While the dragon’s fire consumed all of the mares, they all felt the surges of power that were going through their bodies. A silence had befallen inside of the sphere of magma when they all opened up their eyes again. Whether the dragon knew what he had done or not, was a fact that remained unknown. But even the beast opened up his eyes again. All of them were looking at each other and saw the true nature of the flames.
The flames carried the color of their skin and they felt the magic surging from their hooves to their heads. The arcane powers never seemed to be hurting any of them at all, but real pleasant it didn’t feel either. It felt as if they would be bursting out at any given moment in time. Perhaps that was the whole goal of the fire.
The silence was maintained and the mares turned their gaze to the dragon. Who saw six different colored torches literally standing before him. The scales returned to their more deep purple state as a well meant smile came to his face. He had made peace with the past and knew that the beings he once loved, still lived on. Perhaps not in the way he had hoped, but it was better than nothing.
The feelings of the mares went in fact much deeper than that they had originally anticipated. Not only could they feel their own essence taking power in their bodies, they also felt the essence of the others going through them. Once again were they all conducts for some magical act to happen.
Yet perhaps the fact that remained to be the most mysterious of all, had to be the one that showed them all the dragon’s essence. Suddenly were all the eyes aimed towards the ancient creature and they felt it. They felt the heart of a happy baby dragon beating inside of it. The dragon seemed to have been genuinely happy for the first time in a long, long time.
But the events were far from done. They couldn’t be walking with that much magic in their bodies for an eternity. No, they had to release it in one form or the other. But it was as the words of the dragon said: ‘Only those who carry their aura, can restore Equestria.’
It was confirmed that they carried the aura’s of the mythical bearers of the even more mythical element of harmony and they were charged with perhaps one of the most powerful forces in the land. One that made them slightly blind on their deeds. That, or they were losing brainpower as it consumed just so much.
Nopony was able to move a single step while the thought of rushing out did occur by both Rainbow and Rarity. Whether they liked it or not, they were just vastly different than the normal, honest anthrony. Which made it all the more better that they couldn’t take a single step forward or backwards.
“Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few,” the dragon said and it broke the silence. His tone almost seemed like he was singing the words rather than just plainly speaking them. For there was an odd and calming melody in them and his tone.
What would be happening next remained a fact to the unknown as the dragon rose himself up. “And then, the grand finale shall take place.” The ancient creature closed his eyes again before the scales began to dull out once more. The magic of the dragon was charged and the whole inside of the sphere began to resonate.
The resonation of the sphere originated from the dragon but it quickly managed to find a way to the six mares. In their ears they all caught the harmonious hums of songs lost by time. Words of languages they had never even heard before and the warmth of a cool summer’s day could be felt upon their skin.
It seemed to be an utopia where they had gotten themselves in. They didn’t want to leave the place for they felt comfortable at staying as long as the feelings remained as well. Though that was probably the biggest trap of them all.
They couldn’t stay. They had a duty to fulfill and the dragon realized that fact again. He too had enjoyed the sounds and feelings that were going through all of them. With a deep exhale he initiated the last stage of the spell casting.
In the middle of them all there was a white orb that appeared. A brilliantly white one that would put even Rarity’s skin to shame. The whitest white was revealed to them all even behind their closed eyes. They just had to look away from it for a moment as the shine of it was too powerful. Only the dragon kept on watching over it as he had built in eye protection.
He had to keep looking at it because otherwise there would have been a whole lot more trouble than he both would have liked and could chew. The orb began to expand upon itself as it engulfed the entire sphere in its light.
Just for a moment it seemed like they had ended up in a place that could only have been deemed as a side place of the realm of the goddesses. Where it actually was and how it came to be didn’t matter to any of them.
The charging sounds of their magic had then come into existence. The mares looked at one another with questioning gazes. The discharge was about to happen, that much they knew. But whether they would feel anything from it was up to debate.
Without a warning did the mares began to levitate in the air and they all pumped their chests forwards. None of them had any powers over the actions as they happened though. It almost seemed as if the magic had a mind of its own and did whatever it wanted with the mares.
Moans and groans of pain were given off by all of them as they felt all of the magic gathering in their chest. What happened next was a thing they didn’t knew.
The only thing that the mares heard afterwards was a massive explosion before they all lost their consciousness. Both the magic and the ability to stay awake were gone from each of them. The six mares would have fallen to the ground again where they had fallen asleep.
The dragon on the other end was the one who remained awake and glanced over his sphere after the explosion had settled down. His eyes had a worried look at first before he just nodded to himself. “Time, makes everyone, a little rusty,” he said to himself before his attention turned over to the mares.
They all six beings just laid there, knocked out and vast asleep. He gave a nod to himself before the body dropped itself to the diamond floor once more. He had then silently taken it upon himself to keep a watch over them.
The dragon would protect them from any and all that would try to do them harm. His arms went cross over one another as he began to wait. To wait for anything to come or happen. His mind never would be drifting off from them, he had found those who he had thought to have lost. He wouldn’t be letting them go that easily again.
~~~~
Hours had gone by while the dragon kept on watching over the mares. Nothing of actual interest seemed to happened and he was content with such a thing. They needed their rest after the performance that was done by them. He knew the total amount of energy would have knocked them out any way. The question just was for how long they would have been out for the count.
His eyes constantly shifted over the sleeping mares as his mind brought him back to the days before he was locked up. Time and time again he was reminded upon facts of his older life. Days of joy and sadness all went through him. He loved it because for the first time in a long, long time he could remember events and days that were locked.
His memory had returned to him as well and all it took were six anthronies that seemed to have gotten out of nowhere. The smile that was formed by his lips caused him to look happy once more. Even the fangs seemed to have disappeared from his mouth.
“And all, would have been right once again,” he said to himself before there was another tear that came to his eye. Once again he allowed the tear to travel down his scales before it would be dropped to the diamond floor.
Peace and harmony had returned inside of the sphere and he allowed his eyes to be shut for just a moment. Nothing would be happening, he thought to himself. So he tried to get some sleep for himself as well.
Though the eyelids of the dragon twitched a little bit when the ears caught the sounds of another being entering his domain. But the way of just how it was getting in was vastly different than any other manner he knew. The resonations in his ears caused him to raise his head up in a calm manner. Almost as if he had expected it to come.
The eyes were opened while the head turned around to see what would be happening. A gentle growl was then released from his throat. There was an invader of his domain, an invader that he didn’t granted access to his domain as well. But with the mares still vast asleep, he could only work in whispers and silence. In any other case there would have been a massive roar given off to the invader already.
His eyes had been peeled to the ceiling of the sphere before he finally saw it. A bright, white light managed to penetrate itself through it and levitated over to him. The orb of light came to a standstill almost directly in front of him. The dragon released a plume of smoke through his nostrils to make apparent that it wasn’t welcome.
Though the orb didn’t gave it any heeding. Instead it began to shift its very state of being. It became larger and formed the body of a pony. If any of the mares would have been awake, they could have noticed that there was a striking resemblance between the being in the orb of light and the stone statue of princess Celestia.
That revelation also came to the dragon who only had to give one glance at the creature inside of the sphere. The sphere itself never faded away, instead there were only shimmers of the being that could be watched inside.
“Why are you here, princess? Why after such a long time, you decided to finally pay me a visit?” the dragon spoke to it in his own tongue. He had to make certain that the mares wouldn’t be eavesdropping on the pair of them for reasons untold. Reasons that were best left in the dark.
The being in the orb nodded calm before it replied in the same tongue. The language of the dragons was spoken by the both of them and their conversation was everything but kind. “The reason for that, is because you hold something that’s dear to us both,” the being in the orb replied in a kind, but old mare’s tone.
“The essence of the elements?” the dragon asked just before he looked over to the sleeping mares. “I won’t have you let them take away again. Not unlike last time. You think you locked all of my memories, but they unlocked most of them again. No, if you are going to separate us again, allow me to properly say goodbye.”
The creature in the orb nodded again in a way that it agreed upon the request of the dragon. “I shall grant you that. You have been keeping this place safe for so long, it’s the least that I can do for you. But also remember this, you couldn’t say goodbye to them before because you were so far, far away,” the mysterious being said to the dragon.
The dragon got again a tear in his eye as the being in the orb spoke her words. The golden magical aura began to coat around him as another memory wasn’t unlocked, but given to him. He closed his eyes to relive the moment, for just a moment.
His eyes eventually opened up again as he glanced over to the being with a worried expression. It couldn’t have been true what he saw, right? It couldn’t have been possible that the six of them were capable of doing what they did, right? “How long..?” he asked her.
“Longer then you exist.”
“It’s a circle, an endless circle that must be kept going through the ages. T-Twilight,” the dragon said while he wiped the tear away. His mind had gotten fragile and he didn’t knew what to believe anymore. He could only look to the being in the orb and pray she had one last answer for him. One last answer that may have settled the situation for him.
“All six of them, are part of nature now. They always had been since they passed away. They were absorbed by the elements once their time had come before they would be returned to nature. They are here, they are all around you. You just have to, look,” the other being spoke before it turned its attention towards the group of mares. With a watchful eye it gazed over them.
The dragon did the same and he looked at all of them. There was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time going through him as he rose an eyebrow to them. The scents that were then picked up by his nose turned his gaze into confused.
Naturally didn’t the sniffing go unnoticed to the other being. “You smell them, don’t you? You smell the scents of those you once loved. Go ahead, tell me what you see. There’s never a wrong answer and you are aware of that.” The being in the orb turned its attention back to the dragon. Only to start waiting for the response to come.
“They carry them inside of them, their aura’s matched them all. Could it be, that…”
“That some friendships are stronger than the ending of a life? Yes. That is indeed true. But time needs to bring them together and all of this, was perhaps the only chance to give them that chance.” The being in the orb then released a gentle chuckle before it shook its head. “Those six, always have been remarkable. Ever since they first set a hoof in the world, there was this special connection with all of them. I think, it is the most powerful thing that has ever existed.”
“Friendship, the ultimate power to possess in the world,” the dragon said with a smile going over his lips. The being in the orb could only have nodded towards them before the attention was turned back to the sleeping mares.
“Let them sleep for now. Only when they are about to wake up can you send them back to where they belong. If you want to say your goodbyes to them, now is the time, Eternal One. But never forget, they are always watching you, they are always with you,” the being in the orb said.
The dragon glanced back to the being in the orb before he finally gave a nod in silence. Their conversation was dropped as the being coated in light morphed back into just the sphere. No words were spoken anymore between the two of them as the orb just vanished from thin air. Gone with the wind, was perhaps the right saying that could have been used in the matter.
Yet the dragon wanted to keep it a mystery to himself actually. Shortly after that, she had disappeared, he had one last glance over to the mares and spoke his words in normal Equestrian. “Perhaps you can never replace those who I loved, but you six are getting very close to doing just that. Go now, go back to where you came from and continue to live your lives,” he spoke up to them. His tone calm, collected but hinting towards a sadness unknown.
The green fires in his throat lit the whole thing up before they were shot gently towards and over the mares. The fires began to consume them all, bit by bit they faded out of the place as the dragon fixed his arms upon the floor. He just looked at them all disappearing without a further word said.
Of course he wanted to say the words that were hidden upon his very heart, but the moment was just too beautiful to ruin. The six little and magical vortexes that allowed the mares to travel out of the place had their charm. For each vortex was swirling in the manner that they actually represented the mares.
His eyes couldn’t be torn away from them all as a massive smile could be clearly seen. Only once the vortexes had transported all of the mares out of his domain, he would have spoken the words that were on his mind. Only once he was completely alone would he have been able to speak the words that were weighing down on his heart.
Those words came for a place few had come. The words that came directly out of his heart and were aimed to the mares. They were spoken in the tongue of the dragons themselves. He most likely was the last one in existence, but would make sure that he wouldn’t perish like the rest of his kind. The words spoke of power inside of them.
The fortune they had that they had found one another. But above all, he spoke of the luck that they would be needing in order to continue living their lives. For that was the greatest wish he had for them all. That they could live their lives in the same way that they had done so many years ago. His words were strong, powerful but spoken with a tiny heart.
He meant all of what he said and would show it if he could. The dragon finished his words by a small word to both the sun and the moon goddess before he would spread his wings again. The powerful flaps that were given caused him to be lifted off of the ground and once again into the air.
His entire body then would have began to coat itself within the orange fires while he remained hovering in the middle of the sphere. The time had come once again to be separated from himself in the one way he knew how.
The flames that were created deep inside of his body were shot out through his mouth and they engulfed the whole being. Hidden in the flames did the split of the dragon happen. For with one last roar that came out of the shared body, the thing wasn’t there anymore. Instead there were two similar but smaller roars that came into existence.
Out of the ball of fire they came. One went out the left side as the other choose the right one. The two dragons flew in perfect harmony as they circled through the sphere once again. They were the engine of the core that always filled their lands. They were the engine that kept the whole land, if not their whole world, spinning in control. And yet, nopony knew of his existence except the six mares of the company.
The two dragons continued to soar through the magma sphere, but they never would be hitting any of the sides, yet they remained in the position that they had always flown. The very core must have expanded upon itself. That was the only logical explanation that could be given to it.
“I am the alpha,” the green scaled, purple eyed dragon spoke.
“And the omega,” the purple scaled, green eyed dragon added.
Then they both released a blast of fire towards the ground. It seemed as if they would be drawing something on it, but what it would be remained a thing to be seen in time itself. Time which hopefully would had become a lot kinder to him as he knew that they hadn’t been gone completely from the world.
~~~~
The eyelids of Twilight Sparkle began to twitch before she released a deep groan of annoyance. Something was teasing her eyes and she wasn’t happy about it at all. Whatever was doing it, whoever was doing it, it better be stopped soon. “Lemme sleep!” the mare groaned aloud just before she turned around.
Though where she first had thought to feel the soft mattress of her bed, the realization quickly managed to set in. It wasn’t as soft as her mattress at all. Instead it felt even more fluffy, almost like grass or something like it.
Not to mention that warm feeling that was going across her spine and clothing. The eyes of the mare remained shut. Twilight had turned herself around to face the darkness again. Nothing seemed to be making a whole lot of sense to her and she wasn’t glad about that little fact. Something had to change and she needed to know exactly what was happening, or had happened.
Instantly were the eyes opened up and she rose her body up. The eyes were instantly blinded by something that she hadn’t seen in a long time. Her head lowered itself again as she began to rub in her eyes. “Bloody hell, that just hurts!” she exclaimed a little bit too loud as the migraine also came in her mind.
In her ears she caught something blowing as well as the rustling of things all not heard or seen in a terrible long time. All of it just added up to the fact that they were back on a place where they hadn’t been for a long time. Twilight didn’t understand anything but with her eyes still adjusting, there wasn’t anything she could be going for or doing.
Another groan was given off by her as she hoped that her wildest dreams perhaps had gotten true. That for once during the whole hellish trip, luck had finally been standing greatly in their favor without any nasty side effects.
Slow but sure did the eyes of the unicorn managed to adjust themselves to the light source and finally she could be looking up. The mare opened her eyes fully and saw everything that there was to be seen. Instantly there was just a massive shock that went through her as she never had imagined to see what she saw ever again.
“B-But that’s, but that’s impossible. We were, there a moment a-ago,” she managed to bring out. That was before she rose up from her place. It didn’t make sense whatsoever and the unicorn could only hope that it wasn’t a dream that they had ended up in.
Twilight would be looking at the world which she had left so long ago. She was looking at the world that she took for granted with every waking day. She was looking at the world that she, and the rest of them, called home.
A couple of tears jumped in her eyes. The unicorn just felt glad on the fact that they had finally managed to return to the place where it all had begun. They had returned into the land that they both knew and loved. And to make matters even better, the beautiful sunrise was there. They had all returned topside and Twilight felt a massive weight just dropping off of her shoulders.
In the moment she didn’t wanted to know just how they had managed to get from point A to point B. Instead she was grateful for the fact that they had managed to get out of there safe and sound.
An idiotic sounding chuckle was released by her mouth as she began to just dance in the grass beneath her hooves. It didn’t matter how moist it was from the dew, all she wanted was for all of the locked up emotions to just be vented out and. Which happened actually at quite the enormous rate.
Minute after minute did the rest of the company’s mares woke up from their slumber and none could have believed it. None could believe that they had been actually outside of the place without a scratch. But the gaps in their minds had to be filled in eventually and one day.
Though in the moment did they all pretty much the same as Twilight. They just expressed how happy they were that they finally had returned topside. The massive sighs of relief were given off by everypony as they shook their hands just from happiness. They didn’t knew what to do else, they had done what they had set out for.
They had stopped the terror of the tremors that had been plaguing their lands and the lands themselves were still in one piece. At least from what they could see. But two things still were a debatable thing. The first one being the place of where exactly they were and the second was how Pinkie would react on the fact that she was topside.
Rainbow Dash was one of the last mares to be woken up from her sleep and had a little difficulty to realize what had happened and just where they had ended up. But as soon as she had realized that they were topside again, she took a deep swig of fresh air. It just felt so good to be able to breath actual fresh air and not that musty mess found in the caverns.
The fresh air caused her wings to flutter a little bit and Rainbow glanced over to the skies. Only a cloud could be seen left and right as the warm rays of the sun fell upon her skin. “Oh what the hell,” she said to herself before she jumped in the air. Before anypony could say anything about it, the mare had launched herself into the air and was gliding through it.
She hadn’t been able to fly for such a long time, there wouldn’t have been anypony in the land to take the moment away from her. She needed to fly for her feelings. It was in her blood and the chance was finally there to do it. The chance was given and she took it with both of her hands. A little something where nopony could have blamed her for.
Twilight could understand the sheer enthusiasm that the pegasus carried when she finally turned herself around. Finally she gave her eyes the time to look at the place where they had woken up. For right behind them it stood both tall and prideful.
"So that’s where we are then, makes backtracking a whole lot easier,” commented Twilight to herself while she looked up the face of a mountain. A gentle chuckle went through her as she realized just how far they had travelled, what dangers they had conquered and what troubles they had overcome. The feelings were just euphoric for all of them as they had done the seemingly impossible.
Yet for every action was there always an equal and opposing reaction. The gladness of the mares, turned into sadness. The happiness, turned into fear. The lamia of the group had awaken from her slumber and for the first time in her life she had felt wet grass beneath her. She knew what moss was, but the different texture of grass tickled her too much. Not to mention the fact that she was looking straight in the sun and the skies.
Pinkie Pie was only used to small caverns and caves with a ceiling. The skies above her seemed to have reached out for both an eternity and infinitely. So naturally it terrified her down to the core of her soul. She began to shake upon her spot as the primal fears of her body seemed to have taken her over.
While it was true that she had dreamed about being on the surface on multiple occasions, she had never expected that it would have been looking the way it did. Then again, she was only used to the little pond that had a view upon the Frozen North.
Nopony had told her how the rest of Equestria looked like and she never asked about it. Yet all of that just contributed to the fact that she wanted to return back into the darkness of the mountain. A mountain that she caught within her eyes after a couple turns had made with her body.
How she had missed such a massive thing in the first place was still a debatable question. But she just wanted to go back inside of it and continue to live her life as she was used to. On the other end, inside of the mountain did the Gorgon One still roam free. She hadn’t forgotten that fact and the way he slithered past the cliff above the statue of the pony princess.
A shudder went through her body while she thought back to it. She had escaped a certain death once already, she could start a new life up there, with the mares of the company. Though she would have been the most unusual of them all, who wasn’t to say that she would be captured and taken away?
Too many fears went through the lamia. Pinkie just didn’t felt herself comfortable anymore. There had to be a way to get back to the place she loved being. With her eyes glancing over the partying mares, Pinkie began to slither away from the group. She silently and quickly made her way for the foot of the mountain.
There she would be searching for an entrance way that could be working in some manner for her. She had to find a hidden entrance or a crack inside of the rock that would allow her the access that she needed. She couldn’t stay topside and perhaps they would agree. So instead of with a bang, the lamia would be going out with a fizzle.
Her time with the company was over as she found an opening behind a couple of boulders. It was big enough for her to crawl through and she did that in a heartbeat. The faster and further she would have been away from the surface, the better it would have been to her sanity.
Yet there were always prying eyes in the land that laid above. The doctor had seen what Pinkie Pie did and rushed over to Twilight in an instant. Against who she would whisper the words and gained the full attention of the unicorn soothsayer.
“So you’re saying, that Pinkie just left like that and without a words? Oh this is bad, this is, really, really bad, actually,” said Twilight to Fluttershy. The feelings of joy had disappeared from her eyes. “We, we’ve gotta get her back one way or the other. Who knows what she has to face inside.”
“But, she knows how to survive there, right?” Fluttershy added before she and Twilight made their way to the hole.
“Yes, but I’m not leaving her like that. She’s a friend of mine, Fluttershy. Just like all of you lot are. Only one way to get her back, back where we began.” The two mares looked down into the hole that was big enough to carry them. Hoping they would have been able to catch up with the elusive Pinkie Pie.