//------------------------------//
// Chapter 21: Return 
// Story: Melancholy Days 
// by Zurock 
//------------------------------//

	Night passed and morning came.  The tree-filtered sunlight, fresh with the soft morning warmth, gently overpowered the glow of the forest crystals.
Twilight and her friends had a bit of a late start, recovering from the burdensome exhaustion they had picked up from an eventful yesterday.  What's more, they woke up to a palace hollow that was empty save for themselves.  No Drypony was there to have served as an alarm clock, or even just to keep a guarding watch over them.  The only thing left behind for them was plenty of food for a fit breakfast.
The purple unicorn herself felt immensely better, in both body and spirit.  No horn-cap holding her back or chafing her, no fearful and suspicious eyes drilling into her, and, as embarrassing as sleeping in a little had been, a solid night's rest had replenished her strength nicely.  With the Dryponies seemingly still agreeable to letting her and her friends depart (as no ambushes had descended upon them in the middle of the night,) the worst truly appeared behind them.  She was liberated by hope.  Maybe there might still be many hard miles to walk in the Dryponies' journey but the terror of the stormy mountain climb was hopefully all left to the past; only a long descent into the valley of peace ahead.
It was a sunny disposition that seemed to be shared by most of her companions.  The confident Rainbow Dash wasn't slowed down in the least by any leftover soreness that her snoring sleep hadn't erased.  Whatever dark omens had consumed Fluttershy earlier seemed to have completely vanished and she was sweet-voiced and smiling once more.  Beauty work and beauty sleep, assisted all the while by one loyal and faithful dragon, had brought Rarity back to top form and it reflected immediately in the much more delightful state of mind that she then kept.  The good cheer was rounded off by plenty of jolly chatter from Applejack and boisterous laughter from Pinkie Pie, who was far and away her usual perky self except more chipper, if that was possible.
The odd element out was James, who sat off to the side quietly as the rest of his companions all pushed past the last of their groggy wakefulness and prepared themselves for the morning's journey.  It was impossible not to notice the lingering stiffness left in his body and the deep bags under his eyes.
Pinkie Pie was the first to step outside onto the balcony, and she was quick to scream excitedly for her friends to come see.  They all rushed out to get a look at the concourse below where they saw that the early-to-rise Dryponies had already prepared themselves for the trip.
Willow Wise was there, just as she had implicitly promised Twilight she would be.  It wasn't any surprise to see Poppy there also.  The little filly hadn't put on any fresh vines to cover her wings up again but by her broad smile and irrepressible skipping about it was plain to see that she wasn't bothered by her dinky, stubby wings anymore.  Broken Oak's presence was perhaps a bit more unexpected.  He didn't look any friendlier than before, with his narrowed and suspicious gaze being backed by a frigid demeanor.  But it was good to see him only waiting patiently for what was to come next and not stomping about preaching revolution.
What was most spectacular was that there were some fifty or more additional Dryponies who had decided to come along.  They were younger and older, guards and villagers, skeptical and hopeful.  Together they were gathered in order to face the Hamestown ponies in the light for the first time.
The tent of stolen supplies had been emptied too.  The crates, barrels, bags, and more were laid out in organized bunches about the concourse.  Distributed among the many Dryponies were simple carriages, baskets that could be mounted on pony backs, and even pallets that had wooden poles laid through them so that they could be carried by both sides like a sedan chair.  The Dryponies were going to return the purloined goods.
Twilight was overwhelmed with joy at the sight and immediately went down the ramp to greet Willow Wise, happily petitioning her friends to hurry along as she went.  She couldn't wait to get this show on the road.
Ready greetings were given by Willow Wise and Poppy; Broken Oak couldn't be troubled to spare much more than a grunt and a turned head.  As all of Twilight's friends quickly filtered in, one after the other, the friendly Dryponies who had once guarded them while they were imprisoned cordially returned any bags taken from them when they had first been captured.
Not wanting to delay by a single tick of a clock, Twilight offered departure at the very first hint that everypony was ready to go.  It was agreed to swiftly by Willow Wise, and the Dryponies present followed their leader's instructions and gathered up the supplies for transport.
Other Dryponies, themselves staying behind, stood on the side of the concourse, or nestled high in a branch, or perched upon a wooden terrace, and they called out wishes of luck and care to their more adventurous brethren; Prideheart blessings of strength and will; prayers for the best possible future, whether it was one they viewed with dread or hope.
Backed by those farewell calls, the large assembly of ponies (and man, and dragon) departed Heartwood at last.  They left behind the crystal studded lake with its rocky springs, the suspended neighborhoods high in the trees, the open ground of ceremony and judgment, the small island of a hut for prisoners, the grand and gigantic tree that served as a timber palace, and the thousands of adorations of a hero that filled it; the preserved memory of a four hundred year old legacy hewn from pride, faith, pain, and suffering.
The travelers followed one of the rivers out of Heartwood; the very same one that they had followed in just yesterday.  After all, even if there were faster and straighter routes, this waterside road would eventually run its way down to Hamestown anyway.  In addition, the ground around it was slightly softer and a little more devoid of trees, easing things for the crowd and those that carried heavy loads.  The further they went away from the forest village, the more the power of the river declined.  The crystals dotting the running water steadily shrank in number and size until they simply weren't there at all, returning the now-stream to a quite ordinary appearance.  And at that point, the group was hiking through the quiet deeps of the forest.
It wasn't a very talkative journey for the most part.  Few of the Dryponies had anything to say to their still-not-fully-trusted guests and they had mostly discussed everything that needed to be discussed amongst themselves the day before.  Any conversations Twilight and her friends engaged in tended to be insular to their own circle.  Maybe they didn't want to jinx themselves; Hamestown was closer with every step but they still weren't there yet.  Even so, not all of them were quiet and exclusive out of uneasy suspicion.
"Well, you're looking particularly invigorated Fluttershy, if I may say," Rarity told her winged friend as they marched along.
The bright pegasus was positively beaming.  She carried the gentlest smile, stretched wide with relief.  Her steps were soft and light even without any use of her wings, and she virtually danced her way down the path.  Her eyes were all about the forest, rejoicing at all they saw and sparkling with soothed bliss.
In easy, pleased breaths, she answered her friend, "They're out there.  They see us.  They know something's happening."
Spike moaned insecurely, "Oh, uh... is... is that a good thing?"
"It sure is," Fluttershy said gracefully with a raptured smile.
With twinges of forgotten sadness, she looked out into the past and related, "The Dryponies had their own balance with the animals of the forest for a long, long time.  But when the frontiersponies came along, things changed.  The Dryponies, afraid of the settlement and of the future, put their frightened desires ahead of their harmony with the animals.  They forgot how to live alongside the forest.  All the animals of this place, including themselves, suffered as a result."  Her eyes came up settled, peaceful, and fixed upon a happy future.  "Now that they're going to work together with the frontiersponies, everything can finally be brought back into harmony for the forest."
"That is assuming everything goes well, of course," Rarity warned.
"It has to," Fluttershy replied, devoid of fear or doubt.  She was certain without determination; it was just the way things were going to go, simple as that.
"Aw, why wouldn't it?" Pinkie Pie chimed in, skipping along in her usual, buoyant way.  "The Dryponies'll just LOVE the party!"
"Um, pardon me, Pinkie dear," Rarity turned about, littered with apologetic confusion, "but there isn't going to be a party.  This is going to be a tense encounter between some long estranged ponies and other ponies that they less than adore."  She had many doubtful stares for her eccentric friend.  "Not quite a formula for a merry-making event, you see."
Without a shred of uncertainty; without missing a beat in her bounces; Pinkie Pie resisted, "Nuh uh.  I heard Twilight talking to Lazy Wilmow about a 'par-tey' with the frontiersponies!"
"Ugh.  'Parley,' Pinkie," corrected Rarity, sighing.  "It's a fancy word that means, 'negotiations.'"
"But," the pink pony continued to fight, all without surrendering any of her cheerfulness, "she said they were even going to give the frontiersponies a 'present!'"
"They're going to 'present' them with their returned supplies," the frustrated unicorn cleared up yet again.  "I'm sorry dear but Twilight's not inviting the Dryponies out for cakes, gift-giving, and dancing."
"Pfffbbb," Pinkie Pie blew out of her lips, buzzing loudly.  "That's silly."  Her voice suddenly sped up, a vinyl record of a preserved speech spinning faster and faster and faster, rocketing through words like a brakeless train through a station.  "Why wouldn't we have a party to celebrate our reunion with a lost group of ponies who four hundred years ago left Canterlot under the lead of an injured hero who had fought to save Equestria from a terrible dragon but was left so wounded by the encounter that he felt like he had to run away from the world, and who have lived isolated in this forest for so long that they started to build up the idea that their position was the result of wicked machinations by Princess Celestia instead of the unfortunate result of terrible mistakes and tragic circumstances, but now when they actually met us they found out we weren't the monsters they always thought we were and had to face the choice of if it was more important to never move on from the comfortable if dark existence they had been so used to or to try to fix a mistake that happened so very long ago?"
She looked back at her friends, almost insulted.  "Why wouldn't we have a party for THAT?" she asked ardently.
There was nary a reply from any of her companions, who didn't have an answer to her question... if they had even caught the full backstory that she had so rapidly delivered.  They all gave idle glances and shrugs.
Pinkie Pie sensed the air ahead, sniffing not with her nose but with some organ of her imagination.  "There's definitely going to be a party," she decided securely.
"Oh Pinkie, please don't...," Rarity entreated soberly.
But with a strange, happy smile and a sing-songy voice the pink pony responded, "It's not going to start with me!"
"Goodness, I'm feeling a bit faint," the unicorn complained in reply, battered by worries of her excitable friend's plans (or non-plans.)  She had to pause her walk for a moment to hold a dainty hoof up to her forehead, but this only got her to notice the sour condition of her delicate hooves and she whined, "Ugh, and the long walk through all this mud has been absolutely devastating for my hooves."  She pried her hoof away only to feel it tear some sticky perspiration off her face as it went.  "UGH!  And I'm sweating!  Spike!"
With eyes closed, snout held up, and claws that flipped up one by one as he enumerated, the servile dragon professionally and quickly dispensed, "Well, your fur is a stunning shade of white today, your mane is exceptionally well curled and has quite a gorgeous shine to it, and even the forest with all its natural beauty is looking at you with jealousy."
"Ahhh," Rarity sighed, soothed immediately.  She resumed her steps, less heeding of her beauty-hostile environment than before because of the dragon's strong support.  "Thank you, Spike.  I can always count on you to be a perfect gentlecolt."
Spike's nose tipped even higher as he rubbed his fist on his chest calmly.  Then he took a moment to turn his head back and swiftly sneered, tongue out and all, at the Drypony jail guard who had dared to make a pass at lovely Rarity in his absence.
Poppy bounded her way along, sometimes skipping and leaping about, other times merely cycling her little legs quickly to keep up with the larger strides of everypony around her.  She was filled with equal parts blazing anticipation, hungry curiosity, and tender trepidation.
As the journey wore on, her attention caught on to Willow Wise's increasingly sluggish movements.  The old mare's body shook more unsteadily than ever before, her breaths were getting heavier, and the sweat was building in her endlessly braided mane.  She had to swat some thick, soaked braids out of the way of her eyes now and again.
The little filly asked, mildly troubled at the new sight, "Everything alright, Lady Willow?"
But the old mare pulled up a big smile and in between her labored breaths she responded, "Yes, yes, quite so.  I'm afraid it's just been a long time since I've ever had to walk this far!  It's a little much for my creaky old bones."
"Well, I think we could probably rest if-" Poppy began to offer.
"Oh, no!  No need," Willow Wise insisted gaily.  Despite all her fatigue, a spiritual strength shown through.  "Our fate has been waited for long enough.  And I don't want to slow down our travel to hold it off even more.  This journey is hard... but it'll be worth it, I pray.  In fact... I feel more prepared for what is about to happen than for anything that I've been readied for in my entire life..."
The old mare's reply was somewhat beyond Poppy's ability to fully grasp but the little filly nodded happily nonetheless.
She continued along for many paces more, tossing her chief's words about in her head, before she decided to seek extra information.  Deftly shifting ahead of the Drypony crowd, she caught up to Twilight's group and one individual in particular.  "Hey James...," she opened.
The man woke up from his pensive, downcast stride.  "Hm?  Yes?"
"What's going to happen when we get there?" she asked him.
"Oh," James muttered, her question helping to pull him the rest of the way out of his rumination.  He quickly adopted a more genial posture as he slowed his pace slightly to help the little filly keep up.  Warm and friendly, with all his older cousin instincts on display, he explained, "Well... when we get to Hamestown you're going to meet the ponies who live there personally, instead of watching them while hiding in the trees.  And we're going to hope that they forgive you for breaking and taking their stuff."
Poppy's mouth wobbled, bent with guilt.
"Don't worry about it," James assured her, "I don't think that they'll be too upset once they see that you're returning everything you took."  He tilted himself closer to the filly and dropped his voice into an obvious secretive whisper, "And to be honest, their mayor is a pretty silly guy.  He'll probably be 'as overjoyed as an ostrich' or something like that just to see it all back."
"So... they won't be mad?" Poppy wondered, innocently dubious.
"I don't know for sure if they will be or they won't be," he admitted, "but I think they'll understand that forgiveness, friendship, and cooperation are more important for survival than staying hurt over some past troubles and mistakes."
The little filly thought on it for a moment before she came back with only a broad, accepting smile.





The journey ate an appreciable chunk of the morning, though it was shorter and passed much faster than their original trip into the forest.  As they drew towards the end, the entire group felt the presence of Hamestown encroaching upon them.  The green air of the forest slowly thinned as the gasps of light from above grew wider and stronger.  A sensation of rising to some peak, of preparing for an impending fall, crept up into the travelers as the threshold came ever closer.  And then suddenly the stream they had been following pooled into an artificial spring.
Twilight recognized it as the work of the Hamestown ponies; part of the development on their planned expansion.  A small dam plugged the stream, creating the spring and leading a controlled amount of water down a new channel.  On the far side of the water there was a group of forest critters who had been partaking of the artificial bounty.  Their tiny eyes inquisitively watched the travelers as they passed.
And just ahead, the tree line waited.  The last trunks before the edge of the forest were like the bars of a cell.  The space between them flashed with white sunlight and obscured what was beyond.  The mystery of the other side couldn't be seen until, with final breaths, the group crossed through.
As their eyes fought off the full power of the late morning sun, no longer obstructed by mighty trees, they all took in the incredibly unexpected sight before them.  The many buildings and farms of Hamestown were to their left, the continuation of the stream wound its way away from them to their right, and the field ahead rolled openly with a fuzzy carpet of grass, coated with a smattering of construction supplies and supporting a crystal clear view of the Pearl Peaks beyond.  However, a rather large crowd of frontiersponies had gathered there; perhaps all of Hamestown even.  Mayor Quillby was quite noticeably among them, prominent in his fine vest and with his puffy plume of a tail.
But it was the pony who stood by him that shocked the Dryponies, and even Twilight and her friends.  There was a shining, golden chariot hitched to a pair of proud and patient Royal Guards, clad in their equally shining armor.  And standing before them; taller than any pony present, sparkling like a rainbow, clothed in an aura of light all her own, pure and white as brightest daylight; was Princess Celestia; the Princess of the Sun.
All of the Dryponies came to a stop.  Some became leery and cautious, others simply turned more terrified than anything else.  Some felt trapped or deceived.  Dark whispers moved through them, contained perhaps only by Willow Wise's choice to stoically stand silent at the head of their number.
Princess Celestia, as well as the whole frontierspony crowd, looked up as they noticed the arrivals crawling out of the forest.  The pony princess began to approach the Dryponies, with the citizens of Hamestown following up shortly behind her.
Twilight, stunned by the Princess's presence, made a motion for her friends to wait there before she raced out to meet her mentor.  They met halfway, where the unicorn desperately asked with a swift and incomplete bow, "P-Princess Celestia!  I... I wasn't expecting-  I mean... what are you doing here?"
But with a blessed smile and an adoring gaze, the Princess replied simply, "My sister told me that she saw the small beginnings of change in a long held dream last night.  You have worked your magic more quickly and more impressively than I could have ever hoped, my faithful student.  I flew here immediately upon hearing it."  She paused for a moment.  Something subtle took her, and from a very deep, sincere place she added quietly, "Thank you..."
The Princess continued past her student, who fell in behind her, still awestruck.  They, with the Hamestown ponies at their back, walked straight at the increasingly cringing and frightened Dryponies.  There were a small few of the Drypony number, most specifically Broken Oak, who refused to be intimated and braced themselves, ready for whatever final battle was to come.
Princess Celestia came right up to Willow Wise, still so stationary and quiet.  Though she rose above most ponies, the Princess especially towered over the shrunken, elder mare.  There was a cold, frozen moment as they stood before each other with locked eyes; an icy instant that was the culmination of an endless chain of events that at the final second seemed to stretch out into infinity.  Then, the Princess raised and spread her wings.
The Dryponies, all except Willow Wise, Broken Oak, and Poppy, cowered and held their breath.
But the Princess's wings turned flat and tilted down as she slid one forehoof forwards and pulled the other back to lower herself down to her knee.  She bent forward, far and deep, dropping her head so far down that her long horn touched the ground.  The dignified Princess of the Sun held herself that way, bowing before the Drypony chief.  In a voice which was respectful, meek, and even a little contrite, she said to the wayward ponies, and to Willow Wise particularly, "It is my great, humble honor to be before you, descendants of noble Prideheart.  Long ago, to the loss of all of Equestria, and to my personal shame, the hero of Canterlot fled away to these woods.  It is my true hope that you will offer me the chance to earn your forgiveness and your trust so that one day the rift that was made so long ago will finally have the chance to fully heal."
Most of the Dryponies couldn't believe what they had just heard.  They looked to their old leader.  Willow Wise stood still as stone, staring into the bowed Princess; gazing directly into the wicked Sun, whose light was supposed to have been vindicative, punishing, and blinding.
Her aged body started to move at a slow and tired pace.  Shaking with effort, her hooves spaced out and... she eased herself down to one knee as well.  With her own bowed head, she replied, "Princess Celestia; of the Sun...  It is my hope that you will prove yourself and that we might have the strength to give you that chance.  I look forward to seeing it."
"I am glad to hear it," Princess Celestia announced as both ponies rose up as equals.
Twilight and all of her friends traded ecstatic smiles.
The Dryponies recovered from their fearful surprise, stood up straight behind their leader, and truly observed their supposed enemy for the first time.  Darkness gave way to a glimmering awe.  Four hundred years ago night had fallen on Prideheart and Canterlot, but at long last they started to see the dawn.
Broken Oak appeared as the most solid and unmoved of the Dryponies there; never once flinching at the Princess; never backing down in fear.  But in an unusual way he was actually the most frightened of them all.  He glared at the Princess with a strange combination of muddled hostility, uncomfortable confusion, and a disoriented sense of self.  Nothing in him had ever prepared him for a moment like this.  Nothing had readied him for a future that, perhaps, couldn't use him.
He stiffened up when Princess Celestia suddenly looked straight at him.  There was no evil coming out of her gaze; he could see right away, through the very glass of her eyes, that she was full of a misty memory.  Something old, warm, and happy came out of her.
"Are you of Prideheart's line?" she unexpectedly asked him, deep in wonder.
Still slightly wary, he managed to politely answer with his proudest truth: "Yes."
"You look just like him," the smiling Princess told the sturdy stallion.  "The same inner strength, the same noble bearing, the same absolute honor...  I am so very glad to meet you," she said, sending a small bow of her head his way.
For a moment there was no response from Broken Oak.  Then, at last, he found the strength in himself to give her a simple, respectful, acknowledging nod.
James watched the proceedings with relief.  There was no doubt in him anymore about how things would work out now.  Maybe there had been elements of Princess Celestia's ultimate approach to addressing this long-running tragedy that he found disagreeable, some things that he would have never done or risked himself, but in the end she knew what she had been doing: she had tried her best, even if it meant sometimes standing back and letting things unfold as they would.
The man laughed to himself when he looked down and caught Poppy staring at the Princess with an open mouth and wider eyes than he had ever seen.  She was mesmerized by the dazzling sight of the Princess, the reflection of the royal pony perfectly clear in her mystified, glimmering, amber eyes.  It was like she was watching the dancing flame of a candle.  If the little filly was merely awestruck when she had seen Rainbow Dash's wings, she was utterly overcome with a tsunami of astonished wonderment at the sight of the pony princess.
Bending down, James whispered amusedly in her ear, "Not quite what you expected, huh?"
"She's beeeaaauuutiful...," Poppy echoed inattentively.
"Yeah, she's something else," the man admitted, moved by something other than her appearance.
He stood back up and took another look at Princess Celestia.  For a brief moment the pony princess turned and matched his eyes.  Her stare was just long enough to deliver a thankful, though still silly and sly, smile.





It surprised the Dryponies just how eager the frontiersponies were to meet them.  Just as James had predicted, Mayor Quillby was so filled with gratitude by their returning of the supplies that he hardly seemed to recognize that they had been the original thieves to begin with!  The rest of the Hamestown ponies too were so caught up in relief that they simply didn't care to harbor any anger or feelings of vengeance.  All they cared about were that the supplies were back, which meant that they had enough to make it through the next cycle of seasons.
But as the dialogue opened, the frontiersponies became even more eager and friendly.  Hearing about the Dryponies' long survival in the forest astounded them.  They had worked hard to make their way for a few decades; had toiled to pull together and build a solid settlement that was just now seeing the true beginnings of its own success.  But here were these ponies that had been surviving in the forest for CENTURIES!  Now their little settlement had neighbors that they could learn so much from!  And when the frontiersponies heard of the animal troubles that Heartwood had experienced lately they became candidly and profusely apologetic.
It really left the Dryponies in an awkward position.  They had spent so much time discreetly monitoring their enemies.  They had put much into launching a counterattack against them.  And now they were being hosted gratefully by those enemies?  Being apologized to?  Being excitedly beseeched for wisdom?
So much of the fear and doubt that had still held sway over the Dryponies, that had lingered in different nooks and crannies hidden within them, was scrubbed away.  Willow Wise in particular, sitting at rest after the long and difficult journey, was set at immediate ease when she spoke with the quaint, polite, and charmingly amusing Mayor Quillby.  The dialogue started with just the two of them, as their respective ponies sat silently behind them and Princess Celestia mediated between them.  Dusty, sturdy, strong, stalwart, decent, and dedicated ponies on one side... and, it became clear, the same exact thing on the other side, only with black marks around their right eyes.  Eventually, bit by bit, other voices came in to the discussion, speaking not with concern but with casual curiosity.  Slowly the conversation fractured into smaller units and some ponies moved from here to there as the crowds steadily started to mingle.
The structured discussion between negotiating sides leisurely transformed into something else.  Something much less like a council of peace and far more like a family reunion.
As all of this was going on, Twilight and her friends quickly began to feel like extra wheels.  They had done their part already and weren't needed anymore.  There simply wasn't much they could contribute to the ongoing dialogue; each side could speak openly for themselves now and didn't need the support of those who had made first contact.  Even Twilight, who had tried so hard at first to keep up, if only to sate her own need for responsibility and knowledge, found she had very little to give now.  One by one they dropped out, leaving the Dryponies, the frontiersponies, and the Princess to successfully continue to navigate their own course.
Pinkie Pie never seemed to pay much attention to the event at all.  She instead watched the Hamestown buildings with expectation, waiting for something she positively knew was going to happen.  Her jittery excitement hit the tipping point as noon approached and those frontiersponies who had taken the returned supplies came back, and came back ready.  On their backs they carried baskets and baskets of prepared foods; enough for dozens of picnics.  Enough to feed all of Hamestown and its large collection of guests.  Enough to celebrate something amazing.  The pink pony happily broke away from her friends at the sight and threw herself overboard in helping the frontiersponies set up.  It wasn't going to be enough for her that it be JUST a picnic.
Caught up in their many conversations, the by then homogenized participants of the great union never noticed what was going on next to them.  Not until their hunger started to become noticeable enough to interrupt them, at which point they looked up and were struck by the incredible transformation of the field.  There were blankets laid everywhere, each hosting a large and delicious spread of food, all ready to eat.  But more impressively, from out of some unexplainable place, there were celebratory banners hung about, shining streamers stretching from here to there, and colorful balloons tied everywhere.  It was a perfectly inviting picnic party and it was immediately agreed to by all sides that a recess was needed to 'handle' this latest situation.  Together; Drypony, frontierspony, Princess, and all; sat down for a bite to eat.
Twilight sat by herself for a short time, nibbling away at her chosen plate of food and enjoying the profound relief from everything having turned out so well.  She picked herself up when Rainbow Dash and Applejack approached her together.  They were far from concerned but they certainly weren't as placid as she was.
"Is something wrong?" she asked her friends.
"Nah, not so much," Applejack almost casually delivered.  "It's just... hmm... well... what do you think, sugar cube?"  She pointed off to the side.
She highlighted James, who sat on a stump by himself away from any of the mixed groups of munching ponies.  He hadn't even bothered to get any food.  He simply sat and stared off at the Pearl Peaks as the gentlest breezes moved past, lightly tickling his hair and clothes.
Twilight sighed.  After a moment of thought she loosely said, "I don't know."
"Well, maybe we should talk to him now?" Rainbow Dash offered genuinely.
The unicorn thought and sighed again.  "No.  No, not now," she lamented.
"You really think it's a good idea to wait?" Applejack wondered.  "Waitin' seems like all he's been doing.  I been hoping he would get up and do something on his own, and he did back before by coming with us and then in the forest and all, but now that's through and here we are again already," she said sorely, a little disappointed.  "I'm beginning to think nothing's gonna happen that ain't our doing."
"Maybe.  But I think his apathy is something more than that...," Twilight worried.  She studied the man once more and then wearily suggested, "We're all still a little run-down from yesterday.  It might be best if we give everypony time to recover."
"Then again," Rainbow Dash thought aloud, "maybe that's exactly why we should do something right now?  Maybe he'll be too tired to be so... defensive about stuff."  Then suddenly slightly wary, the pegasus pulled back a bit and added, "Though, you were right about waiting for the right moment to act with the Dryponies..."
Applejack hummed uncertainly.  "That's a mite different.  All this craziness here might never have gotten as far as it did if'n somepony stepped up to do something 'bout it sooner.  Like, years and years ago, if any Drypony worked up the gumption to actually talk to these nice townsfolk."
"Again, maybe," Twilight warned, "but I just don't know if we'd only push things in the wrong direction.  I don't want to make things worse..."
"That's always the risk, though," Applejack sympathetically contended.
"I know that," the unicorn sadly agreed.  "I... I just don't know...  Not now, please?"
"Better that we try to at least do something, I think," the farm pony mused.
"I want to try.  We will do something," Twilight promised them.  "Just... not right now."
Rainbow Dash took her friend's pleas in and then nodded her head timidly.  "Okay," she agreed after a thoughtful delay.  "So... in the meantime...?"
"Oh, I'm not saying you need to avoid him or anything," Twilight frantically clarified, "just... don't try to... approach certain things... if you talk with him.  Just... try to..."
"... Be a pal?" the rainbow pegasus proposed as a finish.
"Yeah... I guess that works.  Maybe that's even a smart thing to do," the unicorn said.  "Just to ease him along.  Maybe he does have to be confronted in some way but I'm getting less and less convinced that descending on him all together is a good idea."  To make sure they understood that she wasn't regressing, she swore, "I promise I'll keep you girls involved."
Her two friends looked at her, at him, and at each other before they sighed with a blurred mix of acceptance and concession.
"If that's what you think is best, Twilight, sure," Applejack yielded with trust.
The three friends reaffirmed their faith in each other and then the farm pony and the pegasus were on their way, off to try some more treats from the grand feast.
Twilight peeked at James another time, still sitting lonely and silent on the stump.  She wondered to herself, "What's best...?  I just don't know...  I think... maybe... there isn't a correct answer?"
She was about to turn away herself when her attention was drawn to a little filly blitzing across the field.
Poppy dodged between ponies, skid around spreads, and whirled through the air over whole packs of snacking equines as she rushed straight towards the stump with the man.  All the while she eagerly called for him, "Hey James!  Hey!  Hey James!"
He instantly picked himself up and shelved whatever tired thoughts were stirring in his head, snapping back into a pleasant mood with a smile.  "What?  What is it?" he asked as the little filly braked to a stop in front of him.
"I asked her!" Poppy blurted out happily as she bounced in place.
"Asked...?"
"The Princess!"
"Oh.  About?"
"You know!  Why she misses Prideheart!" the little filly laughed.  In her uncontainable excitement she had genuinely thought he was being cutesy and pulling her leg, but he had actually been unable to follow her incredibly sudden, deliriously fast, and undetailed ramblings.
"Oh!" he grinned, leaning in.  "So, what did she say?"
The answer wasn't remotely a surprise to him but it was still endearing to see how surprising it seemed to Poppy.  "She said she does miss him because he was such a strong and admirable pony, and was her friend!" the little filly burst out in gleeful cheer.  Without stopping, she stumbled over herself as she swiftly continued, "Oh!  She also said-!  She also said that... what she misses most about him-!  What she misses MOST... is how almost every weekend he volunteered at schools to help teach little fillies and colts in extracurry-... extracurrack-... in bonus classes!"  Poppy's face lit up with wide-eyed awe.  "I didn't know that he did that!"
"Well, remember," James stoutly instructed her, "the Princess was his friend all those years ago when he was still around Canterlot.  There's probably lots she remembers about him."
It was like he supercharged the small pony with his implied suggestion.  "Ah!  I've got so much to ask her!" she squealed in delight, springing into the air.
"Better get a move on then!" he encouraged her in good humor.
"Right!"  She wound up to blast off back towards Princess Celestia but then froze herself for just a moment.  "... Aren't you going to eat something?" she surprisingly asked him.
James responded simply, "Ah, I'm not hungry.  Go on.  Don't want somepony else to start chatting her up and miss your chance."
Poppy smiled at him and then took off, roaring back across the field nimbly.
The man chuckled to himself before he, like always, turned back inwards, his happy spirit evaporating like drops of water in the desert.
Twilight watched their whole exchange, noting again the elasticity of the man's attitude.  She remembered her own many encounters with him and how poorly some of them had turned out.  But then she also remembered how he and Rainbow Dash got along in their better times; how they had traded barbs on the train and also in the forest after defeating Broken Oak.  That kind of friend wasn't particularly what she needed to be for him... but she didn't need to be his overlord either; his guard whose only association with him was by decree of a Princess.
She suddenly felt encouraged to be a pal.
Coming up behind him and standing next to the stump, she joked, "So, just not hungry or is it that you're too polite to tell the Hamestown ponies that you don't like their food?"
He woke up again, squinted at her strange jest, and shrugged lightly, "Just not hungry."
Twilight stayed silent with a closed smile for several seconds, letting the air clear from her less than stellar opening before she related earnestly, "I think I owe you a ton of thanks for everything that you did yesterday."
"Oh, no, not really," James immediately absolved himself.  "Before I was ever a part of the equation Princess Celestia expected you'd be able to handle it...  I'm certain now that she was right.  The fact that I was here was just coincidence."
"That doesn't mean you didn't help," she gently insisted.
"Not so much," he still resisted.  "I mean, despite all my efforts, Willow Wise wouldn't budge at all until you threatened her."
The unicorn seized up, startled.  "T-threatened?  I didn't-  I... I didn't threaten her!"
Realizing his word choice had been somewhat unrefined, he loosely adjusted, "Well... not like that I guess... but I mean, it was still... sort of a 'speak softly and carry a big stick' kind of approach."
"M-maybe, but... I wasn't... I wasn't threatening-"  But Twilight stopped her protests when her mind automatically saw the situation from the reverse perspective: what it must have been like for the Dryponies to see their worst enemy blast apart their strongest containment measures and then fling their greatest warrior and a whole contingent of guards into a lake.  She could even see Willow Wise's old, gray, shocked eyes now that she thought back to it.  "... I guess... maybe... maybe I KIND OF was..." she weakly accepted.
"That wild display of magic is really what she needed to see though," James said to try and abate some of her rising self-doubt.  "Something had to break that fantasy she was shielding herself with and I certainly wasn't getting it done."
Twilight stood quiet, letting everything percolate in her head.  Then, slow, quiet, and disappointed, she said, "So for all this talk that I've given you before about... violence, and fighting, and the threat of force... I didn't really have much to stand on, huh?  Once I was backed into a corner, everything I said, everything I insisted, sort of fell flat."
"Don't beat yourself up over it.  It's not like you were wrong when you talked about all that, or for believing in it," he calmly told her.  Somewhere buried inside his voice, she could hear that he was actually deeply impressed.  "I mean, you still did something really incredible back there: you didn't do what you did until you absolutely had to, then you took the smallest possible step with it and no more, and I think you even made it really clear that you didn't like what you were doing.  Maybe there was some force; some violence... but you weren't fighting them.  You were protecting something."  A horse of a different color... that's not what this world was.  It was something more.  "All in all, if this were back home, I'd say that you'd be a pretty good person."
The unicorn tilted her head, trying to parse his compliment.
"I mean, 'good' good," James lazily tried to explain, muttering a laugh to himself.  "Like, 'has a strong heart,' 'always does the right thing' kind of good... and not that... you'd blend right in amongst people... (though maybe you wouldn't stand out as much as I'd thought...)"
"Oh," Twilight let up.  Even with his added explanation his lost thoughts were still a little hard to follow, but she thought that she understood what he was trying to say and appreciated it.  "Well in that case," she offered back with a pleasant smirk, "since you stood so completely against taking ANY action that would have resulted in even a single pony getting hurt, Drypony or otherwise, then I'll say that you'd be a pretty good pony."
But the man turned to the side with a small, bitter scowl and a harsh exhale.  "I'm not a pony," he mumbled grimly.
She pulled her head back slightly, looking offended.  It was obvious that, from whatever place it came from, he had tried to take her compliment in the worst possible way.  "You know I didn't mean it like that," she said stoutly.
He breathed quietly, still looking away, before he responded, "... You're right.  I'm sorry.  I'm just..."  He didn't pick up his sentence again.
Concerned for him all over again, Twilight still stuck to what she had told Applejack and Rainbow Dash.  She didn't push him any further.  For the time being anyway.
After a still minute she deliberately changed the course of the conversation and told him, "So, it looks like everything here is going the right way.  Since our assigned task is complete and the Princess has things in hoof now, I expect we'll only stay on for a day or two more and then take the train straight back to Ponyville."
"Okay.  Sounds good," he nodded with a plain reply.
His soft agreeability, dipped with an emotionless indifference, didn't really surprise her.  Though, in some ways, she had hoped for something more from him.  She looked over across the field at Poppy.  The jubilant little filly couldn't keep still as she breathlessly fired questions at Princess Celestia, who sat there like a loving and attentive mother, enamored by the filly's enthusiasm.  Turning back to James, she asked him specifically, "You wouldn't want to stay just a little longer?"
Caught by her question, he unsurely replied, "Do you want to?"
"I'd certainly like to," Twilight honestly confessed.  "And not just to see this through, though I'm sure everything is going to be okay now."  She twisted her neck and gazed across the buildings of Hamestown, with the ravenous forest just beyond them.  "It's a fascinating place; the crystals and their effects on magic, the community built here at Hamestown, the Dryponies and their culture..."  However, she sighed with contented acceptance and followed up, "But I'm sure that Applejack would like to get back to Sweet Apple Acres, and Fluttershy misses her animals, and so on.  I can't ask them to stay."
"Yeah," James understood.  His voice leaked out weakly, "You all have homes to get back to."
Again Twilight was stung with worry by his barely hidden despair, but she still didn't follow up and she let the comment pass unanswered.  Somehow, some way, she and her friends were eventually going to do something about it.  Not because he had been placed in her care by Princess Celestia; because he was her friend.  She felt ridiculous that she had earlier fallen into her own darkness and had allowed herself to believe that the Princess had been so faithless of her.  The Princess couldn't have assigned him to her as merely a test because that would have been so callous to him; the Princess would have chosen her because she believed in her.
Right?
With an odd twist to her words, Twilight suddenly asked the man, "So... you really think Princess Celestia believed we could handle this?"  She shook her head and added, "At Hamestown, I mean."
He cocked an eyebrow, unsure of what else she could be referring to.  "You basically did handle it," he answered her.
"Well, I just mean... she MUST have known something about all this," Twilight vaguely complained.  "She was there when Wryzard attacked Canterlot and wounded Prideheart.  She was there when Prideheart left.  But... she didn't tell us anything about it even though she must have known..."
James thought for a moment, still not in agreement with the Princess's silence but less bothered by it than before.  He gestured out over the mingled crowd of ponies.  At any given picnic blanket a pony could be found who had a Prideheart mark on their eye, peacefully eating their lunch together with Hamestown ponies.  He shrugged, "Looks like she didn't need to tell you anything, in the end."
"Oh... I guess...," the unicorn murmured in doubt, "... but... I don't understand why.  She had to have known about the Dryponies for hundreds of years, but it never came up?  Nopony else ever learned the full story of the statue in the Canterlot gardens?  Has she never tried to do anything about it in all this time?"
They were questions that had occurred to James plenty of times as well.  But his head filled with thoughts of his father instead.  The long years of an imperfect relationship that had still been backed by love even if it had been stained with feelings of unreliability.  Backed by unquestionable love.  As curious as he was to know Princess Celestia's reasons and feelings, there was a part of him that remorselessly felt like they weren't important.  They were questions HE didn't need to ask the royal pony.
Leaning down in his stump seat, he stared out at the mountains again.  "If she could make perfect decisions every time, she would, you know?" he said simply.  "She's just a pony after all.  Maybe she's just doing the best she can."
Twilight didn't have the words to respond with, and she took her own lengthy gaze at the craggy, snow-topped mountains.
As the long silence passed, the unicorn felt herself grow heavier with thoughts to work through.  "Well," she said to the man, "I just want to say thank you anyway."
This time he didn't fight.  "You're welcome," he quietly acknowledged.
She stood a moment longer before she turned and began to walk away.
"Thank you," he suddenly said back to her.
"... You're welcome," she returned with a small, satisfied smile before she moved on. 
James sighed, falling back into his noiseless, lonely rhythm.
After a few minutes he found himself stirred again when a chipper and familiar voice called out to him, "Hey James!"
Whatever it was about her, it was completely irresistible.  Sitting and perking up, he chuckled as Poppy returned and slid to a stop in front of him once more.  He asked her playfully, "Back so soon?"
"The Princess is SOOOO amazing!" the little filly ecstatically reported.  "And she's so NICE!"
"Hehe, she probably feels the same way about you," the man responded.
Poppy flashed a broad smile, but only for a moment.  As she looked at James, her wide grin began to shrink bit by bit, sensing something odd about him.  She surprised him another time when she asked seriously, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," the man quickly shook off.
The saddened filly continued to stare before she lowered her eyes and, with words that were damp with a morose chill, she said, "You guys came to help these ponies... and now that you're done... are you going to leave?"
Nodding slowly, he answered softly, "Twilight says we'll take the train out tomorrow, or the day after."
Her nose wrinkled, her two bundles of hair drooped, and her eyes moistened.  "... Am I going to see you again?" she asked.
It had always been known to him somewhere inside, but he finally acknowledged to himself now that he felt the same way that she did.
"Hey," he said suddenly.  Reaching back, he rolled the green scrunchie out of his hair; the same one sprinkled in blue glitter that he had received from the Ponyville Spa.  Spreading it around the fingers of his right hand, he showed it to Poppy and told her, "Now, this isn't mine.  I've been borrowing it from somepony else and I have to give it back to them eventually."  He pushed it towards her.  "Why don't you keep it for now?" he offered.  "That way, you'll HAVE TO see me again so you can give it back to me."  With a knowing wink, he jiggled his hand and encouraged her to take it.
Lighting up and filling with a sense of profound trust, the little filly gleefully accepted and immediately promised to take extra special care of it.  She plucked the scrunchie off his hand with her teeth and thought about putting it in her mane before she instead placed her right forehoof through it and double wrapped it so it sat on her leg like a bracelet.
Springing forwards, she threw a hug around his leg.  Patting the back of her head fondly, he leaned down and returned the gesture.





Twilight sat on one of the many picnic blankets, down on all fours, with her plate of food long since set aside.  There was so much running through her head that the field full of ponies seemed to fade away.
All around her, the great picnic luncheon dragged on and on; longer than it seemingly should have.  Many had finished eating but then they had never returned to a more formal dialogue.  The dozens and dozens of individual conversations within the mixed crowd had replaced whatever official discussion should have been taking place.  The two groups of ponies had found themselves so much more alike than they had ever expected that had been naturally able to lose themselves in neighborly conversation.
When Twilight saw Princess Celestia approaching her, she immediately let go of her deep ruminations, got to her hooves, and bowed her head down respectfully.
The Princess stopped before the unicorn, lowered her own head next to Twilight's, and rubbed the side of her face against her student's neck tenderly.  "My faithful student," she whispered with gracious love, "thank you again."
They picked their heads up as the Princess continued proudly, "Once more, the power of friendship that you have so well studied has served to repair a crack in Harmony made long ago.  I could not be more proud... or grateful."
Twilight's face flushed with tickles of embarrassment at the praise and she replied humbly, "Just doing what we were asked, Princess Celestia."
"Don't feel bashful," the Princess encouraged with a simple smile.  "You and your friends have done more for Equestria, and me personally, than can ever be repaid."
The continued honor didn't help Twilight's reddening face at first, but as the unicorn thought about it all, she steadily shifted from happily flattered to sadly uncomfortable.  She matched eyes with her mentor, and the warm and friendly gaze of the Princess invited her to speak her mind.
"Excuse me, Princess Celestia?  If... if I may ask...?"
The Princess nodded with approval.
"Why didn't you tell us about the Dryponies before we left?" she questioned ruefully.  She wasn't upset but there was still a part of her that felt somewhat hurt and it couldn't be hidden.  "Surely... surely you knew that we would find them here?  I mean... maybe it turned out to be true that we didn't need the knowledge for whatever reason but couldn't it have only helped us to know that the Dryponies' mistaken detestation of you all came from a terrible accident?"
Princess Celestia fell somber, reflecting a deep, hurt sadness of her own.  Most painful of all to her was the wounded light coming from Twilight's eyes.  In her refined memory, a voice was summoned up that recited a line that James had told her: "Just be careful.  Cause no matter how it turned out in the end, there was a real count of years there that... my actual honest opinion of my father was that I couldn't rely on him for anything."
Hundreds of years and many uneasy choices...
"Accident?  Mistake?  My faithful student...," she revealed quietly, "... what happened to Prideheart WAS my fault.  I made a regrettable mistake."
Something new struck Twilight and her eyes opened wide.  "Your fault?  I don't understand."
Taking a moment to gather her strength together, the Princess prepared herself for what would be one of the hardest stories she would have to tell in a long time.  She stared off into a vivid past and completed the tale for her student: "Some lessons, even when learned, must be refreshed again and again.  For a great length of time I worked alongside my sister, Princess Luna, to protect Equestria.  When I had to banish her to the moon, I suddenly found myself saddled with my royal duties all alone.  Slowly I forgot what it was like to share responsibilities.  Slowly I forgot what it was like to rely on others.  Slowly I forgot the mistakes that taking everything on by oneself invites.
"I was reminded of the truth from time to time, but at no time was that lesson redelivered to me more harshly than with Prideheart.  In those days I was particularly full of a great and foolish pride.  So badly I wished to never see a single one of my little ponies hurt that I allowed myself to believe I could protect them all, by myself."  She bowed her head in repentant shame.
"When we discovered that Wryzard the Wretched was making his way towards Canterlot, I instructed the Royal Guards to help the citizens take cover and then to remain hidden themselves; I instructed them unambiguously not to engage the dragon.  I PROMISED them I would return after retrieving the Elements of Harmony and protect them."  No matter how much she had moved past the pain after all these centuries, she still couldn't fully fight the tears as she admitted, "But I couldn't fulfill my promise.  I underestimated Wryzard's speed and overestimated my own.  The dragon arrived at Canterlot before I was ready.
"Knowing that Canterlot would be destroyed if nopony acted to protect it, Prideheart defied my orders and stood against the dragon, alone.  Shielding the city itself with his magic, he absorbed into himself the dark fire that was meant to curse our kingdom.  His sacrifice kept the dragon at bay long enough for me to return and banish the beast."
She rested for a few moments, stabilizing herself.  Her aura of calm was always strong but it was obvious to Twilight what a fight it was for her to reveal all this truthfully.  She continued, "But the wounds Prideheart took, the black curse left in his body, in his very soul, was irreversible.  He saved Canterlot, but he paid for it with his own immense suffering.  All because of my profound mistake.  It is a mistake that didn't need to happen.  If I had been wise enough to trust the guards to defend the city together, their combined magic would have been strong enough to stall the dragon without any individual one of them being so greatly exposed to his evil power.
"My faithful student... that is why, since then, I have tried so very hard to remember lessons on sharing responsibility, and of having to hold faith in others.  It is why I retain those like your brother Shining Armor for such important responsibilities."  She pointed down at the unicorn inclusively, saying "And you also.  It is why I trust you to face the challenges that you do.  If I were to fall back into trusting only myself again then one day I would fail once more, to the peril of those I want to protect."
"Princess Celestia," Twilight tried to speak.  She was utterly flabbergasted.  "I... I don't know what to say..."
Growing stronger again after baring her soul, the Princess replied, "It's alright.  I have my regrets and I accept them."
The student thought for a moment, trying hard to take in her mentor's failure; trying to understand and accept its reality; trying to reconcile it with everything she knew and believed.  "Didn't you talk to Prideheart afterwards?" she asked.  "Didn't you apologize to him?  Try to get him to stay?"
"Yes, of course I did," Princess Celestia answered wistfully.  "I offered him my sincerest apologies.  But..."  For a moment, she was at a loss for words.  There was a terror in her that she didn't want to share.  "... It is very hard to describe how hurt he was...  Not just the physical pain his body was left in from the poisonous magic that forever became a part of him.  Not just the agony from the curse that shattered his horn and his magic.  But the feelings of betrayal he was left with from my broken promise..."
"But you didn't mean-" Twilight tried to protect her mentor.
"I didn't mean to, yes.  But it was a broken promise nonetheless," Princess Celestia accepted.  "I asked him for his forgiveness; for pardon for what I had put him through.  But in that time, when his pain was fresh, and new, and strong... he wouldn't hear my requests.  Could I have made him hear it?" she asked honestly, shaking her head.  "In his anger, he announced his revulsion of Canterlot, of magic itself, and his intentions to leave.  After all I had been responsible for, how could I force him to stay?  After everything he had been put through, how could I also take away his freedom to choose?  Could I have held him there, to spare all that followed?  Did I make the right decision to let him go?"
There were no hidden marks of wisdom in her questions.  They were open; unanswered; unknown.
"Princess Celestia... I don't know," Twilight replied, troubled.
"My faithful student," the Princess said, "I don't know either.  I prayed that my choice was right; that the best I could do for him was to let him go."
"Four hundred years ago...," Twilight whispered to herself.  She picked her head up and wondered, "Didn't you ever try to contact him again after he left?"
Again the Princess withheld no honesty and questioned openly, "Should I have?  Maybe so.  Maybe it was only my shame that prevented me from trying.  Maybe it was only my fear which allowed me to believe I could never receive his forgiveness on my own.  That I might only hurt him more by trying."  Even after four hundred years of having lived with her choices, she wasn't at ease with them.  "I abided by his decision for solitude and chose to believe - to HOPE - that one day a pony would come along who could atone for my great mistakes.  That this task was not one I could accomplish myself, but could... SHOULD be left to somepony other than me.  I try to accept that sometimes I must hold faith in others to accomplish what is important to me; to live with fear for the wellbeing of those I love and trust as they fight on my behalf."
Twilight still hardly knew what to say.  She had never perceived that the Princess struggled with such decisions.  She had never imagined insecurity as one of her mentor's traits.
But something jumped to her mind; some tidbit picked up from the many short conversations over the morning's journey; something she hoped might help soothe the Princess's own spiritual injuries, even if just a little bit.  "James thinks...," she began slowly, "... he thinks that, in time... Prideheart came to regret his decision to leave Canterlot.  But that, like you, he was ashamed by the mistake he had made.  And in his shame he couldn't confront his own mistake, so he never returned to Canterlot."
Princess Celestia hummed in deep consideration.  Finally she asked, "Do you believe he ever forgave me?"
"I don't know, Princess..."
Twilight looked away sadly.  But her eyes caught a sight amongst the great crowd of conversing ponies.  Poppy was rolling in the grass with laughter, amused at the expense of an embarrassed looking Broken Oak.  The mighty stallion's mouth was a battlefield, ravaged with the crumbs of a great number of fallen treats from Hamestown's picnic baskets.  He was trying desperately to hide how much he truly enjoyed the food they had prepared; to keep a cold face on his stoic facade.  Meanwhile, Willow Wise tried to chastise them both in an authoritative yet careful, grandmotherly way.  She was speaking with Mayor Quillby still, and she apologized to him for her two Dryponies' impolite behavior; she was distraught at what terrible guests they were being.
Turning back to Princess Celestia with fresh eyes, Twilight changed her mind and answered, "Actually, you know what?  Eventually... he did."