Rarity and Pinkie Pie had broken down completely. Applejack did her best to comfort them but pulled her hat over her face while trying to hide her own sobs. Twilight was frozen with watering eyes and mouth agape. “How...how could you do that?” she choked out.
“I kept my promise to send him home,” Earnest snickered.
“That’s not how a Spirit Traveller spell works!” Twilight yelled back.
“Aaargh!” Rainbow shouted out as she charged Earnest on foot, her left wing flapping while the injured wing hugged against her side.
Earnest’s eyes bugged in surprise before focusing on Rainbow Dash. Overglow appeared on his horn as he prepared to shoot. But then his attention was stolen by his large force field turning black with a purple outline and Rainbow crossed his left cheek with her right front hoof. Earnest stumbled and recovered just in time to see his force field shatter with a loud crash. However, Rainbow didn’t relent and struck again with a headbutt. Holding his ground, he returned it and forced her head down. Relaxing slightly, he allowed her to shove him back before taking advantage of her forward momentum and sweeping out her front legs. Rainbow fell onto her side and Earnest pinned her to the ground.
“You are annoyingly persistent!” he bellowed.
Metal clanged against stone at Earnest’s ten o’clock and brought his attention towards a bronze-clad pegasus soldier who had touched down and was preparing to charge. Several more followed suit around the ruins of his home. A cacophony of clattering armor brought his attention forwards to see a platoon of guards charging him.
Rainbow Dash pivoted herself from under Earnest’s grip and shot her hind legs into his underbelly as hard as she could. Earnest wheezed as all the air left his lungs at once. Clutching himself, he fell forward with the armored horde still rushing towards him. Gritting his teeth, Earnest stood upright and ignited his horn. Shining Armor lunged from the front of the squad. With a flash of green, they were both gone.
Rainbow Dash shot back to her feet and started prancing in circles. “Where’d they go?” she shouted as her friends rushed to her side.
“Now what were you thinkin’ goin’ after him like that?” Applejack scolded. “Did ya’ll want to get hucked off the cliff too?”
“Rainbow, your wing!” Twilight called out. “Are you alright?”
“It won’t move, but I don’t think it’s broken.”
Meanwhile, Pinkie and Rarity had moved to the edge of the cliff and were looking down. Fluttershy could barely be seen curled up on a bluff at the bottom. She was crying, but didn’t look hurt. Pinkie started scanning the waters for Stephen when suddenly Rarity called out, “Look there!” and pointed to the beach where Shining Armor and Earnest Stalwart were staggering to their feet.
Earnest hit the sand rolling. “Not nearly as far as I wanted to go,” he muttered while getting himself upright. Sweat dropped off his face as he stood up and dragged his hooves across the beach.
“Hold it right there!” Shining Armor called out and galloped in front of him.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Earnest demanded.
“I am Prince Shining Armor, captain of Celestia’s royal guard. You are under arrest.”
Earnest’s face contorted in confusion. “No, who are you really?” Earnest asked uncertainly. His head lowered and his eyes darted back and forth as he started pacing. “You’re with those fillies.” He glanced up at Shining Armor. “Are you an imposter too?” He shook his head. “No, your armor is much too detailed. But that means…” Earnest stopped and straightened up, his eyes going wide.
Earnest darted off in a full gallop and tried to weave around Shining Armor. But the captain matched his footwork and checked him to the side. “You’ve robbed three museums, destroyed relics, assaulted my sister, her friends, dozens of royal guards and threw an innocent colt to his doom!” Shining glowered at Earnest. “So whether or not you come back to Canterlot in one piece is up to you. But you are coming back with us.”
This time, Earnest tried to barrel through Shining Armor but was stopped again. Butting heads, Earnest’s sweat almost caused him to slip off Shining’s helmet. But he held fast and stared into Shining’s eyes. “The work that I must now recover from scratch is far beyond anyone’s comprehension and I have been fighting the monsters of the wilderness for much longer than you’ve been alive. So for both yours and Equestria’s safety, I highly suggest you stand down!”
“That’s big talk coming from a burned-out unicorn,” Shining snapped back.
“Then see how ‘burned-out’ I really am!”
Earnest broke their lock and weaved his head around, smacking his crest into the bottom of Shining’s helmet and rattling his head inside. When Earnest tried to trip Shining’s foreleg, Shining broke it with a sprawl and then reared up. Shoving Earnest back with his hooves, he immediately followed up by launching a blast. Earnest ducked and kicked sand up at Shining, who shielded his eyes and gave Earnest an opportunity to attack. Shooting in as fast as he could, he weaved to Shining’s side and kicked his elbow with a hind leg before launching a front hoof up his jaw.
“We have to help him!” Twilight called out.
“What about Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash protested.
Twilight turned to the Pegasus soldiers. “Can a couple of you go down to check on her?”
The two soldiers closest to the edge of the cliff saluted. Shining Armor’s Lieutenant gave a small stomp and shouted, “We need the rest of you hitched up and ready to leave as soon as he’s captured. You two join them as soon as you get Fluttershy to shore.” With a nod, the two pegasi closest to the cliff jumped off, the others returned to the chariots and the rest of the ponies galloped towards the beach.
The soldiers landed behind Fluttershy on the bluff. “Are you alright, Miss Fluttershy?” one of them asked.
Fluttershy whimpered and took a few shallow breaths before choking out, “He…was falling...and flailing...and screaming...Then there was this wind...I flinched and when I opened my eyes...” There was more, but she couldn’t get it out before she dropped back into her forelegs to resume sobbing.
The soldiers looked at each other with wide-eyes before the other took off his helmet and dipped his head into the water. After shifting about for a moment, he came back up, looked at his comrade and despondently shook his head. “I’m…very sorry…” he said. “We’ll send some divers later and he’ll receive the highest honors. But for now, we need to get you to safety. Do you need help getting to shore?”
Fluttershy barely picked her head up to shake it. “I need to stay here in case I can find him.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s alright…Don’t worry about me…” She peeked towards the beach. “Shining Armor needs your help.”
The soldiers looked at each other uncertainly again. “You go help the captain. I’ll stay here in case she needs help,” said the first guard. The other nodded his head and took off towards the beach.
Shining Armor shielded himself from a buck and pushed Earnest back. After throwing another blast, which glanced off Earnest’s left shoulder, Shining moved in for a punch. Earnest came up on his hind legs to trap the punch with the crook of his hoof. With his other hoof, Earnest rattled Shining’s helmet again and pulled him into a headlock. Before Earnest could drag him to the ground, Shining freed himself by slipping out of his helmet and shot Earnest directly in the flank. The elderly unicorn winced but held his ground and prepared to make another attack.
Shining preemptively struck back by levitating Earnest a few feet off the ground and slamming him back into the sands on his side. Moving in with a binding spell at the ready, he positioned himself to cast it on all four of Earnest’s legs. Only for Earnest to pull Shining Armor off balance with a foreleg and turn him over by tripping his hind leg. When Shining slammed into the ground, Earnest wasted no time in standing over his opponent and chambering a stomp, which Shining narrowly dodged and dodged again when two more came. He attempted to shove Earnest off with a hoof while he charged a blast that would make Earnest think twice about attacking again. Instead, Earnest grabbed Shining’s hoof and pulled him across the sand. Shining took the opportunity to get back to his feet but realized it was another trap a moment too late when Earnest shot his hind legs into Shining’s underside and flipped the soldier over his shoulder. Shining Armor exhaled sharply at the point of impact and held his concentration to discharge the blast he’d been building. It wasn’t a direct hit but still got Earnest off him, tearing a section from his cargo vest and marking his skin.
Earnest grunted and stumbled. Steeling himself for Shining Armor’s next attack, he staggered in place in an attempt to keep his weight off his injured legs. Shining lunged with his head lowered and Earnest reared, ready to meet his tackle. At nearly the last possible moment, a mana plow formed in front of Shining’s face and threatened to bowl Earnest into the sand. At the last possible moment, Earnest ran up the point of the shield and jumped over Shining Armor. Landing behind him, Earnest gave a hard buck to Shining’s flank. Shining spun with the momentum and they locked into another headbutt.
Between exhaustion, injuries and Shining’s slight height advantage, Earnest was losing his leverage and widened his stance to compensate with stability. Earnest thought his heart was thumping in his ears at an alarming rate and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold off against the captain. Shining went wide-eyed and started backpedaling a split second before a thunderous crash prompted Earnest to turn around and come face-to-face with three gaping maws and six rows of spiky yellow teeth.
Cerberus roared and barked so loud that Earnest’s ears started ringing and he was blown back by the wind. Rolling twice, he recovered, spat out some sand and stood tall against the beast. “Down, boy!” he commanded.
Cerberus continued to bawl and advanced on Earnest, causing him to step back. Earnest looked about and spotted a giant tree branch that he had been keeping for this occasion. It took considerable effort to magically drag the stick through the sand.
“Do you want the stick?” Earnest called out playfully. Cerberus’ howls and barks continued to shake the beach. Earnest scrunched his face and narrowed his eyes. “I’ve been playing with you for decades. I’ll not have this treachery now of all times! Yield, you behemoth simpleton mutt!” Cerberus crouched and growled loudly, ready to pounce at any moment.
Earnest summoned all of his remaining power and ignited his horn. “I said-”
“Yield!”
A flash of light was accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder. Earnest stood rigid with wide-eyes and blackened spots on his coat. He twitched once and wheezed a puff of smoke before falling stiffly into the sand.
Princess Luna descended with a glowing horn and touched down next to Shining Armor. Princess Celestia glided over to Cerberus to scratch him behind an ear and praise him for being obedient. The squad of soldiers arrived on the scene with Twilight and her friends. Celestia sent Cerberus into his dog house before joining her sister and greeting the others. The soldiers surrounded Earnest, who was simply laying in the sand.
“Is everypony alright?” Celestia asked.
All eyes lowered and Twilight shook her head. “We lost Stephen.”
Steeling herself with a deep breath, Celestia lowered her head to Twilight’s and hugged the others with her wings. After holding it for a moment, she turned around and stepped forward. Two of the soldiers made a hole for her as she strode towards Earnest, who wiggled as if he was trying to get up again, but became petrified with fear when he saw her approaching, her face filled with a mixture of disappointment and anger.
When Celestia knelt in front of him, his eyes locked shut and his head turned away. Celestia reached out and pulled his face towards hers, making him look her in the eyes. He shook in her grasp. “You were such a good student,” she stated plainly.
Earnest began to stutter out, “My princess…”
Her voice turned sharp as she asked, “What made you think your plan was worth this cost?”
“I thought you’d see my way once presented with the finished product.”
“You thought I didn’t know what I wanted for my ponies?”
Earnest tried to look away again and was pulled right back. “I…I thought…”
Celestia’s voice raised ever so slightly. “Did you think I enjoyed losing my first apprentice, my friend?” Earnest winced and his eyes started watering. Celestia’s eyes lowered and she gently placed her hoof on the large black gemstone that was imbedded in Earnest’s chest. “Stephen told me about what Evalrog did for you. Is this any way to repay her sacrifice? Do you think she’d want to see you harming innocent ponies?”
Earnest shakily placed a hoof over his sister’s heart and locked his eyes shut. “I could have done better,” Earnest stuttered. “You deserve better. I could have given you what you deserve. I could have stayed by your side and...”
“Even to this day,” Celestia interrupted. “Equestria and I are grateful for Canterlot. But we don’t need to carve the land to make it’s inhabitants safe. My ponies have their families and friendships to make them strong.” She paused for a moment and stood up straight over him. “You’ve taken the time Evalrog gave you to gain power, which you’ve used to both create and destroy in excess. But when these ponies united in friendship, even without magic, they’ve overcome far more than you could have possibly done by yourself. I had hoped that your travels would make you see that.” Celestia stayed standing but lowered her head and voice towards Earnest. Finally, her voice softened and she said, “I was saddened when so many years passed and I didn’t see you again. But it looks like this is what it’s taken for you to see what’s truly important.”
Earnest hid his face and curled up in the sand. “I’m sorry I failed you.”
Celestia sighed and placed a hoof on his back for a moment. Then she turned and walked away. “Help him up and get him onto a carriage. We’ll discuss his punishment in Canterlot.”