//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: One Heart's Destiny // by Robobrony //------------------------------// Chapter 11 Heart Wing got the new book out again to get another look at the spell that would get them home faster. Once he was satisfied that he had it down, he placed the book back in the bag and began to cast it, focusing on the location he wanted to go, the throne room of Canterlot castle. “OK, here we go, Equestria, here we come.” His horn flared to life, a white dome formed around the two and in a flash, disappeared from their location. Canterlot castle, the throne room, Celestia and Luna had just finished with a meeting with a delegate when a strange wind started to blow about the throne room. A small white orb formed in front of them as they looked on. “What is going on here?” Luna asked in concern. The orb expanded into a dome, in a flash it then disappeared and left behind two ponies. “What the, why did you teleport us to the throne room in Canterlot castle Heart Wing?” Dash asked in confusion. Before he could answer, the voice of princess Celestia was heard. “Heart Wing, Rainbow Dash?” Celestia called in curiosity. Upon hearing their names and seeing the princesses before them, they quickly bowed down. “Your majesties.” They said in unison. The two princesses approached Heart and Dash with smiles on their faces, Luna was the first to address them. “Heart Wing, Rainbow Dash, it is good to see you in the real world, tell me, did you find the answers you were looking for, what did you find, what was your home like?” Celestia chuckled at her younger sister’s enthusiasm. “Luna, calm yourself, give them a chance to talk. Now Heart Wing, I am pleased to see you and Rainbow Dash again, but how and why did you come here?” Heart Wing began to explain. “You see princess,” Celestia cut him off. “You can simply address me as Celestia, no need for formalities here.” “Oh, um, ok. Well pri-uh, Celestia, I did find what I was looking for, and then some, in the place where I found my answers, I found a spell book that instructed me on how to perform a long distance teleportation spell. I used it to teleport myself and Rainbow Dash here. The reason I chose here was because I was hoping that you would help us set up a surprise party for our friends so we could surprise them with our early return.” Rainbow Dash smiled as she looked at Heart, she liked the idea of throwing a surprise party and surprising her friends like that. The princesses seemed to like the idea as well as they smiled at Heart Wing. Luna agreed. “That is a most wonderful idea, sister, do you not agree?” “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. We’ll get started right away.” Celestia agreed. “There is one more thing Celestia.” Heart Wing said before they started with preparations. “There is something I will need to tell you and the others after the party, I will be more than happy to tell you all about what I found, but I think a nice celebration would be better first.” With that out of the way, Celestia and Luna had her servants begin preparations for a small private party for Heart Wing and Rainbow Dash’s return to Equestria. A few hours later down in Ponyville, Twilight and Spike were busy about the library reorganizing the books. They had just finished when Spike burped out a letter. “Hey Twilight, the princess just sent us a letter!” Spike called out. “A letter from the princess, I wonder what she wants, what does it say Spike?” Twilight asked. Spike cleared his throat and began to read it. “*AHEM* Dear Twilight, something urgent has come up, I need you and Spike to bring your friends to Canterlot castle to meet me right away, please come as soon as you can. Signed , princess Celestia.” Twilight was a little confused at the letter. “I wonder what could be wrong, I hope it isn’t something where the elements of harmony will be needed, we are one pony short after all.” Twilight said with a bit of sadness, despite receiving weekly letters from Luna informing her of how Heart and Dash was doing, she still worried about them and missed them very much. “Come on Spike, let’s get the others together and head for the castle.” Spike got on Twilight’s back and the two made their way to gather the others. The girls and Spike all arrived at the castle and entered through the front door, Celestia and Luna was there to greet them with a straight face. They all gave a bow before the princesses. “Your majesties.” They said together, Twilight then stepped forward. “Princess, what’s wrong, why did you need to see us?” “I need to discuss something with all of you in private, please follow me.” Celestia said to her subjects. She and Luna took the lead as the others followed, she and Luna tried hard to hide their smiles as they walked. The group simply followed behind with worried expressions, unknowing of the surprise they were about to get. Celestia and Luna led the group to the ball room, it was a large room with marble floors and a small stage near the back, tables were all set up with balloons, all kinds of sweets on the tables and drinks. The girls all looked on in confusion. Applejack was the first to speak up. “I….I don’t understand, what’s all this about princess?” The princesses finally smiled. Luna pointed to a large present at the center of the room with green coloring and a large red ribbon tying it closed. “Go open that present and you will understand.” Pinkie smiled big as she realized that this was a party. “Oh my gosh, they’re throwing us a party and got us a big present, what is it what is it!?” Pinkie was the only one who was smiling, the others were just confused. “But what is all this for, why are you throwing us a party, not that were not grateful.” Rarity asked. Celestia just smiled as she answered. “Just open the big present and you’ll see.” “Ooh ooh, let me let me, I wanna open it!” Pinkie squealed in delight, she then bounced over to it while the others simply followed behind. Pinkie grabbed one end of the ribbon with her mouth and pulled on it, the bow slowly came undone and the box fell open. “SURPRISE!” Heart Wing and Rainbow Dash called out as they were revealed to be the ones in the giant present. The girls all gained a huge grin on their faces upon seeing their friends after so long. Seeing what was coming, Heart Wing jumped to the side just in time as the girls tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground in a group hug and started chatting up a storm with tearful hellos, asking her so many questions so fast. Heart Wing figured this would be the case, he figured they would be more happy to see her than him since they and Rainbow Dash had been friends longer than they knew him, he had only just appeared in Ponyville and they only really knew him for a few days. He just stood by with a smile on his face as the group said their hellos, but then was suddenly surprised when a pink hoof grabbed him and pulled him into the group hug and was being greeted the same way. He couldn’t believe it, they were all just as happy to see him as they were to see Dash. “Heart, Dash, were so happy to see you two again!” Pinkie cried out. “We sure did miss ya’ll somethin fierce!” Applejack cried out. “We simply can’t tell you how glad we are that your all safe and sound!” Rarity cried out. “It’s wonderful to see you again, but how did you get back so fast, we thought it would be another three months before you got back here.” Twilight asked. “Well,…..if you would get off us for a moment, we’ll tell you.” Rainbow said as she gasped for air. The girls and Spike let the two off, Heart Wing began to explain. “You see, I found a spell book that showed me how to do a long distance teleportation spell, I used it to teleport us back here, I figured it would be a great idea to throw a party to surprise you all with our early return.” “HEY, throwing parties is my thing.” Pinkie cried, but she then started to laugh, she was just happy to see her friends again. The others then joined in on the laughter as well. “So Heart, did you find the answers you were looking for?” Spike asked. The others all looked to him expectantly for an answer. “I did actually, but I would like to tell you all about it later after the party, for now, let’s have some fun!” “WOOO HOOOO! LET’S PARTY!” Pinkie cried out, then out of nowhere, she pulled out a light blue cannon with pink wheels and fired it off, shooting confetti and streamers everywhere. Heart Wing was surprised by this. “WHOA, Pinkie, what is that thing?” Pinkie looked to Heart for a moment. “It’s my party cannon silly.” “But, where were you keeping it, it’s like you just……pulled it out of thin air.” Heart Wing felt a hoof on his shoulder, he turned to his side and saw Rainbow Dash next to him. “It’s best to just forget about it, remember what I said about how random she can be, if you try to figure her out, you’ll just get a headache.” Heart Wing simply nodded at Dash’s advice. The party finally began and every pony, even the princesses, started to enjoy themselves as they ate and talked with a live band that came in moments later to play music for them. Dash and Heart were begged by Spike to tell him and the others all about the adventure they had at that cursed city they stumbled onto. They told them about the training Rainbow helped him with and the spells he had mastered. Heart Wing was also sure to give his personal thanks to each of them for everything they sent him and Dash for their journey. The sun was starting to set and the party was starting to wind down. It was now time for Heart Wing to tell them about what he had found. “Now, before I get too into it, I do have one other thing me and Dash would like to make you all aware of.” The girls, Spike, and the princesses were all gathered around Heart Wing and Dash at the center of the room. Dash began. “During our journey together, I had a chance to see what a great stallion Heart Wing is personally, and during our adventure in that cursed city, Heart Wing let something slip.” Dash smiled at Heart Wing as she remembered how things went between them after that moment. Heart Wing smiled back as he continued. “When I thought Rainbow Dash was dead, I kind of…..said that…..I loved her.” Heart and Dash waited a moment to let that bit of news sink in for the others. “Oh, how romantic, in what you thought was her last moments, you confess your love for her, simply romantic.” Rarity swooned. Heart Wing smiled a little embarrassed while Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes with a smirk. Dash continued for him. “Anyway, after that incident, we started talking at the campsite we set up after getting out of that forest. It was then that he said what he meant and…..well, I kind of realized that for a while after traveling with him, I had the same feelings too.” Heart Wing continued. “She kissed me, I kissed back, now she and I are a couple.” The girls let out a collective ‘AWWWWEEE’. “Well congradulations, I’m might proud fer ya.” Applejack said. “This is wonderful news, I’m so happy for you two.” Fluttershy said. “Yeah yeah, that’s all well and good, but what about what you found, did you find the answers to your questions?” Spike interrupted. Heart Wing could tell he just wanted to know what he found. “All right, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer, I’ll tell you exactly what I found out.” And so, Heart Wing began to tell them all he found, he planned on saving the part about the demon that was to come, the armor and the gem of harmony for last. “So, there you have it, apparently, I am descended from royalty.” “I knew it, I just knew there was something regal about you.” Rarity cheered. Heart Wing then decided to reveal the rest. “There is a bit more though that you all need to be aware of. You see, my parents had to give up their alicorn forms to seal away a demon of misery that would have taken over the world and plunged it into eternal misery. They couldn’t stop it completely, only seal it away temporarily, my parents left me a lot of things to make sure I would have the strength to stop it. A few unicorns volunteered to give up their magic and seal it away in an orb so I could obtain more magic and be stronger. They also left me some armor for all of you as well.” This seemed to confuse the group. Twilight stepped forward. “Wait, why did your parents leave armor for us, how did they even know about us.” Dash filled them in. “Apparently, Heart’s mother had a talent for getting visions of the future, she was able to see that Heart would one day befriend the bearers of the elements of harmony. The armor is supposed to focus and enhance the magic of the elements of harmony and make them stronger. That’s not even the best news, Heart Wing got himself an element of harmony too.” This really got every ponies attention, even Celestia and Luna. “How did you get an element of harmony?” Twilight asked. Heart Wing first moved his hoof up to remove his cloak so the others could see it. He removed his cloak and set it aside for now. “This is the element of trust, my own element of harmony. Celestia, Luna, do you know where the elements of harmony came from?” “I do not, my sister and I were fortunate to hear about them and find them when our kingdom was in peril but we have no idea where they came from, do you know?” “How do you think I got one of my own, it turns out my family came into possession of a powerful artifact that the elements came from, the gem of harmony.” The room was silent for a moment. Luna broke the silence. “So you’re telling us that you have possession of a powerful item that the elements came from?!” “I am, and I would be willing to take you to it and let you have it, if you want, I have no use for it, or the gold in the vault of the castle where I found it.” Celestia then cut in. “I think we have more pressing matters to worry about than this gem of harmony, about the demon you mentioned.” “Princess, the demon that is to come won’t break free from his imprisonment for another year, we have time to take care of other things and prepare for when it comes. With everything my parents left us, we are sure to defeat the monster and destroy it once and for all.” Celestia smiled at Heart Wing’s words. “Very well, I will have faith in you, but I am curious as to how this armor you mentioned is supposed to increase the power of the elements of harmony.” “Perhaps we can see tomorrow, I’m kind of tired and I am looking forward to sleeping in a real bed. *YAWN*” Heat Wing then took off his element of harmony and placed it in the bag which was sitting on the box the two had been wrapped up in. “Very well, you may all stay here for the night, tomorrow, I would like to see the armor myself.” “Come, I will show you to your rooms.” Luna said to the group. They all nodded and followed Luna out the ball room. Once they were all settled in, Luna headed out to raise the moon for the night. Heart Wing and Rainbow Dash agreed to share a bed together, they were both very pleased to be sleeping in a real bed instead of a sleeping bag, it was so much softer and more comfortable. The new couple snuggled up to each other with Dash resting her head on Heart’s neck, the fell asleep in each other’s embrace with smiles on their faces. Morning came, Heart and Rainbow woke up with sleepy eyes but still smiled as they looked at each other. “Good morning beautiful. Did you sleep well?” Heart Wing asked. Dash blushed a little at Heart calling her beautiful. That may very well have been the first time a stallion has called her that. “I did, thanks, how about you handsome?” “I slept great, come on, I’ll bet the princesses will have breakfast waiting.” Heart Wing and Rainbow Dash got out of bed, Heart left his cloak in the bag, he picked up the bag with his magic and placed it on his back. After breakfast, it was now finally time to see what kind of power would come from combining this new armor with the elements of harmony. Celestia and Luna led the girls and Spike to the room where the elements were kept. Celestia used her magic to unlock and open the door the elements were behind. “Heart Wing, would you go ahead and bring out this armor?” Celestia asked. “Of course Celestia.” Heart Wing levitated the bag off his back and brought it to the side of the room, he opened it up and brought out the armor, he then brought out his own element and set it next to the bag for now. “I believe you girls are supposed to put the armor on first, then you put on your elements.” Dash was the first to take hold of hers first, she opened it up, slipped it on and closed it around her body, her wings were sticking out two holes on the side, as soon as it closed securely, it lit up and changed color. “WHOA, check it out, it changed colors!” Dash exclaimed. Her armor had changed from a simple white to match her coat color with a darker shade of blue along the holes of the armor and along the back. She then put on the helmet and the same thing happened. Then something really unexpected happened. The group all watched in amazement as the changes occurred, a horn was now forming on the forehead of the helmet. “No…..way. This thing gave me a horn? How is that possible!” She exclaimed in amazement again. “That’s…that’s amazing!” Twilight exclaimed. “I don’t believe it.” Applejack said in a kind of hushed tone. “Oh my.” Said Fluttershy. “Well,….that was unexpected, I had no idea that was going to happen.” Heart Wing said. Celestia and Luna were at a loss for words, they had never seen anything like this, the armor Rainbow Dash just put on may have just turned her into an alicorn. Celestia then asked a question. “Rainbow,…..do you feel any different?” Rainbow thought for a moment. “I think I feel something, Twilight, how did that levitation thing work?” She asked Twilight. “WHAT, Rainbow Dash, you can’t be serious, you don’t have magic, there’s no way that horn is real.” Twilight explained. “Never mind, I figured it out.” She snickered to herself. The others were stunned again. a light blue aura was surrounding the horn that was on Dash’s head, at the same time, that same aura was surrounding the bag and was lifting up off the ground. “Check it out, I can do magic too! This is so….AWSOME!” Rainbow then set the bag down and the horn’s glow faded out. The girls and Spike all just stared on with mouths agape except for Fluttershy, who was just staring, and Pinkie Pie, who was smiling really big. “OOH OOH, me next me next.” She cried out. She then proceeded to put on the armor before her and, just like Rainbow’s, once it closed, it changed colors to match her coat and mane color. Then, a set of pink wings appeared on Pinkie’s sides. The girls were still amazed at what was going on before them, Dash’s armor had given her a horn and Pinkie now had wings to fly. “ooooh neat, I have wings.” Pinkie then put on her helmet and a horn appeared just like with Rainbow Dash. “I……I…..WHAT!” Twilight was still unable to comprehend what was going on. Celestia finally decided to speak before anything else happened. “Heart Wing, where did you say you got this armor from?” Heart Wing looked to Celestia a little stunned that the armor was giving his friends horns and wings. “Well, in a message my father left me in the castle, he said he hired the best magic crafters he could find to make these. I had no idea they would do this.” Pinkie was now flying around the room with her new wings. “WOO HOOOO, look at me, I’m flying, now I see why you love it so much Dashie.” Twilight called to Pinkie. “Pinkie, get down here, we don’t fully understand this armor, you need to be careful!” “Awwe, but it’s so much fun, all right I’ll come down.” Pinkie then landed next to Twilight. “Well, might as well get this over with.” Applejack said as she eyed her armor. She removed her hat and set it aside for now. She dawned her armor and changed to an orange color to match her coat and the lines around the holes turned yellow to match her mane and tail. Then she too sprouted a pair of orange wings. “Well I’ll be, would ya look at that. I’ve got wings too.” She then placed her helmet on and it too sprouted a horn. “HOO WEEE, if my family could see me now.” Fluttershy was a little quiet as she put on her armor, it changed to a soft yellow to match her coat and the lines turned pink. She then put on her helmet and she too got a horn as well. “Oh my.” Was all she said. Twilight was still stunned, but it was starting to wear off as each of her friends gained either horns or wings or both in the case of Pinkie and Applejack. Twilight then too just put on the armor, it too changed colors to match her coat mane and tail. She gained a pair of purple wings. Then she placed on her helmet which had a hole for her horn. “Wow this is great, I wonder how it works.” Rarity was last, she simply eyed it nervously. Thoughts of what happened the last time she had wings filled her head. “Um, do we really need to do this now, maybe we could wait a bit or something.” She asked, hoping she wouldn’t have to put on her armor. The girls and Heart Wing gathered around her to try and comfort her. Twilight started. “Don’t worry Rarity, it’ll be ok, these wings are much more sturdy than those gossamer wings you had last time.” Dash then chimed in. “Yeah, and besides, if you do fall, you’ll have me to catch you.” Heart then decided to try and help. “Rarity, I promise it will be ok, my father wouldn’t have left me these for us if he wasn’t sure they would work.” Rarity smiled a little at her friends. “Well, all right then.” Rarity then hesitantly put on the armor, the body stayed white, but the lines changed to match her mane and tail color. She too then grew a pair of white wings. Then put on her helmet for the final touch. Finally, heart Wing put on his armor, it had holes on the side for his wings and a hole in the helmet for his horn. The lined changed color to match his mane and tail. “Looks like were ready for the elements. Princess, if you please.” Celestia then levitated the box containing the elements of harmony over to the group, she opened the box and levitated the elements out. One was a tiara for Twilight with a purple star adorning it. The others were on gold necklaces, Dash’s was a red lightning bolt, Pinkie’s was a blue balloon, Applejack’s was an orange apple, Rarity’s was a violet diamond, and Fluttershy’s was a pink butterfly. The girls each took their element of harmony in their hooves, Heart levitated his over to him and took it in his hoof. “All right, let’s put them on together. Ready?” Heart said to the group. “Ready.” They all said in unison. They all put on their elements together. Once on, the elements of harmony started to glow, matching their color. They got brighter and brighter, Celestia, Luna, and Spike all had to shield their eyes from the intense light that filled the room. The light was emmiting a kind of magical whirring sound as the glow intensified even more. Finally, a surge of magical energy erupted from each of them in a boom. The light finally faded, the girls and Heart all got up to look at what had happened. Twilight was the first to look around, the first one she saw was Spike looking up at her, but something was off, had he always seemed that short. “Spike, why do you seem so small?”