate of Ponyville? Paulie’s words, though only in his imagination, tore him up as well.
“All my fault…it’s all my fault…” After saying these words, he fell silent again. Octavia and Vinyl watched him.
“Poor Royal, he must have had quite a nightmare.” Octavia said, sighing. Vinyl stared at him.
“Yeah, the poor kid was a wreck last night. I think he should stay here for a bit. We can’t let him wander the streets in this condition.” Octavia smiled.
“Well, he did save you last night. I’d like to be able to repay him somehow. It’s a deal.” Vinyl glomped her best friend.
“Aw, yeah!” The pair approached him and declared their decision.
“Thank you…I have nowhere else to go…” he said, weakly. They smiled warmly at him.
"Consider yourself our honored guest." Octavia said.
Meanwhile, Canterlot Castle had changed ownership almost overnight. After ambushing the royal army, Paulie and Chrysalis combined their strengths to overpower the three princesses and Prince Shining Armor. Afterwards, they imprisoned all four of them in lime green goo cocoons. Truly, there was only one more thing standing in front of them. This is why they had stayed for the night; to seek and destroy the Elements of Harmony.
“Well, here it is…the location of the Elements of Harmony. Let’s get them out and make sure we destroy them. Without them, Twilight Sparkle and her friends won’t stand a chance against us!” Chrysalis said. Paulie nodded.
“Good thing we got that spell from Princess Celestia before we imprisoned her. You said you can’t undo it,” he said.
“Why would I want to? You don’t free your enemy, ever!”
Paulie, deciding it would not be in their best interest to go off on a tangent, chanted the spell, and the chamber door opened. A blank space appeared in front of them, and there was no box containing the elements of harmony. This shocked them.
“Strange…perhaps they are located somewhere else in the castle…” Paulie said. Chrysalis shook her head.
“All that matters is that if Princess Celestia can’t even keep track of her most important weapon, her precious ‘girls’ can’t have them, either! We’ve almost won, Paulie. Now we need to lure Twilight and her friends to us so we can rid ourselves of our last obstacle!” Chrysalis grinned. This plan was actually going off without a hitch. But she knew she had to get those pesky girls out of the way, first. Twilight was the only one to see through her plan to pass herself off as Princess Cadance and marry into the royal family.
“The next step of the plan: level Ponyville!” she said, laughing maniacally.
It was another sunny day in Ponyville, but all was not well. Scootaloo, for the second day in a row, just sat inside the house; staring at the photo of her and the two ponies she cherished the most; now both of them were gone. She was starting to think it was her own fault. She was self-aware; she knew that she could be quite the handful. She had called her greatest inspiration a liar…a mistake made in the heat of the moment; one that cost herself a dear relationship. Now she could never win back the respect of her surrogate big sister.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Not motivated enough to move, the filly simply told the guest to come into the house. She was surprised when the guest was revealed as Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo looked down, woefully. Had her idol come back to lecture her some more on her poor choices?
“I’m sorry.” Scootaloo looked up. Rainbow had tears in her eyes.
“This morning, I went to Sugar Cube Corner to help Pinkie take care of Mr. Cake. We talked about things…I found something out that made everything make sense.” Scootaloo sat down, listening intently.
“Royal wasn’t wearing his cape. When he turned to leave after doing the damage, Pinkie noticed that…he had no cutie mark! It wasn’t Royal, kid. I was wrong. Can you ever forgive me?” Scootaloo didn’t need to think twice about it. She ran back into the embrace of her hero, her big sister.
“I’m so sorry…I said those things because I thought he really had turned on us…I wanted to protect you. It’s true what I said…not everypony can be trusted. I was wrong about Royal. I have to take care of some weather things at the factory in Cloudsdale. We’ll go search for him first thing tomorrow morning, okay?”
“It’s a deal!” Scootaloo said, the joy finally returning to her face. She had her big sister back. The Rainbow Dash Apology Tour was about to begin. And soon, she hoped, she would have her big brother back, too.
Twilight sat in her treebrary, reading a book, as usual. She had been expecting a letter from Princess Celestia since the morning, but nothing had arrived. This was new to her. The princess was never late to send a letter, to her or anyone. Especially if she knew the letter was coming. The student-mentor pair exchanged letters once every couple of weeks, and this was Celestia’s week.
Some strange things have happened recently. Could the princess be in trouble? Perhaps I should take a trip to Canterlot…
Royal stood up from the sofa, a spot he had not left since the previous night. This caught Octavia and Vinyl by surprise.
“Royal? You feelin’ okay, buddy?” Vinyl asked. He turned around to face her. The tears were gone, but a sense of sadness still remained.
“I want to thank you for letting me stay here, but this isn’t where I belong. I belong back home…in Fillydelphia.” Octavia nearly spit out her coffee.
“You mean Ponyville, right?” Royal shook his head.
“No. I should never have come to this area…I should have stayed there.” He turned toward the door.
“I appreciate all that you’ve done for me…but I’m going to grab a train ticket and head back home. I don’t belong here…I don’t think I ever did.” Octavia gasped.
“But what about your dream?” Royal turned around.
“They can handle it. Those six wield the magic powers of the Elements of Harmony! They can stop anything that crosses their path. Everything will be fine…without me.” He turned to exit the door.
“No! Don’t go!” Vinyl said.
“Relax…I’m just going for a walk right now. Who knows…maybe something will happen that can convince me to stay. I’ll see you when I see you.” Royal exited the house.
I appreciate everything…I really do…but I’ve seen now that I just don’t belong here.
As Royal walked down the street, he engaged himself in some hard thinking.
I could sneak back to Ponyville, grab my stuff and say goodbye to Scootaloo. The poor kid didn’t cause any of this. I have to see her one last time before I go back to Filly.
Royal suddenly felt a chill rush down his spine. What was this dark, foreboding feeling he suddenly experienced? His answer flew over him, quite literally. A griffon and an odd-looking pony soared in the sky, followed by an army of smaller creatures. Royal hid, freaked out at their appearance. They had not seen him, but he recognized the griffon.
It’s Paulie! What are they doing here in Canterlot?
As soon as they were out of sight, Royal bolted from his hiding spot in the direction of the castle. He had to check things out for himself. Once he arrived at the castle, he saw that the door had been left open, which puzzled him. Suddenly, he realized that the army he had seen had been to the castle. He rushed inside, stopping to gaze at the horrific scene. Bodies were strewn everywhere he looked. The entire royal guard had been taken out by the invaders. Moving further along, he came across the cocooned princesses and Shining Armor.
“Oh my gosh! Can you hear me?” From within the cocoon, Shining could only read the pegasus’s lips. He signaled for Royal to come closer. Royal got right next to the cocoon.
“Royal, I need you to listen carefully. I don’t know who that griffon was, but that pony with the swiss cheese body was Queen Chrysalis. You might not recognize her, but she’s the one who almost ruined my wedding!” Royal nodded, and Shining continued.
“She and her Changelings are on their way to Ponyville right now! They might have the Elements of Harmony, too! Without the elements, Twily and the others…they don’t stand a chance!” Shining lowered his head.
“We were caught off guard. Now there’s no way I’ll be able to help my sister in the battle! Just like the wedding!” Royal stood up.
“I’m no hero, but I have to get back there…to protect Scootaloo! If anything happens to her, so help me, I’ll…” he stopped speaking and ran out of the building, flying the rest of the way back to Vinyl and Octavia’s house. When he got there, he found both of them still at home, waiting for him.
“Oh! Royal! I guess you’ve come to say goodbye. Good luck in Fillydelpha.” Octavia said.
“I’m not going back to Fillydelphia.” This response surprised the pair, since he had left with every intention to, well, leave.
“Then you’re staying here?” Vinyl asked. Royal shook his head. This also surprised the girls.
“I just found out a terrible piece of news. That griffon I told you about? He’s heading to Ponyville to try and destroy it right now. I’m going back so I can help stop them. Most of all, I’m going back to protect Scootaloo. She’s my little sister…and she needs her big brother right now.” Both Vinyl and Octavia smiled warmly.
“Good luck, Royal. You can be a hero yet!” Octavia said. The stallion shook his head.
“I’m no hero…I’m just a dumb kid going back to set right what I screwed up.” Vinyl approached him.
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a lot better than you think you are. You saved my life. That’s about as heroic as it gets. You are a hero. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Now go on, kiddo…prove it to everypony.” For the first time in a couple of days, Royal smiled.
“I’ll be going, then. Goodbye, girls. Thank you for everything. Stay safe!” Royal bolted out the door, not wanting them to see the tears forming in his eyes. They had saved his life. He was in the pits of despair when he had walked into that bar. Saving Vinyl, the reward kiss, their incredible hospitality towards someone they didn’t even know; it was all too much for his emotions. He wanted to stay, to enjoy their company, but after the news from Shining Armor, he knew he had to go back. He wasn’t about to let anypony hurt his little sister. He only hoped she still wanted to be his little sister.
Paulie, Chrysalis and the army continued their journey. They still had a considerable distance to go to reach Ponyville. The two were chatting along the way, as if they were old friends.
“Chrysalis, I’m so glad I decided to venture out and seek your assistance in eliminating these pests! You’re so much more effective than Gilda! That girl wouldn’t know a good scheme if it bit her in the talon! In fact, she’s off the mission! As soon as we level Ponyville and return to the canyon, I’m kicking her off the team!” the griffon chuckled.
“I just can’t wait to watch Twilight Sparkle cry as we destroy everything she holds dear! She’s the only reason I’m not living in the lap of luxury right now!”
“I’m feeling hungry. I think once we arrive, I’m going to seek out that spunky little filly I once dealt with and have a little snack!” Paulie licked his chops.
“Whatever you want, dear. I’m sending my Changelings straight for Twilight Sparkle…wherever she may be.” The queen laughed maniacally.
Royal had flown to the Canterlot train station and bought a ticket for the express. He now sat on the train, hoping he could make it to Ponyville before the evil army and its commanders did.
If anything happens to Scootaloo, I can never face my friends again. I’ll never be able to forgive myself.
Several hours later, night had fallen on Ponyville. Scootaloo sat inside Royal’s house, thinking about things. Today had been a return of sorts to normal life. She had gone crusading with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle for the first time since Royal’s fallout with Rainbow Dash. She knew she had to get to sleep in a little bit. She wanted enough energy to keep up with her hero as they searched for the blue stallion they both cared for so much. All she wanted was to see her big brother’s face again; to hear his voice say “hey kiddo, I missed you.”
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Being that she was home alone, this naturally freaked the filly out. She hid under the sofa, until she heard a familiar voice.
“Hey kid, are you home? It’s Rainbow!” Feeling a huge sigh of relief, Scootaloo went to the door and let her hero into the house. They shared a quick hug.
“How are you holding up?” Rainbow asked.
“I’m okay. I want to get to bed so we can look for Royal in the morning!”
“Okay, squirt. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning, so get some sleep.” Scootaloo nodded and jumped onto the sofa, falling asleep almost instantly.
Unknown to her friends, Scootaloo had made Royal’s bed and never even thought about sleeping in it since he left. She was saving the bed for him. Now, it seemed she was about to get him back. A smile formed on her face as she slept, leaving Rainbow to smile up at her.
I guess it’s about time I get to bed, too. Good night, kiddo.
Rainbow grabbed a blanket and covered Scootaloo, then herself as they slept on the sofa. Scootaloo instinctively snuggled up to Rainbow in her sleep. Rainbow smiled again, and went to sleep herself. An exciting search awaited them in the morning.