Chapter 19: The Journey Home
The inside of the palace was more beautiful than any of the ponies could have imagined.
Seemingly untouched by time, the high white walls of solid marble met at the ceiling in grand arches that housed stained glass renditions of important events in the history of Equestria. The windows were filled with the tales of legends of ponies past who had done great things for Equestria, and of those who had given everything in sacrifice to their princesses. Reminders of the dual monarchy were still everywhere here, and depictions of Luna equaled the number depictions of Celestia. The windows told the storied history of Equestria in glass that shimmered in the light of the rising sun. The ponies passed the windows, and ascended the marble stair case toward the throne room.
As a monument to the goddesses, the throne room was a housed two massive stained glass windows. A depiction of Luna raising the moon graced the western window and was mirrored on the east wall by a depiction of Celestia raising the sun. Along the edges were marble columns to support the painted ceiling, and in the center of the room ran a carpet of burgundy that led to a rider. Atop the riser there were two thrones. In one, there was a goddess.
With wings that shimmered like silver, and a horn magnificent as any Equestria had ever seen, the goddess rose from her throne, and descended the stairs. Her pink mane flowed behind her as if blown by a gentle breeze. The ponies stopped in place, and bowed to their princess. The ponies saw that Celestia’s violet eyes had been stained by tears, as if she had seen the horrors of war that lay outside. She waved her horn, and the door sealed behind the ponies.
“I have you to thank,” said Celestia with a far off whisper. Her voice was filled with sadness, and her eyes had again filled with tears. “You did it. You ended the wars, which is exactly what I asked of my ponies. I just wanted the fighting to stop, and you did just that.” She looked down at the ponies as she started to cry again. “I only wish you could have done it without killing so many of my children.” Celestia turned away from the ponies, as she tried to compose herself. The herd simply remained prostrate before their goddess, not daring to look up.
“I’m sorry,” continued Celestia. “I realize you did everything you could. I can’t expect you to have fixed everything the way I would have wanted it. I’ve been selfish these past few years, and Equestria has suffered for it. Without some pony to look up to, they lost their way and started following the dark paths that wind through the hearts of every pony.” She again looked down to the ponies. “Please rise.”
The ponies stood to gaze upon their goddess in awe. She had returned to them, and even if she sent them away, it was proof enough that she loved Equestria, and all those who lived there. She approached the four ponies with sad smile.
“I’ve been following you four for a while now,” she said. “And what I discovered about all of you is that, you’re not perfect. It’s actually taught me something about myself. I’m not perfect either. You’ve fought and complained and whined your way through this ordeal to reach your goal in only the way that friends can. That’s why I was able to start seeing you in the first place; you were all destined to become friends. Friendship is the most powerful magic in all of the land, and with it, you can see everything Equestria has to offer. Without it, ponies become like a piece onyx in a field of snow: Dark, cold, and easy to spot.” She paused, and narrowed her eyes at a spot behind the ponies. “Just like you, Glaive.”
The ponies felt themselves jerked as if on puppet strings, and they fell to the tiled floor as Glaive appeared behind them. He was sweating, but he wore a smile that displayed his sharpened teeth. He stood before the alicorn, ready to finish what he had started all those years ago. He only chuckled.
“Oh, Celestia,” he said. “I knew my brother would lead me right to you. I should have guessed that any pony he hung around with had to be a good soul. I’m just glad that you were too busy weeping over your lost little ponies to notice me strolling through your front door.”
He snapped his head and flung the ponies to the side with a wave of his horn. Ridgeline and Bard smashed into a column and fell still. Constance caught her head on the stairs and went down for the count. Heart Chase slammed back first into the wall, but the Knight’s armor she had borrowed absorbed most of the impact. She struggled to her hooves as Glaive’s horn flared with light. Celestia found herself unexpectedly trapped by his powerful telekinesis.
“I didn’t understand what you wanted then, and I don’t know what you want now,” said Celestia. “The only thing I see in your heart is malice. You used to be a good pony, Glaive. What happened to you? Am I really that offensive?”
“You banished my goddess to the moon because you refused to let her rule,” said Glaive. “Nightmare Moon is ten times the goddess you are. She didn’t let something as pathetic as friendships determine her power. She sought power within herself, and became everything you’re not.” He stared into the violet eyes of the princess. “Funny thing about that; she gave me a fragment of her power before we stormed the castle. Just a sliver of the demon mind attached to a piece of star metal to act as insurance if something went wrong. And thanks to your silly little elements, it all did.” His smug smile drained into an angry glare. “I will take your body, and with it, I will rule Equestria until she returns to me. It may be a thousand years, but to see her again, it will be worth the wait.”
He began to chant, filling the room with dark words that echoed along the marble walls and seeped into the ponies’ minds. His horn flared with an olive light that washed all it touched in a sickly green glow. Heart Chase was on her hooves as Glaive stared down the princess. Nightmare Moon’s fragment of power had made the Glaive insanely powerful. Celestia stood riveted to the spot as she felt herself fading away from her body and into Glaive’s.
A crashing hoof sent the stallion reeling across the marble floor. His concentration broken, the spell failed, and the room fell quiet except for the cursing of the sky blue unicorn. He got to his hooves, and stood beneath the massive stained glass depiction of Luna.
“You BITCH,” spat Glaive. His horn flared again as Heart Chase found herself pulled along by puppet strings. Her own bladed feltlock rose to her throat. “You little nag, I should have made sure you were dead the first time.” He turned to the princess with a grin. “It looks like the magic of friendship isn’t that powerful after all.” Glaive turned his focus back to Heart Chase. The yellow earth mare was now standing in front him. With a swipe of her bladed fetlock, she took Glaive’s horn in a shower of blood that stained the marble walls crimson. As the unicorn reeled backward in pain, she pivoted on the spot and bucked. Her back hooves caught Glaive in the chin, and sent him through the stained glass window behind him.
The stained glass window of Luna shattered as Glaive fell through it. Shards of dark glass rained into the gardens of Canterlot palace where ponies had begun to gather upon seeing the palace door for the first time in five years. With a silent scream, Glaive reached for Heart Chase to take his hoof as he fell into the garden below. Heart Chase only watched as the unicorn toppled through the air.
With nary a sound, Glaive plunged to the ground amid the splinter of bones and the cracking of armor plate. As his vision filled with red, the unicorn looked at those gathered in the garden with his weary yellow eyes. What he saw were not looks of satisfaction, or triumph, but shock and horror, even sadness. There had been so much blood had been spilled today; why were they upset at one more fallen pony? What was another body on the pile? Glaive saw Iron Pick coming from the crowd and kneeling at his side. The unicorn rolled him over and called for a medic.
“W…why…” gurgled Glaive.
“Because we’re ponies,” said Iron Pick. A white coated unicorn waved her horn over Glaive as another wrapped a collar around his neck. “We help each other; even the worst of us. You’re a pony too, Glaive. Even if I hate you, even if I think you’re a monster, Celestia wants us to love you just the same as everypony else.”
Glaive stared into the old unicorn’s dark eyes for a moment. If he still had his horn, he could have easily taken Iron Pick’s body again, but he wouldn’t. He had failed his queen, he had failed the Lunar Rebellion, and most of all, he had failed himself. Glaive closed his eyes, and let the world fade to black around him. The unicorn looked up at pick and shook her head. The butcher of Everfree Castle was gone, never to haunt the nightmares of ponies again.
Above the gardens, Celestia joined Heart Chase as she looked down on the scene below. Heart Chase only shook her head and stepped back to her friends. The other ponies were staggering to their feet; Ridgeline steadied himself on the column.
“How did you do that?” asked Bard as he held his head. “I’ve never seen anyone be able to resist a puppetering like that. That should be impossible.”
“Yah told me how to beat it the first day we met,” said Heart Chase. “Yah said it only works on ponies with a weak will or who weren’t expectin’ it. Well, I was expectin’ it and the Chases are stubborn as they come.”
She looked around a moment, and realized that they were done. They had set off on a quest to restore the princess to her rightful place at the head of Equestria and here she was in all of her royal glory. Despite the madness, the bickering, and the insanity of it all, their journey had come to a successful end. Four ponies that had been strangers a week ago had banded together as friends to save their princess from the dark heart of Nightmare Moon’s minions.
“Well ponies,” said Heart Chase with a toss of her mane. “I guess we win. Aint’ nothin’ fer us to do but go home now, and let Celestia rule Equestria again.” She looked up to the alicorn. “Yah will take over again, right, yer majesty?”
“I think it’s been too long since I’ve held court,” said Celestia. “You’ve all learned a lesson in friendship here that I couldn’t teach you. Despite all that’s happened, I have my doubts, but I think ponies everywhere need me to be a good example to them. Thank you all for what you’ve done. I think Equestria will be a better place for it.”
Heart Chase remembered something clattering around in satchel. She pulled the sealed tube from her bag, and passed it to Celestia.
“Iron Pick said to give this to you,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but he said it was important.” Celestia unrolled the scroll and read it a moment before nodding quietly.
“If you will all escort me outside?” she asked the ponies.
Constance, Ridgeline, Bard and heart Chase opened the doors to the garden and stepped out onto the mezzanine ahead of their princess. As the door fluttered open, the ponies that had gathered in the courtyard turned to look upon their princess. Every pony dropped into a bow, and fell silent at the sight of their goddess.
“Ponies of Equestria, hear me,” said Celestia. “On this day in late September, ponies have fought and died for what they believed was right. They fought at the behest of those who wanted power, or those who wanted to take my place; ponies who thought that they knew what was best for Equestria, or at least their own small parts of it. I’m here to tell you that, it’s over. There is to be no more fighting. I think you all realize this now, but I want to make it clear that I am returning on the condition that you realize all ponies are one. Wherever we’re from, whatever race we might be, from alicorns to zebras, we are all ponies, and we need each other to survive. Do not hate your neighbor because he’s different; love him because he has so many things to share with you. I’m asking that you all become better ponies, which is all anyone can ask of you.” She turned to the four pones that stood in front of her.
“These four ponies are from as different worlds as you can find in Equestria. Yet here they stand united as friends, and do you know why?” She smiled at the four ponies. “Because they are all my children, just as you are. I love all of my little ponies, and I want you to love each other as well.”
The crowd stared in awe at princess as she delivered her message to the ponies. Her speech was exact, the way you might speak to a child. She wasn’t angry with the ponies, just disappointed that it took so long for them to stop hating each other. She turned to the four ponies that stood with her, and asked them to kneel.
“For your dedication to Equestria, and the courage to find friendship even in the heart of darkness, I salute you ponies.” She tapped her horn on each of their shoulders. “I ask you to travel the world to spread the message of love and tolerance that you have learned from each other. You have kneeled as ponies, and now you will rise as my Knights of Friendship.”
The ponies rose to their hooves amid the clopping of a thousand hooves upon the grounds of the gardens. They looked to each other with smiles, though Ridgeline looked as if he were about to cry with joy. Celsetia looked out to cheering crowd for a moment before speaking again.
“Iron Pick, will you please step forward?”
The ponies all froze as Iron Pick slowly walked toward his princess. He stood for a moment before the alicorn before coming to a bow before her. Heart Chase immediately knew something was wrong when he took off his helm and pushed aside his mane.
“I want you all to look upon Iron Pick,” said Celestia. “This pony thought himself a king because he owned land, and wealth, and resources. Because of his actions, we are all here today to mourn those we have lost in the fighting. All of what has happened can be laid at his hooves. Rightfully, he should be hanged as a traitor, but more bloodshed is not the answer. Please rise.” The unicorn stood, and closed his eyes as he awaited Celestia’s sentence.
“Iron Pick, you and all of your conspirators are hereby banished from Equestria,” she said. “Because you have cause so much pain to so many, you are to leave your families and friends behind, and you may not return to our lands until you have made friends with each and every pony that has plotted against Equestria. You will be taken by boat to the zebra lands where you may start life anew as free ponies. I warn you that if any of you die before you fulfill the conditions of your punishment, your exile will be permanent. I do this to make sure that no pony gets any funny ideas about the terms of exile.”
“I understand,” said Iron Pick. “I thank you for your kindness, your majesty.” Iron Pick turned to surrender himself to the knights that came to take him away. Heart Chase pushed through them to get to her husband.
“What did you say?” she demanded. “What was in that letter?”
“It was a confession,” said Iron Pick. “Everything was my idea, and you were but a pawn in my scheme. You’re free to live your life now; consider it one last gift from me to you.” He kissed the mare’s cheek, and then smiled sadly. “I do love you Heart Chase. You’re such a wonderful mare. I hope I live long enough to see you again.”
…
What would have normally been cause for celebration was instead met with somber tones and hard work. Princess Celestia’s return had meant that ponies everywhere could believe in her again, but it had come at the cost of thousands of pony lives, and millions upon millions of bits worth of damage to the city of Canterlot. The army of Stalliongrad and the army of Bridleburg had both been put to work repairing homes, building spires, and repaving the streets that had been destroyed in the fighting. Pegasi had been dispatched to Bridleburg to place orders for more stone, and the surrounding areas were abuzz with the industry that comes along with city building. In a manner of weeks, Canterlot would go from a ruined city on the edge of destruction to the thriving capital that once it was. Under Celestia’s watchful eye, the city again rose from the cliff sides and into the clouds.
Miles away, Heart Chase, Ridgeline, Bard, and Constance walked along the path through the Everfree forest that had been blazed by the army of Bridleburg. Instead of growing back immediately as it had done in the past few years, the forest instead acted as it should, and stayed cleared. All along the trail to Bridleburg they were met with friendly smiles and heartfelt gifts. Everypony they met thanked them for making Equestria whole again, and everypony brightened their day a little bit more.
They arrived in Bridleburg after days of travel, and found their way to Chase family farms along the roads worn flat by so many generations of Chases. Though it was nearly November, the warmth of the greeting from her family was enough to make it feel like a summer day. The Chases greeted the Knights of Friendship as family, and toasted the return of their prize sister with the fanfare of nobility. In the barn where the Chase family gathered for meals, everypony felt at home again.
With the events of the secession debacle behind them, Red and Quill finally announced their engagement to their families, and in doing so, gave hope to a new era of prosperity not just for Bridleburg, but for Equestria at large. Heart Chase gave her blessings to the union, and assured them that Iron Pick would have done the same. The announcement was met with the same fanfare and joy as Heart’s return home and the celebration expanded to include all the blessings and joy that came from the joining of two souls. Constance’s congratulations to Red included a whispered conversation that left her blushing from the professional’s wedding night tips.
Heart Chase slipped out of the celebration after introducing Bard and Ridgeline to a few of her eligible cousins. She walked across the lawn, and back to her office where it had all began only a month and a half ago. As she shuffled through the papers of accounts old and new, she came upon a thumbnail portrait of her father in a locket that she had forgotten about. Staring back from the locket were those familiar blue eyes, and the same confused expression he had always worn. She smiled at the picture, and remembered her days as a child on the farm. There was no political intrigue, no conspiracy. They all got along, and the sisters all loved each other.
There was the click of a closet door behind Heart Chase, and she turned around to find herself face to face with the sad face of her sister. Her mane had been nearly burned off, and her coat was covered in half healed scars from her escape from the burning city hall. Heart Chase expected a world of anger and hatred from the mare, but instead, there was only infinite sadness in her eyes. Apple Chase threw her arms around her sister, and began sobbing.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “Everything that’s happened is my fault. All of our family, our friends, all the ponies in Canterlot. If it hadn’t been for my greed, Glaive wouldn’t have been able to do anything he did, and we might be royalty now.” She continued to bawl in her sisters arms. “I wanted so badly to be a princess that I was willing to sacrifice you to him. I don’t know why I thought it would work; he probably would have killed me as soon as I stopped being useful. Please forgive me, Heart Chase. I know I don’t deserve it, but I beg of you to take me back as your sister. I won’t even stay; I’ll just go with the other ponies into exile. Just tell me that you can forgive me, or even try. That’s all I want.”
Heart Chase looked down at the crying heap that was her sister. True, she nearly killed her, and she had stolen the body of her husband. She had aided the enemy in a bid for power that, if it had succeeded, would have murdered the goddess that most ponies prayed to every day. Yet despite it all, Apple Chase was her sister, and she was a pony. Heart Chase smiled at her sister.
“I forgive yah,” said Heart Chase. “Celestia told us all that she wants us to forget the past and learn to love each other again. I do love yah, and I forgive yah, but yah can’t stay here. You know us Chases. We ain’t too quick to forgive or forget, and I don’t think some of the family would want yah around.” She pushed away her sister’s singed mane. “Yah can’t say you’d really blame them.”
“I really can’t,” said Apple Chase. “But where will I go from here?”
“Yah can come with me and Knights,” said Heart Chase. “We’re supposed to be shippin’ out at the end of the week from Hackney Cove to Hoofswell. Yah can come with us if yah want.” Apple Chase smiled at her sister.
“You really are the best, Heart Chase,” she sniffed. “You’re a much better pony than I could ever be.”
Heart Chase left her sister in the office to return to the celebration. She walked along the side of the barn, quietly thinking about how she would tell her friends that Apple Chase was coming with them when she came to the wide open door. Inside the barn was the happy laughter of family and friends who had come together to celebrate life and the joys of being together. Ridgeline laughed and danced with one of her cousins, while Constance flirted with the stallions, and Bard performed magic tricks for the fillies and colts.
It was in that moment, she finally realized what her cutie mark meant, and how it applied to her special talent. She could see the value in all things. Instead of seeing a prostitute, a coward, and a berserker, she had found instead a caring soul, a dedicated friend, and a true warrior. The three hearts were for the three ponies that would become more that friends; they had become family.
And if Heart Chase knew anything, it was how to love her family.