Child of Misery
By Nebula Star
Chapter 9: The Gift of Harmony
***
Celestia screamed for the agony in her heart until her throat was raw and could take no more. She fell silent then, the echos of her cry seeming to go on forever in the ruined throne room.
Clink. Clink.
She opened her eyes at the sound. It didn't take her long to find its cause. The emerald crown Achlys had worn had fallen from the corpse and was bouncing down the steps of the dais. As Celestia watched, it finally came to rest right at her hooves.
Celestia glared at the accessory and considered kicking it across the throne room to shatter against the wall. Before she could, however, a warm glow surrounded it. She watched stunned as it floated up into the air in front of her. It was magic, but more importantly it was magic she recognized. And the last thing she'd expected just then. It was harmony magic. But the only thing that could control pure harmony magic in the physical world was the Tree of Harmony itself, or at the very least, the Elements and their bearers when they were separate from the tree.
Several flashes of multi-hued light filled the throne room with peace and warmth and floating in the air around the crown were five other seemingly random objects.
“Boneless!? What are you doing here!?” Pinkie exclaimed seeing the rubber chicken floating along with the other objects.
“Is that the spool of thread Coco gave me?” Rarity asked sounding surprised as well.
“What's going on?” Fluttershy asked sounding nervous. “Why's my breezy blossom here?”
“Looks like there's something belongin' to each of us here,” Applejack said. “And I think they're all things we were given as gifts...”
“Yeah, looks like it. But why are they here?” Even as Rainbow said it the items all began to glow brightly, spinning in place. They watched fascinated as one by one the items began to transform, each into a key shaped like one of their cutie marks. The last, Achlys's crown, became a key shaped like a six pointed star. Twilight's cutie mark. And as the last transformed, rainbow light filled the throne room, washing over all of them. Celestia felt herself renewed by the magic, her wounds healed, and her exhaustion washed away. Then the light faded again, leaving only the six keys floating in front of them.
“The keys! The keys for the chest the Tree of Harmony gave us!” Rarity exclaimed. “I think that... yes, it must be! Each of those items were given to us after we overcame a challenge where staying true to our elements was difficult in some way.”
Staring at the six keys floating in the air in front of her Celestia could only agree, that definitely sounded right. “But... why? Why now? Why would Twilight's key appear? Now that she's gone?”
For a moment nopony spoke, unsure just what to say. “I think that, it was for what Twilight did as her last act...” Rarity said softly. “She must have known what Achlys would do to her if she caused problems. Even so, she did what she could to make sure we found the amplifiers. She did everything she could to make sure we had the best chance we could have. She risked everything for us, her friends. What greater act of friendship could you ask for? As we always say, 'friendship is magic;' and magic was Twilight's element.”
Celestia felt new tears rolling down her cheeks. Rarity was right. Twilight had given her life for her friends, there was no greater act of friendship than that.
Slowly each of the keys floated toward their respective owners and they each took them in hoof, leaving only Twilight's key floating in front of Celestia.
“Princess,” Rarity said softly, looking up at her, her eyes full of compassion. “I think you should be the one to take Twilight's key. You knew her best after all.”
Celestia looked up at the star shaped key floating in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she slowly reached out to it. As she did, the key floated toward her as well, as if harmony itself agreed that Celestia should have it. She took it in her hoof, and the last bit of magic faded from the room. For a moment she just stood staring at the key in her hoof, tears running down her cheeks. But finally she turned to the others. “I suppose we'd better see what it is the tree has for us,” she said softly.
“Your highness,” the sergeant of the guard spoke up for the first time since she'd arrived with Luna and Pinkie. “Canterlot is in disarray. Ponies are going to be demanding to know what is going on.”
Celestia smiled weakly at her concern. “Equestria will keep for another few hours,” she assured the sergeant.
“What shall I tell the rest of the guard for now?”
“Simply tell them to spread the word that their princesses have triumphed and Equestria is safe once more.”
~~~
It was a little over two hours later that a slightly larger group made their way down into the canyon in front of the ancient castle to the cave that held the Tree of Harmony. Celestia had taken a moment to remove her battered armor and replace it with her normal regalia. As her old regalia would no longer fit her and would just blend into her coat besides, Luna remained in her armor though she'd left the helm behind.
When they'd headed out, Applejack had insisted on stopping by Ponyville to let their families know that they were all alright. When they'd stopped by Sweet Apple Acres however, the three crusaders had insisted on going with them to the tree. And after Celestia had given the amplifier she'd worn back to Sweetie Belle, they'd finally agreed to let the fillies tag along.
Now they were finally there. The tree's welcome glow surrounded them as they slowly approached the chest, each with their own key. They placed their keys one at a time until only Celestia was left. Solemnly stepping forward, she carefully placed the key and put her hoof on it ready to turn. Wishing Twilight were there, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, here goes. On three everypony. One... two... three!”
They all turned their keys and the chest began to glow. Stepping back, they all watched as the chest floated up into the air, surrounded by the magic of the tree, and began to slowly rotate. Then the sides split and folded outwards, opening up to reveal what appeared to be an enormous seed that glowed brightly with magic of its own.
Suddenly it leaped from the chest, flew through the air, and planted itself in the ground just in front of the tree. Almost immediately a sprout shot up out of the ground, rapidly growing into an enormous flower, the closed flower bud larger even than Celestia and magenta in color. As they watched, the bud began to open with six slightly pointed petals and within...
They stared in shock as the flower opened and there, floating in the air above it was a pony. A mare with both wings and a horn, a coat of soft lavender, and a mane and tail of indigo, wild and uncut with stripes of magenta and purple in both. Her cutie mark was made up of six stars, the large center star magenta with the five surrounding it white as snow. She glowed floating above the open flower curled into a fetal position, then slowly the glow faded and she was gently lowered to lie within the flower as if it were a bed, while the blossom itself settled only a foot or so off the cave floor.
They all stared, unable to believe their eyes, then slowly the pony's eyes opened. She blinked twice, then slowly raised her head and looked toward them all, confusion clear in her expression. “Girls?” Twilight Sparkle breathed softly.
“TWILIGHT!” nearly a dozen voices shouted at once and the reborn alicorn found herself piled upon by her five closest friends as they all tried to embrace her at once.
“Gaah! Can't... breath!” Twilight exclaimed.
Celestia watched once again with tears falling from her eyes and it was all she could do to not join the others in practically suffocating Twilight with affection.
“But I don't understand. How can this be?” Twilight asked when they finally began to loosen their hold on her. “Achlys killed me... How can I be here?” Finally able to sit up, she began to look around at their surroundings for the first time. “Where are we anyway.” Her eyes were drawn to the glow behind her. “The Tree of Harmony!?” She gasped then spotted the open chest. “The chest!? You opened it!?”
“We sure did, sugarcube.” Applejack said happily, but before anypony could say more three more missiles of brightly colored equine slammed into her, nearly knocking her over. Twilight looked down at the three fillies as they clung to her all somewhere between laughter and tears.
Of the three though, it was Sweetie Belle's reaction that truly surprised her. She was clinging to her so tightly Twilight thought she might be bruised. And as the little white unicorn clung to her, she cried, shedding a torrent of tears that seemed like they'd never stop.
“We never thought we'd see you again!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. Twilight's attention was fully on Sweetie Belle however and, unsure what else to do, she gently embraced the small filly.
“Hey, Sweetie, what's wrong?” Twilight asked gently.
For a moment she didn't answer and Twilight just continued to hold her gently even as the other two fillies stepped back. “I saw what Achlys did to you...” Sweetie Belle said softly, her voice squeaking with the strain. “I watched you die.”
“Oh, Sweetie,” Twilight said understanding. No filly her age should ever witness something like that. She embraced Sweetie Belle a moment more. “It's okay,” she said softly. “I'm back now. I don't understand how, but I'm back.”
Finally Sweetie Belle looked up at her and smiled, still with tears in her eyes, and Twilight smiled back. It was then that she noticed what the filly was wearing around her neck. She laughed “Sweetie! You used one of my amplifiers?”
She grinned then, still with tears in her eyes and nodded.
“You should have seen her, Twilight.” Rarity said putting a hoof on her little sister's shoulder. “She helped fight off a pack of timber wolves when we were searching for Princess Celestia. She picked up three of those ruffians and tossed them off into the forest like they were a hoof-full of pebbles.”
“Really!? It amplified her magic that much!?”
Sweetie Belle and Rarity both nodded proudly.
Twilight let out a laugh. “Well done, Sweetie Belle!” She said, giving the filly one more brief hug and looking up at the rest of her friends. “I'm glad you found the amplifiers. I was worried...”
“That's why you broke the shelf isn't it?” Sweetie asked.
Twilight smiled and nodded. “It was the only thing I could think of that might help... Achlys... what happened?”
“She's gone, Twilight.” Celestia spoke for the first time and Twilight looked up, her eyes brightening.
“Celestia!” She exclaimed as the Princess stepped closer and leaned down to embrace her.
“I thought I'd lost you.” Celestia said softly as she held Twilight tightly in both her hooves and wings. Twilight hugged her back, glad to feel her mentor's wings around her once more.
“I don't understand though, how is this possible? How am I alive, and why here? What was in the chest?”
“You were in the box!” Pinkie chirped excitedly.
Twilight blinked and looked over at her as Celestia stepped back and sat down by the side of the flower Twilight still rested on. “What?”
“Well actually, you were in the flower, and the flower grew from the seed, and the seed was in the box! So you were in the box!”
“I was?”
“I think that the Tree of Harmony must have known what you were,” Celestia told her softly. “It must have known, and prepared a way for you to be reborn, with a life and body of your own. Free of Achlys.”
Twilight glanced back at the tree, but then looked up at Celestia once more seeming worried. “Celestia, I... I swear, I didn't know Achlys was there...”
Celestia gently put a hoof to Twilight's snout, silencing her. “I know.” She said simply.
Seeing Celestia's reassuring smile and the look of understanding in her eyes, Twilight relaxed and smiled as well. She looked out over all her friends once more and this time noticed two other figures that had so far stayed back. The first she noticed was of course the dragon due to his sheer size. She recognized him from the brief glimpse she'd had of Achlys's memories as Deimos, changed back to his true form. Then she noticed the other figure standing beside him.
Twilight gasped, eyes widening. “P-p-princess Luna?” She asked worriedly.
The black alicorn smiled. “It's me, Twilight.” She said stepping forward then and approaching her. “I thought it best not to startle you with my change in appearance,” she said then gave Twilight a hug.
Reassured, though it seemed almost strange to be hugging Nightmare Moon, Twilight returned the embrace. “Achlys seemed certain that you would join her...”
Luna smiled. “And that was her downfall.”
Celestia stepped to Luna's side then and put a wing around her. “Luna pretended to serve her so that she could get close enough to strike. Fooled us all, right up until the point that she put a sword through Achlys's heart.”
Twilight smiled and hugged her once more. “I'm glad you proved her wrong.”
“I'm glad to be free of her,” Luna said softly.
Finally Twilight let go and got to her hooves, trotting over to Deimos, who showed no signs of approaching her himself. “Spike?” She asked looking up at him.
Sadly, he shook his head. “Not anymore. I don't deserve to be called Spike,” he said softly.
“Why not?”
“Spike was a hero, he would have stood by his friends from the start. He wouldn't have cowered and done Achlys's bidding, only choosing to defy her when it was already over...” Deimos said looking away from her.
“But you did side with our friends in the end, didn't you?”
“Only when Achlys was already beaten. Only when she wanted me to save her...”
Twilight smiled. “Then you made the right choice in the end. Nopony can blame you for being scared.”
He looked away. “I still don't deserve to be called Spike anymore.”
“Don't you want to be Spike?” Twilight asked softly.
“Of course I do! My memories as Spike are the best I've ever had...”
With a smile Twilight jumped up and hugged him around the base of his neck. “Then you're still my Spike.”
“But...”
“You have to be able to forgive yourself, Spike. We all make mistakes.” She told him firmly holding tightly to him. Slowly he put one of his fore-legs around her, returning the embrace. He sniffed loudly, tears coming to his eyes. They held out the embrace a few moments more in silence, both glad to be together again. “I think we're going to have to get you a new bed though,” Twilight said finally.
He laughed. “I think the bed is going to be the least of our problems,” he sighed heavily. “It's never easy living with ponies as a dragon. At least before I was small enough for it not to be a problem.”
“Spike,” Celestia spoke up, “I do know an age spell. If you'd like, I could reduce your age back to when you were a smaller size. It won't extend your life, but you'll at least be small enough to continue living in Ponyville.”
“I'm an Orithian Dragon, Celestia, I'm immortal just like Alicorns.”
She shrugged. “Then there's no problem.”
He thought about it for a moment then slowly nodded. “I think I'd like that. But can you make me about pony size, probably about thirty years old or so, at that age I should still have my wings.” He grinned wryly. “I kind of don't want to give up flying again.
She smiled. “That should be easy enough.”
Twilight smiled up at him. “That's what we'll do then, but first. I think I'm ready to go home...”
“Yeah, I think I've had enough mushy stuff to last me the rest of the year.” Rainbow said with a grin.
Twilight looked out at all of them, all her close friends, and realized just what a gift she'd been given. Turning back to the Tree of Harmony, she went to it's base and gently placed a hoof against its trunk. “Thank you,” She whispered from her heart and the tree seemed to glow brighter in response. Then she saw a golden clad hoof touch the tree beside hers and looked up to see Celestia giving silent thanks to the tree as well. She smiled up at her mentor and fellow princess and, together, they turned back to the rest of the girls. “Let's go home.”