//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: Dawn Over Equestria 
// Story: The Deepest Magic 
// by ChronicleStone 
//------------------------------//

     Sky had never felt so tired.
His ears lay flat atop his head as his wings sagged at his sides.  His legs were completely numb, making him feel like he was standing on four columns of rubber.  He could feel himself swaying back and forth as he struggled to bring his sense of balance back into order.  He was a mess.
And he had never felt better.
It was gone.  At last, the Chimera was gone.  His mind was clear.  The dread had disappeared.  Those accursed crimson eyes had vanished.  He was free.
“SKY!!!”
He looked up and saw his friends charging towards him, looks of indescribable joy and happiness radiating from their faces.  All around, he saw ponies of all shapes and sizes, slowly coming to their senses.  He recognized many of them as ones that had been with him just moments before in the showdown with the Chimera.  But now, they were reunited with their actual bodies, liberated from their prison within the Chimera’s mind.
And that’s the single greatest thing that could have happened, he thought to himself.
Suddenly, he was aware that his friends had gone silent and that the faces of every pony were all being directed to a single point behind and high above him.  It only took him another moment to realize that he was standing in the middle of a large shadow.  Slowly, he turned around just to meet the eyes of a rather upset-looking, enormous green dragon.
He stared into the dragon’s eyes for several seconds before he sat back on his haunches—partly because it made it easier to look up, but mostly because he just couldn’t stand on all four legs any longer.  The dragon simply seemed content to keep its gaze fixed on Sky.  The two held their staring contest for what seemed to Sky to have been hours before he finally mustered up the courage (and the breath) to speak.
“Yes?” he managed.
The dragon continued to stare for a few agonizing seconds.  Finally, it closed its eyes and nodded its head in what appeared to be a small bow of sorts.  As it raised its head and returned its gaze to the ponies on the ground, Sky smiled and returned the gesture.
“You’re welcome,” he said, raising his own head.  “You can go to your home now.  The battle is over.”
Without hesitation, the dragon spread its great wings, turned to the south, and took to the air, headed for destinations unknown.  As Sky watched it fly away, he noticed Lily come up on his left and sit down, placing her head on his shoulder again.  On his right, Twilight, Spike, and the others sat down.  Far to the east, just visible over the distant rooftops of Foalumbus, the dawn was breaking.  The clouds above continued to roll back.  The red sky had given way to a softer orange glow, and now, the entire landscape was bathed in a warm golden hue.
“Just look, Sky,” Lily said softly.  “You brought them back.  You saved them all.  You did it.”
He let his head fall ever-so-slightly.  “It wasn’t me alone.  It took me a long time to figure it out, but this wasn’t a battle I could win by myself.”  He glanced to his right, where six mares and one young dragon smiled approvingly.  “I needed all the help I could get.”
He turned back to her as he felt her pull away from him.  She was already staring at him curiously.  “Sky, what happened in there?  We all felt that you needed us, but…just what did you do?”
The memory of the conflict replayed vividly in his mind.  He saw the whirlwind of light and the revived ponies as they joined him in his stand against the Chimera.  But more than anything, he heard the sinister voice of the monster as it told him that the danger to Equestria was far from over.  It may have only been beginning.
And somehow, he knew that it was the truth.
“I did what I should have done all along,” he began.  “I found my strength in the faith and love of my friends.  And what’s more, the ponies that were there responded to that and rose up against the Chimera.  And together, the strength of our friendship won out.”  He forced a smile he did not feel.
Twilight wasn’t fooled.  Her face was etched in concern as she spoke.  “There’s more, isn’t there?”
He flinched.  It was an issue that needed addressing; he couldn’t deny that.  If the Chimera had been telling the truth (which he was convinced that it had been), then there was still a very real threat to Equestria.  But right now, all he wanted to do was just breathe and relax in this comfortable, long-awaited peacefulness.
“Ask me later,” he finally replied.
Twilight made a face, but held her tongue.  Sky was beginning to feel a bit of strength return to his legs and wings…or maybe it was just feeling.  Either way, he could tell that he was recovering.  He hadn’t been entirely certain why he had been so tired, but the more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that it had been the channeling of the Elements that had done it.  He was not one of its official bearers, yet he had still harnessed and utilized their power.  And that was not something that he was necessarily cut out for.  The subsequent results of such action would likely have serious side effects…which would have explained his current state of exhaustion.
He turned his attention to the hundreds of ponies slowly trying to gather their wits and senses as they re-familiarized themselves with their motor functions of their bodies.  “Besides, we still have a lot of work to do.  All these ponies need to be told what they’ve been through and what to do now.”
“And let’s not forget that some of them don’t have homes to return to,” Lily reminded him.
“Mister Sky?  Miss Lily?”
All of them spun around toward the voice to see a light grey filly with a silvery tail staring at them with wide, frightened eyes.  And before Sky could say a word, Lily rushed forward, embracing the young foal in a tight hug.
“Oh, Silent Moment!  I’m so happy to see you!” she exclaimed as her voice quivered.  “You’re safe now,” she continued, looking back over her shoulder at the blue pegasus.  The little filly peeked around Lily as she released her.  “Sky’s seen to that.”
Sky raised an eyebrow appraisingly.  “I thought I told you to stay out of trouble after you spied on us during our date,” he said.
Silent Moment laughed and rushed forward, tackling Sky where he sat.  He allowed himself to topple under the filly’s assault, joining her in filling the air with the joyful sounds of laughter.
Another voice called out.  “Hey!  I’m supposed to be the one that gets to tackle Mister Sky!”
“Countdown!” Lily shouted excitedly.
Sky barely saw him coming.  He had simply let Silent Moment knock him over, but Countdown had shown a certain propensity for being a bit more…forceful…than his sister.  He prepared to call out to the young colt, but he was already leaping through the air in a flying tackle that was directed right at him.
Might as well take it like a stallion.
The air left his lungs in a mighty “whoosh” as Countdown landed on top of him.  The two foals giggled and squirmed as they wrestled with the pegasus they had come to adore.  Sky brought two legs around the young ponies and rubbed the tops of their heads vigorously as they simultaneously began to squeal.
“Noogie attack!” he laughed.
The trio continued to wrestle, heedless of the world around them.  Occasionally, Sky would manage to nudge one of the foals off, only to find himself beneath them again mere moments later.  And I thought the Chimera was relentless.
Suddenly, he heard Lily gasp.  He twisted over onto his stomach, tossing Silent Moment and Countdown in opposite directions.  She was staring past him, apparently (once again) overcome with emotion.  Sky followed her gaze to where two elder stallions stood side by side, beaming proudly at her.  The first was a tawny pony with a snow-white mane and tail, while the second was a unicorn with a dark grey body that contrasted with his light grey tail and short mane.  Even as his eyes recognized them, he felt his head pitch forward into the dirt as he felt a pair of hooves collide with the back of his head.
“Grandfather!” he heard a pair of high-pitched voices squeal in perfect unison.
Pulling his head out of the ground, he saw Silent Moment and Countdown, along with their brother Second Hand, clambering over each other just to get to their beloved patriarch.  Sky rose to his hooves and dusted himself off, watching every moment of the reunion he had feared would never happen.
The eyes of the earth pony wandered across the area before falling on Sky.  As their gazes met, the pony raised his head and narrowed his eyes, though there was a distinct sparkle there, Sky noted.  Feeling as though he was summoned, he sauntered over.  As he arrived, he noticed that Lily had come up alongside him, wearing a smile as big and bright as any he had ever seen.
“Sky,” she said, “I’d like to introduce you to someone.”  She gestured to the pony beside her, who was busy observing Sky with keen eyes.  “This is Grandpa Grain.”
It was a simple enough statement.  But considering all that Sky had been through to get to this point, it felt like one of the most important sentences he had ever heard.
“A pleasure, sir,” Sky said with a nod of his head.  “I’ve waited a long time to meet you.”
“Not too long,” came Grandpa’s reply.  His voice was scratchy and thin, betraying not only his age, but also the disuse that his voice had experienced over the past month.  He gave Sky a reassuring smile.  “It only feels like it’s been a long time.”
Sky caught Lily’s eye for a moment as he let the words hang in the air.  “It certainly has.”
“There’s so much we have to tell you,” Lily began, “I don’t know where to start.  You see, after you disappeared, a really bad blizzard hit Polarmino and—”
“Grandpa!” shouted a trio of ponies (whom Sky recognized as Barley, Hayseed, and Amber) from beyond where Grandpa Grain stood patiently.  Almost instantaneously, he turned toward the voices and wrapped his legs around his grandfoals as they crashed into him.  Following close behind, the remaining members of the Grain and Clock households charged in, filling the air with the sounds of laughter and crying as loved ones that had been thought lost were reunited.
Lily placed her hoof on Sky’s wing.  The look of sympathy on her face was unmistakable.  “Let’s give them their space.”
He nodded and turned back to where the rest of his Ponyville friends sat in a huddle, conversing among themselves.  “You know, Lily,” he said as he walked, “I never told you what it was like while I was in that coma.”
“I didn’t want to ask,” she admitted.  “I figured that if you wanted to talk about it, then you would be the one to start that conversation.”
“And I’m starting it now.  It was…”  He paused to search for the right word.  “It was terrible, yet enlightening, now that I look back on it.”
She arched an eyebrow.  “Meaning?”
“I was separated from my body.  Basically, I was merely a spirit wandering around Equestria.  I couldn’t communicate with anypony, and I had no memories of anything.  I didn’t know who I was, or who you were, or anything about any of my friends.  I didn’t even know that I was supposed to have a body.
“But at some point, I remember seeing a light…er, another spirit…pass near me, and it called out to me.  It was moving very quickly, and I chased it as far as I could.  Somehow, I knew that I needed to be with that spirit, whatever it was.  And I was scared to death of most of the others, but that one…it was special.  I knew that I belonged with it.”
Lily was silent as Sky continued.  “It took me a long time to muster up the courage to go into Canterlot to find that spirit.  A voice kept trying to dissuade me from going.  And now I understand that the voice was just the darkness within myself, trying to keep me from making the choice to chase that light.  But in the end, I went anyways.  And I found it.”
He released a long sigh, though it was not the sound of exasperation, but of relief.  “Lily, you were that spirit.  You were the light that called to me; the one that drew me back.  You were the light that led me back to where I belonged.  And I belonged with you.”
She looked at him with an almost-sarcastic face that bore a hint of mischief.  “Sky, you sound like you’re going to propose to me or something.”
“Once again, I’m not that fast,” he assured her with a smug grin.  “But I wanted you to know…out of all the ponies in Equestria, including my family, the Council, and all my other friends, you were the one that found me and brought me back.  I think that means something.”
“Maybe it does.”  She gazed off into the distance, seemingly lost in her thoughts before speaking again.  “I hope it does.”
Twilight stood up as the pair approached.  “Just look at this, you two,” she said excitedly.  “This is better than we could have hoped!  The Chimera is gone, and all the ponies are safe, too!”
“Not to mention a few griffins and windigoes,” Rainbow added.
“Windigoes?  Where are they?” Sky asked, looking around.
“Look up.”  Rainbow pointed into the air.  As Sky followed her hoof, he saw, hovering high above them, a cluster of five windigoes, all gazing down to where the ponies sat.  “I think they want something from you.”
Sky rolled his eyes.  “They probably just want to know which way their home is,” he explained.  Pointing in the general direction of north, he called out, “Your home is that way.  You’re free to return to it.”
A chilling shriek sliced through the air, silencing everypony where they stood.  Within moments, the windigoes were gone, passing like phantoms into the distance while the dawn dispelled the night.
“Well, that’s one group dealt with,” Rarity said, “but what are we going to do with all these ponies?  Many of them are far from their homes…”
“If they still have homes,” Fluttershy interjected.
“…and could probably use a good meal and a place to stay.”  She shook her head, causing her mane to bounce for a moment.  It was flecked with specks of sand and dirt, but she didn’t seem to notice, or even mind.
“Well, we’re not that far from Foalumbus, are we?” Pinkie said, beaming energetically.  “We could just take them there!  They could stay in some inns and get food and—”
“Sorry to ruin that idea, Pinkie,” Twilight interrupted, “but all that would take money.  And I doubt any of these ponies will have any bits on them at all.  So staying in an inn, even for one night, is out of the question.”
“Well, what else can we do?” Applejack countered.  “They need somewhere to stay, and Foalumbus is the closest place there is.  We can’t just do nothin’.”
“But there are hundreds of ponies here,” Rainbow replied.  “Even if they had money, there’s no way there would be enough room for all of them.”
“Then we’ll just have to rely on the goodwill of the citizens of Foalumbus.”  Every eye turned towards Sky, who gazed longingly off towards the city.  It had been so long since he had been to Foalmubus, and he now found himself eager to return to see his family along with many others he had left behind when he had moved to Coltlanta.  “The train tracks have been pretty much destroyed from the attack, so no train is getting through there for at least a few days.  And we can’t just leave these ponies to fend for themselves.”  He looked around at the crowd, which had begun to gather around where they sat.  Most of them looked relieved to be alive, if not a bit confused and frightened at their current situation.
“But Rainbow is right, we don’t have the room for all of them,” Rarity protested.
“Not in the inn, I agree,” Sky nodded.  “But there are lots of homes in Foalumbus, and I’m sure the ponies would be glad to help out others in their time of need.”
Twilight frowned.  “I don’t think that’s a decision you’re able to make by yourself, Sky,” she said.  “That would be a huge burden to place on so many of the ponies in Foalumbus.  How can you be sure that they could handle such a responsibility?”
“I don’t know that,” he said, taking to the air.  “That’s why I’m going into Foalumbus to find out if the ponies there would be willing to help.”
“By yourself?  That’s a lot of homes to visit for just one pegasus,” Rainbow commented as she spread her wings.
“I’m not going to visit each home,” Sky replied.  “I’m going to go see the mayor.  He can get out the word faster than all of us could do together.  In a few hours, I should have an answer.”
“I still don’t know, Sky,” Twilight said, looking both thoughtful and disturbed.  “Why should the ponies in Foalumbus help out this group of ponies that aren’t even from around here?”
“Twilight, if all this had happened outside of Ponyville instead of Foalumbus, do you think the ponies there would offer to help in any way they could?”
“Well…yes, I suppose they would.  At least, I believe they would.”
“And I believe that the ponies of Foalumbus will do the same.”  He looked to the city again.  “Try to gather everypony up and keep them calm.  If they have any questions, try to answer them as best you can.  I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“You certainly seem to be feeling better.”
Sky glanced back at Lily, who was smiling confidently at him.  And to tell the truth, he was feeling better.  The exhaustion he had felt after the battle seemed to have fallen from him, and he felt much more like himself now than he had then.  He wondered how that had happened when a familiar voice echoed in his head.
You are not alone.  They are your strength, and you are theirs.
He smiled inwardly.  Ah, Princess Luna.  How right you were.  In more ways than I understood at first.  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.  Keep things under control here, ‘kay?”
“You got it,” Spike said, giving Sky a hearty thumbs-up.
As he sped off, he heard the voices of his friends calling the large assembly of ponies together, asking them to remain calm and reassuring them that they were safe.  The Chimera may be gone, but there’s still so much to do.  And even now, I still can’t do everything on my own.  I don’t know that I ever noticed it before, but everypony does so much.  He closed his eyes as he flew, concentrating on the lessons he had learned within the last twenty-four hours.  I’m sorry I took so long to learn those lessons, Princesses.
He heard no voices in response, but an unfamiliar image of the Council came to his mind.  They were gathered in the throne room of the palace, where they all stood silently, facing him with approving smiles.
Thanks.  Now, do you think you could help me convince the mayor to help out these refugees?
He could have sworn that Celestia winked at him.