//------------------------------//
// 16. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 
// Story: Synchronicity 
// by Sev 
//------------------------------//

	“It’s not a bad view,” Windswept said with a shrug. “I mean, as far as views go. Look! You can see the docks and stuff.”

Princess Aurora huffed, and slithered to the railing of the slightly off-kilter palace of Kelantis. Her injuries were departing, pulled from her body by the magic of the Chaosium and cast aside like minor inconveniences. She'd have fixed herself sooner, but there was the little issue of sparking the Firemare. A little visual aid went a long way when one was attempting to layer on the perceived danger.

The fight had taken them farther inland over the course of the night than anypony had really realized, and as the daylight had finally illuminated the landscape and the horror of the sky had at long last dissipated, the fractured remains of both navies found themselves pushed to the within a stones throw of Mustang Marina's outer border. That was miles of ocean. Landfall just outside Equestria's capital was a damn sight nearer than any of them would ever care to admit to. 

Kelantis, as far as Princess Aurora was concerned, had emerged intact. That was padding the truth somewhat; the palace was fractured and battered, and the mechanical arms and mighty pumps that propelled them were a twisted, ruined mess. It was no longer seaworthy. It was barely even capable of keeping its own lights on at the moment. But it was still standing (mostly) upright, and that, to Aurora, was good enough. Damage could be repaired. It just took time. She had plenty of that.

“We're going to have to do something about the name.” The coral colored Princess said with a disapproving huff.

“Mustang… Marina?” Windswept asked, confused. “What's wrong with that?”

Princess Aurora snorted again and waved a large flipper out over the now brilliant colors that made up the U shaped port. “It’s too… Equestrian,” she said. “Mustang. We don't even use that word. Celestia probably tacked it on here so she could give her warships more machismo.” She crossed her fins and drummed their finger-like protrusions against the railing. “It’s going to have to change. Everypony associates it with the naval docks. We're going to be pinned here a while, and I won't have it feel like we're staring down their cannons every day in the meantime.”

Windswept allowed a tiny smile to creep into the corner of her lips as she looked at her brooding mentor. “They weren’t put there to shoot at kelpies,” she said, “if that's what you're getting at.”

Princess Aurora narrowed her eyes at the shipyards. “No,” she muttered absently, “I imagine not.”

Windswept had to put a flipper to her mouth to stifle her laughter, and gazed out over the cool blues and vibrant greens of the shoreline. What remained of the Equestrian Navy had limped to home, and kelpies had helped usher in flights of survivors on makeshift rafts fashioned from the debris. Both species were intermingling in the surf and sand now, helping to move in supplies, exchanging stories of the battle. Laughing. Embracing. Coexisting. War had bound them together, and the bond was a strong one. For the first time in eons, pony and kelpie were leaving marks on the same beach.

“Horseshoe Bay?” Windswept suggested. Princess Aurora made a face. It was horseshoe shaped, after all. Still, it felt like a… concession. “We'd be their guests,” Windswept added. “They're very kind to their guests.”

Princess Aurora turned from the fractured rail of the control throne room and slid back into the shade, brushing her fin over the ancient walls as she moved.

“Horseshoe Bay,” she called back, and Windswept grinned. 





Twilight Sparkle put her hoof to Canterlot's newly patched palace door, its fresh paint still gleaming in the new day's light, and paused. Just for a moment. Just to catch her breath.

The moment could have lasted hours, and it wouldn’t have been long enough.

She'd hugged her goodbyes to Windswept some hours ago, and to each of the unicorns who had served with her. She'd learned some of their names for the very first time, right there on the beach. Strange thing, to owe so much, or think so highly, of ponies you didn’t even know the names of.

They knew her's, though. All of them did.

She had insisted that Windswept visit Ponyville, legitimately, as soon as she could break away from the mountainous work that now waited for her. Windswept had glowed so brightly at the invitation that Twilight had sworn it a second sunrise. She'd made a friend. Despite all odds, she'd made a friend. With the same mare who had not twenty four hours ago knocked her into a river and sent her unconscious over a waterfall.

One more point for the magic of friendship.

She turned her weary head toward her friends. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were behind her, to the left and right respectively, both tired, messy, but aglow with a sort of silent inner light. The radiance of success. Of victory, over impossible odds. They looked back at her, bruised and tired, and smiled. Neither said anything. Neither needed to. Words would do the feeling no justice, and there was no magic required for the three of them to share it. A soft little laugh spread through the trio. Not at anything specific. Just there, echoed in the memories of a thousand shared jokes and years of close friendship, and the euphoria of a job finally completed.

Twilight felt a tear on her cheek, and reached up to see if it was in fact hers, or yet another feeling echoed back from Rarity. It took her a moment to recall that the link was gone and the Element of Magic was once again atop her own head, but it didn’t dismay her. She had a funny feeling, magic link or not, that Rarity knew just how she felt. They all did.

Princess Luna smiled at them from behind, and indulged them their moment. She reacted with mild surprise when she too was pulled into a hug, but she accepted it appreciatively. The four of them breathed a silent, collective sigh, before letting go.

“Where did you get the admiral uniform, Pinkie?” Applejack asked suddenly, almost as though she'd only just now deemed it safe to approach the subject.

Pinkie Pie beamed. “That's nothin',” she replied, “you should be asking where I keep the cannon!”

Twilight smiled wide, and resisted her laughter, lest she not be able to stop herself from succumbing to hysterics. They were all just the slightest bit unstable; systems flooded with adrenaline, fear, and the rush of success. It was all she could do to not break out in laughter and never stop again. Or tears. The other ponies knew the feeling, and they smiled too, and nodded at the door. Twilight lifted her hoof to it once again, and pushed.

The sound of stamping hooves greeted them like a flood, slowly growing from a low rumble to a tremendous thunder as every pony on every balcony of every wall erupted in momentous applause, stomping the floor with their hooves and raising their voices in cheer. The magnitude of their salute was overwhelming. Twilight could feel it rattle her very bones, and push her mouth into the biggest smile she'd ever worn. And for the life of her, she couldn’t stop. Every face in the crowd beamed their appreciation toward her. Every pony, rich, poor, big and small, regardless of breed or standing, was cheering. Hugging each other, weeping openly, and casting their bottomless gratitude at her muddy, purple hooves. Never in her life had Twilight Sparkle felt so completely loved. 

“Somehow,” Luna spoke softly, audible only to the three little ponies above the din, “it makes it all worth it.”

Twilight didn’t get to respond. A blue blur from behind sent her, Pinkie Pie and Applejack sprawling in a mass across the carpet as Rainbow Dash howled in from the still open, damaged palace roof. She pulled the three other ponies into a hug so tight it made Twilight's back pop, and she returned it in kind. Fluttershy arrived moments afterward with a slightly more graceful approach, and Applejack yanked her into the group as she voiced tiny protests of embarrassment. The five of them embraced on the floor in silence and solidarity, and the roars and cheers of a hero's welcome rumbled to stones of the palace foundation around them.

“Ahem.”

A voice from the doorway behind them, soft but solid, somehow cut through the cheering, and an awed hush fell over the palace. Celestia, blemished by sweat, mud and ash, but nonetheless beautiful and powerful in stature, walked a few steps past the threshold and smiled. “You ladies are ignoring your Princess,” she said with a hint of amusement in her voice, and nodded toward the shattered steps to the throne. Twilight and her friends turned upward, and saw a familiar face smiling back at them. Twilight had thought her smile had reached the physical limits of her face. As it turned out, it had not.

Princess Rarity stood at the top of the fractured stairway, freshly cleared of rubble and debris. She too was smiling giddily, an expression Twilight recognized on her face despite the new features and size of her enlarged body. It was so different, so alien, to see a new pony standing in Celestia's spot. But she beamed with a radiance appropriate to her title, and when she took to the steps, the ponies in the room bowed to her. She cast a humored grin toward Applejack, who scoffed a laugh.

“You'd best forget it,” Applejack said. “I'll never. You'd never let me live it down.”

“Pleeease?” Rarity pleaded in a small voice, “I've got the crown and everything! Just this once! It’s even legitimate!”

“She is the Princess,” Celestia said to Applejack, a sly grin on her face, “It’s only right.” She looked toward the gleaming image of Princess Rarity before her and gave a respectful bow, which brought a collection of gasps from the gallery, including Rarity herself.

“Oh, no! Princess, I-”

“Rarity,” Celestia said behind a light giggle, “you don't get to be Princess of Equestria every day.  Live it up while you have it.”

Princess Rarity bit her tongue and blushed, her smile growing all the wider as, one by one, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow all dipped respectfully before her. They wore amused grins, and looked expectantly at Applejack. The earth pony whimpered like a scolded dog, and dipped down to join them.

“She’s right, you know,” Princess Rarity whispered between tiny fits of quiet laughter, “I'll never let her live it down.”

“As her friend,” Celestia replied, standing again, “I'd expect nothing less.”

Princess Rarity laughed, and her voice cracked just slightly. It was as though she'd finally dropped all the weight off her saddle. She knelt to the floor, abandoning the royal image entirely and embracing her friends, now significantly smaller than she was. 

“Thank you,” she stammered, voice choked with tears. “Thank every one of you.”

She didn't let go until Celestia put a gentle hoof on her shoulder, and smiled down at her. Princess Rarity swallowed back a sob and smiled back, nodding. She stood and turned toward the stairway, but doubled back one last time to embrace the group, who giggled as she hopped forward a few steps to make up for the delay. Celestia waited at the bottom of the stairs, and had to put her hoof over her mouth to restrain her laughter. 

There was only one thing left to do.

“As… ruler of Equestria,” Princess Rarity said aloud toward the assembled throng of ponies, her friends, and her compatriots. “I hereby name Celestia my successor to the throne...”

She paused for a breath. Not unlike the pause Twilight had made just outside the door. A tiny moment of reflection. She saw the looks on the faces of the ponies she loved. Tired, but proud. Proud of her, proud of themselves, proud of their world and what they had done for it. She saw that look mirrored in every pair of eyes in the palace, each and every pony ready for the triumphant return of their familiar leader, and the final dismissal of the horrors that had come to haunt them in the night. She wondered, briefly, how her short stay on the throne would be remembered. If she'd done a good job, or if she should have done things differently. If she'd helped enough. But when her eyes settled on Celestia, the alicorn smiled at her, and Rarity felt the assurance in that gaze. 

She had done just fine.

“... and I release my title as Princess.”

A brilliant golden glow flourished around Rarity's body and coiled upward into the sky, crashing downward upon Celestia and billowing outward in a plume of radiance that washed over the assembly like a wave. When it cleared, Rarity stood at her normal size, the Element of Generosity still on her neck, but the crown of Equestria absent from her brow. And down at the foot of the stairs, restored to her full glory, stood Princess Celestia.

The cheering and rampant applause seemed to echo across every corner of Equestria. The princess, their princess, was back. At long last, all the broken pieces were back together.

“I, um...” Rarity coughed as she met the princess on the stairs, “hope I did alright with the sun.”

Princess Celestia laughed audibly, and embraced the little white unicorn with a wing. 

“Perfectly, little one,” she whispered. “Perfectly.”

As Rarity descended the stairway with her back to the window, Princess Celestia cast a clandestine glance to the sun hanging in the sky, and scrunched her nose just a smidgen, giving the slightest nod to the side. The sun hopped, just the littlest bit, to the left, and the Princess smiled. Just about perfect, anyway. Rarity didn’t need to know.

The white pony arrived at the bottom of the stairs as Celestia arrived at the top, and turned to face her subjects. Her wings rose, and the cheering rose with them. The six little ponies at the bottom of the stairway sat in one unbroken line, and beamed as the Princess directed the applause to them. Twilight caught Rarity's eye, and grinned at her. 

She was pretty certain they were sharing the same feeling. And so was everypony else.





Rainbow Dash sat under the tall willow on the hill on the outskirts of Apple Acres and watched her friends lay out blankets and bring out food. They'd won. It was still… a little tricky, getting used to that. 

Word had come down the line that the Sphinxes had successfully repelled their assailant as well, and all of Canterlot had stood at the edge of the Canterlot Falls and watched as the final Star, far off in the distance among the wilds of the Everfree, had lifted off the ground and soared upward into the sky, where it had vanished. As hoped, it had chosen not to press the advance. It was outnumbered.  And, more than that, it was frightened. This was not the world they had been promised. This was a world of strength, and of unity, and of purpose. And for all their power, they were ill-equipped to fight that.

They were still up there, hanging in a four pointed constellation around the moon, barely visible in the afternoon sun. Fluttershy had asked worriedly about that, but the princess had shaken her head and smiled. She wasn’t certain they could really, ever, truly be destroyed. Much like the Elements of Harmony themselves, they were eternal. But they could be beaten. And it would be a very, very long time before they forgot that lesson.

Twilight was chatting cheerfully with Applejack as the pair of them carted apples out of the barn for fresh squeezing. Fluttershy was sitting on the checkered cloth that made for the floor of the picnic area with Gilda, who was regaling Pinkie Pie with the heroic tale of the yellow pegasus pony's dive to save her friend. Rainbow smiled. She could see Fluttershy's blush from even this distance. Big Macintosh was still apologizing to an irate Apple Bloom for not telling her he was somewhat intrinsic to the running of Equestria and insisting she stay quiet about it. He was arranging food for the girls, and would periodically stop at Applejack's side and check to see if she was alright. Rainbow knew he'd never forgive himself if anything had happened to her, and felt a pang of sympathy for him. She knew he'd have wanted to be by his sister's side when the stars fell. But then, Applejack would have never forgiven herself had anything happened to him, either.

And, despite any jests by Windswept to the contrary, she was the stronger swimmer.

Spike had been running laps between everypony he could find, demanding every detail from every angle as he sat in rapt attention. He'd been overseeing the reconstruction of the library, trying to make use of every second Twilight had been absent so he could feel productive, and keep himself from dwelling on the danger she was in. Rarity had complimented him on his attention to detail. Rainbow had almost had to secure him with a rope to keep him from floating off adrift after that. 

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had been giggling with Rarity all afternoon. A princess. A real princess! Even if it was just for a day, it was every little filly's dream come true. Just about, anyway. Rainbow smiled as she looked at the golden goggles in her lap, and watched the setting sun gleam off the insignia of the Shadowbolts emblazoned upon them. She'd hung up the uniform, but she wasn't ready to part with the goggles. Not quite yet, anyway.

“Rainbow,” came Rarity's voice behind her.

She looked up from her silent contemplation and blinked. “Hmm?”

“Aren’t you coming?” she asked, pointing toward the picnic. 

Rainbow blinked again, as though coming back to reality. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah… I'll be right there.”

Rarity stood quietly for a moment and looked out over the hill beside her polychromatic friend. When she spoke again, it was in a more personal tone.

“You never did tell her, did you.” she said. Less a question than a statement of fact.

Rainbow remained quiet, her eyes fixated at the group below her, frolicking off in the distance.

“You could,” Rarity continued gently. “No time like the present.”

Rainbow maintained her stillness for a few moments more, before rising to her hooves and stretching her wings. 

“Nah,” she said, smiling a bit as she began her trot down the hill. “It can wait.”



----------------------------------------------- The End -----------------------------------------------