“Well, everything’s taken into account for and we’re officially allowed to enter the harbor of Canterlot,” said Applejack to each of them after she had returned upon the deck of the little vessel. Naturally there was the feeling of relief that went through all of the mares. For they were allowed to leave the small vessel and return to their lives as they normally would have been doing and gone about. At least that would have been the plan for three of them.
Sighs and exhales of utter relief were given off by the anthronies before the admiral placed her hands in her side. Though Rainbow was having a little question for her. One that was actually boggling in the minds of all of them in the moment. “What did you say to him, actually?” she asked to the admiral with a slight curiosity found within her tone.
The earth anthrony released a gentle chuckle before she shook her head lightly from side to side. “Rainbow, if Ah told ya what I had told him, yar mind would spin ‘round like mad. A lot of customs had to be done and things by the books,” replied Applejack to Rainbow before a gentle smirk went across her lips. It almost seemed as if the admiral had taken some kind of strange delight in the fact that she could confuse the major of the air force.
Still, it didn’t took away from the very fact that they were allowed to leave the vessel as it was. The unicorn soothsayer felt the relief crawling up from the deepest part of her soul and was actually relieved that everything was over. Their entire journey had just been ended by those words. The company of mares had feared that the time would have come but finally was it there.
Yet when the mares were willing to unload themselves from the vessel, the eyes of the soothsayer shot over to the helm of the ship. Something had been missing from there for quite some time already and she only just noticed that. “Girls, wait here for a moment,” she spoke before her legs rushed her over to the stairs. The rest of the mares had a confused gaze within their eyes. They all tried to understand what she meant with her words.
While the mare rushed up the steps, she ended at the place where it all had begun for her. She stood at the raised hind deck and looked over it with a set of strange eyes. She was searching for something. Something that she swore had been there before she walked over to the bow of the vessel. “Where are you?” she whispered to herself.
In her eyes she wanted to have found the old sailor himself. The old stallion with whom she had conversed for such a long time before. Yet he didn’t appear to be on the ship itself anymore. That fact alone caused the mare to raise an eyebrow or two. She didn’t understood the reasoning that he could have had behind him if he just left.
Twilight would have gone over to the stairs again and scratched herself behind the head for a moment. There must have been a place where he had hidden himself, right? “Girls, I’ll take a look in the captain’s cabin. I’m afraid that we miss somepony,” she said louder to all of them.
Fluttershy then rose an eyebrow up. The doctor didn’t seemed to be truly understanding what was meant with the words. “Who do we miss then? Outside of Rarity.” Her words were filled with an unusual curiosity but also with a gentle fear for the words that were about to come.
“I think, I’m pretty sure that we miss the old stallion, matter of fact. I, haven’t seen him ever since I came back on deck again,” returned Twilight just before she made the turn to the cabin.
The four other mares couldn’t help themselves but to raise an eyebrow to the words of Twilight. Though she was right on the matter. None of them had seen the aged stallion anymore after they had docked at the port. Thoughts of literal idiocy went through each of them as they didn’t really believe that he could have just left them like that.
On the other end of the spectrum, he could have just done it. The matter was something that confused a lot of the mares perhaps a little bit too much for their liking. But they still had to wait for Twilight. The unicorn had placed her hand upon the doorknob that led her to the captain’s cabin.
Hesitation then struck her. She didn’t wanted to disturb the old stallion from his possible sleep. Yet she had to know whether or not he was still there. She had to make certain that everything was still okay with him. It was the least that she could have done for the work that he had done for the group of mares. Her hand actually began to tremble just a little bit before she turned the knob.
The sounds all echoed within the ears of the mares while as they awaited in calm whatever it was that Twilight wanted to do. The mare had opened the door and wanted to push it open. But the second that she wanted to make said push, there was nothing that even bunged. The wooden door seemed to have been stuck right inside of the hinges.
It almost seemed like that the door was locked from the inside. That fact alone confused the unicorn a whole lot more than it should have been doing. Yet she scratched herself behind the head once more. Mystery upon mystery had been given to them time and time again. Though that matter was perhaps one of the most curious ones so far.
“Won’t budge?” Applejack asked to her. Sadly enough was the admiral only asking to the road that was already known to them all. Twilight just nodded after she had turned herself around to face the admiral. That nod was enough for her to realize that they were having yet another trouble upon their flanks. Though she wasn’t in the mood to actually start upon another wild goose chase.
There must have been a good reason of why the stallion had locked himself within the cabin, right? But Twilight wasn’t too convinced about that thought, because it also crossed her mind. So the only thing that she could have done in the moment was to just charge up her horn and do some tests that hopefully would have been able to reveal something.
“You just go ahead, I will finish this off and join you on the dock again,” the soothsayer said after she glanced in the eyes of a couple mares that stood there. They all wanted to just leave the vessel and back to the shore. They were tired of being dragged all over the place and the finish was literally right within their sights. The finish line was right there, ready to be crossed if they so desired and Twilight gave them that opportunity.
So with all of the mares making their departure from the vessel, the unicorn herself had the time to investigate if there were any magical traces to be found. The horn acted as some sort of receiver for the arcane powers while she began to scan the door as a whole.
Almost in an instant had she noticed how there was something that crawled up to her. There was indeed a secondary source of magic aboard that very ship. But outside of her, there didn’t appear to have been any actual forced or living things present. The mare rose an eyebrow to the matter as she only had one thought that seemed to have been able to fit in the matter.
“He must have teleported away, just before we docked or something. But he’s an earth anthrony, how could such a thing have been possible for him?” Twilight closed her eyes for a moment. Behind the closed lids she began to remember the shadow that he carried.
Something about that very shadow would have held the answers that she was looking for. For the very shadow of a bearded unicorn in pony form wasn’t something that would have been forgotten that easily by any being. What followed afterwards was that the mare opened her eyes again and released the magic from her horn. She gave a gentle nod to herself as she remembered just what the matter must have been.
“Clever stallion,” she whispered to herself, “you are him, aren’t you?” The mare was certain of it all by that point in time. She had met with the legendary stallion from ancient times, Starswirl the Bearded. It was in fact something that caused her to chuckle as she didn’t believed it herself. Another shake of her head was given off as she left the door of the cabin and made her way over to the boarding ramp.
~~~~
Once Twilight had again solid ground under her hooves, it was a little strange at first. She was naturally used to the swell of the little vessel and her mind still tried to adjust itself to that little fact. Which resulted in her going over from time to time. She tried to correct herself with her balance, but that wasn’t something necessary.
In the distance she heard the chuckles of Applejack coming in her ears and her eyes looked into the direction of the admiral. “Keep on laughing you, come the arcane arts and it be me that chuckles last,” countered Twilight to her with a cutting glare in her eyes.
The admiral instantly held her mouth before she shook her head from side to side. Perhaps the words of Twilight were on the right place. But most likely she was just trying to save herself an embarrassing moment. “Whatever floats yar boat, Twilight,” said Applejack before she gave a gentle shrug to the unicorn.
In the end had the soothsayer managed to walk her way over to the group of mares and released a gentle nod to each of them. Her eyes looked over to Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, in that exact order. All of them were so vastly different and they all had agreed upon joining the company for a different set of circumstances and reasons unknown. But in the end had they all worked together to get the goal that they needed done.
They all had managed to stop the tremors that were crushing the land of Equestria to make the beings bow to their will. That feelings alone, that certainty of having done such a thing was much more rewarding to Twilight then any amount of arcane scrolls ever could have done.
Whether it was known to the land or not, but that little group of anthronies had made certain that they could be living their lives in peace. And not having to worry about the fact that there would have been a giant lava lake instead of a massive ocean any time soon.
All of the anthronies looked at one another with great smiles that were clear as crystal upon their faces. They knew that it was over. They knew that everything had been completed and their given task had ended. All of them were just glad that it was over as well. They had literally conquered mountains and defeated beasts that could only be left to the imaginative.
“And so it came to be, that we end at the place it all started, Canterlot harbor,” said Applejack to herself, but loud enough so that the rest could have heard it. She was right, the whole journey had started within the borders of Canterlot harbor. While it was true that Canterlot Castle might have been the source for Twilight, the harbor was where Applejack joined her in the madness.
Twilight nodded to the words that were said before she felt a sudden sadness rising within her. “Which means that we all have to go back to where we truly belong. Return to the places where everything matters for us personally. The company we built up over the past month, weeks, shall be separated once more,” said Twilight in a somber tone.
“But the bonds that were created in that time, shall always win from the tests of time,” answered Fluttershy with a soft tone. There was a little bit of difficulty to hear her very words. But those who understood the words had to admit that she was right with them. They had grown to each other as friends and the friendships forged in the ice of the Frozen North and the fires of the center, would never cease to exist.
Twilight was the first one that spread her arms open. All of them managed to get the idea of what she tried to do and they all nodded to them. There only was one way that could have ended the company for real. And that was to go out with a giant hug given from each and every one of them.
Which was exactly what happened. Even though Rainbow wasn’t that much of a hugger, she still joined the hug and placed her arms over the shoulders of two other mares. The heads were brought closer and closer to each other until they had formed a tight circle with each other.
A circle of friends that wouldn’t be broken for a long time to come –if not eternity. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, there was a massive relief that went through all of them. They were just so glad that it all seemed to have been over. As thrilling as the adventure was that they had been going through together, just as dangerous it also happened to be.
Laughter and chuckles were exchanged by all five of them. Even Pinkie just seemed to play along with the matter. They were all just so happy about the facts as they were for them. The mares had done the thing that was thought to be impossible by so many and saw a truth hidden for all. The journey that they had undertaken, must have been one of the most breathtaking adventure tales from their time.
Words were exchanged between all of them. Words of cherished thoughts for each of them. Words of bravery and cunningness. Words of both fears and frights. Words of amazing sights that they never held imaginable. Their entire trip was recalled in just a matter of minutes. Even the Dark Witches that they had encountered and fought were brought back to the light of day.
In the moment was there no time to grieve for Twilight. In the moment she only could have been happy. Actually happy about the fact that all of it could be written down. They were all alive and kicking as they should have been doing. She had succeeded upon the quest that was given to her by the highest powers in their lands. She had completed the quest that was given by the goddesses themselves. The words had to be rephrased though. For they had succeeded.
But why had she been sent out to begin with? Why did she had to collect five other beings in order for it all to work. Though perhaps the most important question of all was why did the tremors begin in the first place?
Those were just a fraction of the thoughts that were going through the mind of Twilight. Whether she realized the fact that she thought about them or not remained to be seen, the smile continued to stand upon her face in that genuine and very happy expression. Nothing in the world could have been adding up to the sheer amount of luck that she felt in the moment.
For a couple of minutes they all kept on standing there when the laughter finally seemed to just die down. It went out almost like a fizzle as the last big bang had happened with the sinking of the imperial griffon ship. Fluttershy was the first one to speak the words that were troubling her mind. “Say Twilight…”
“Yes?” the soothsayer replied after she focused her attention upon the doctor. “What’s on your mind?”
Fluttershy released a gentle exhale through her nostrils as she wanted to speak them, but seemed to have a bit of difficulty finding the right words for the matter. Seconds went by at a slow pace before she finally seemed to have been able. “We’ve seen some, unbelievable sights of course, our tale is one for the history books. But, there’s nopony here to greet us. You think, we will be remembered?”
Twilight nodded in calm with her head to the words. She was certain of the words that she would reply with. Because those were perhaps the best ones to be spoken in the moment. “I’m pretty certain we will be remembered, by those that want to. But as I said in the tunnels, we can’t make the world just change believes from one moment or the other. So that is perhaps best left in silence. Our tale however, tell what you think is right to tell. I’m not the one that is going to silence you for it.”
“Because, all of our experiences need to be shared?” Rainbow interrupted then. She hoped that those were the words that Twilight would have said as well.
“Exactly,” the soothsayer replied with a gentle tone. The words were a good enough choice for the doctor as she nodded once more. She was actually glad that there weren’t really any restrictions about what could and shouldn’t have been told to the possible media.
It was in that moment that the time had then come for them all. The time had come to break the oath that they had given to Twilight and continued to live their own little lives once more. Tears were shed by all of them and they all knew that the moment couldn’t have been postponed any longer. The hug was broken and the mares all did one step backwards. Almost out of instinct they glanced over the remaining members one last time.
“Any personal belongings from you all, can be taken out of the void storage right now,” the unicorn whispered just loud enough for them all to hear. Her horn charged itself and in the middle of the group it would have appeared. The portal that would have been leading them straight into the storage was opened by the horn of the unicorn. But none of them dared to walk up to it just yet.
Even though there was countless personal belonging for every last member of them group, they didn’t feel right about just taking the things that belonged to them like that. The anthronies were standing at an invisible impasse and they all knew just what it felt like. The mares looked at one another for perhaps one last time, until it was Rainbow Dash who made her decision. As wonderful as it was to remain together for as long as they could, it was impossible for her to stand still for such a long time. She had to move around, she had to fly again, she was a pegasus after all.
And the pegasi race wasn’t really known for their patience to begin with.
After Rainbow it would have been Applejack, followed by Fluttershy who all took out their personal belongings from the storage. Though when Twilight looked into it, she noticed how even Rarity’s belongings had just disappeared. Her eyes went over the stuff that was gathered by the other mares and she saw that none had anything from the pirate captain.
Which brought her to the result of Rarity in fact had taken her stuff prior before she left the vessel. A chuckle was released by the soothsayer in silence before she closed her eyes for a moment. With the void storage closing in again had the time to say goodbye fallen upon them all. There was no way around the facts as they were, all that could be done to the matter was to just say their goodbyes and give the others the best wishes in the entire world.
The journey of the company, the end of the company, would have gotten out with a fizzle, instead of the much wanted bang or explosion. “I guess, this is going to be our goodbye then,” the doctor spoke before she placed her backpack over one of her shoulders. Twilight could only have nodded to the words. They would have lied if they said they didn’t felt that the end was there.
There wouldn’t have been some sort of massive party to celebrate that it was over, there wouldn’t have been even a single handshake that would express the gratitude of the other mares. There wouldn’t have been nothing with the exception of a couple of words and motions made by the individual mares to say their goodbyes to all of them.
Applejack seemed to have hesitated for a little while but eventually just saluted to the whole of the company. That was her way of saying goodbye in silence and expressing the gratitude that she had for all of them. Of course it was a little bit strange but Rainbow Dash followed her with the sign that was given off by the air force.
Twilight and Pinkie had pretty much nothing to compete with. So all they did was just wave to the mares. It was only seconds after the fact that Applejack and Rainbow made their solution that the doctor would have turned herself around.
There she went then, off into the sunset to who knew where. Most likely would she have returned to her hospital and live her daily life once more. Or perhaps she would have gotten to something that she couldn’t explain to them all. Whatever it was, Fluttershy had left the company.
The wings of Rainbow Dash spread themselves out before she made a jump into the air. Immediately she got airborne and looked to the anthronies on the ground. A small wave was given by her and just like that she rocketed off and away. Just like that had the rainbow haired major left the company for what it was. The journey was over for her. All she had to do was to fly back to Cloudsdale and report that she was back.
That only left Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie at the dock. The lamia would have gotten home with the unicorn while the earth anthrony would have returned to her ship. But not without she had spoken a last set of words to the soothsayer.
“Ah,” she started before she scratched behind her head, “had mah doubt when Ah first saw ya. Ah thought ya couldn’t help yarself in the time of need. But, Ah had made a great mistake just judging a book by its cover. Thanks Twilight, for everything that has happened and has been done.”
Twilight wanted to speak the words that were on her mind just so bad, but somehow she couldn’t have brought them over her lips. Applejack noticed the fact when only small gasps for air were released by the soothsayer. Though that didn’t matter as she stuck out her hand. The soothsayer realized what the plan was and took the hand just like that.
A firm shake was given off between the two of them and Pinkie gave one last hug to Applejack. Only after that would the admiral have departed from the group. They just watched her go, walking with her steam powered leg over the dock of Canterlot.
Twilight’s eyes were then filled with tears. She wanted to cry just so badly about the fact that everything was just over. Yet at the other end of the spectrum, she couldn’t let herself. Twilight couldn’t have allowed herself to shed a single tear, not in that moment at least. It was supposed to be a happy moment for them all.
For after having been sitting on each other’s lips for so long, they finally could say that they were done with it all. That they had done what needed to be done. On one matter the unicorn was more sure than anything else, the very matter that it all would have been remembered by each of them. Whether it have been for better or worse, she didn’t care in the moment.
The memories of the journey that they had been going through would always have been stuck to them no matter what. There was a natural moment of silence that came from Twilight. She wanted to take the moment to herself and just realize to herself that everything was over and done with.
Yet on the other end there happened to be Pinkie Pie. With everypony gone, she did became a little bit more frightened about the fact that they were just standing there. The lamia wanted to go to the castle as soon as they could and actually pushed the unicorn a couple of times.
Though the soothsayer remained standing where she had been standing for a couple more minutes. Pinkie didn’t wanted to disturb the mare more than that she needed to as she felt like it only would have gotten more and more troublesome. She would have to wait to a time when Twilight would have been ready to make the climb up the rocky face of the mountain.
The thoughts of the unicorn continued to just surge around and about her mind while the eyes had been closed for a good set of minutes. Of course there were countless anthronies that wondered to themselves whether or not she happened to be alright. But there never would have been any kind of response from either Twilight or Pinkie herself. The lamia was alert though, her eyes went from left to right as she watched over everypony. No harm would have come to Twilight.
It was the last thing that she needed in the moment. Pinkie wasn’t in the mood that somepony came over to the unicorn and made the decision to do something terrible to her. The watchful eyes of the lamia not only scared a lot of anthronies, but also fascinated an equal amount of them. Though they never dared to take a single step closer out of fear of what she could have done.
All while Twilight continued to think about the matters where she had been pushing herself through. None of it seemed to have been making all too much sense to her in the moment, especially with the sudden disappearance of the mysterious old aged stallion of a captain. All of those matters had to be classified within her mind, all that she could do was to think about other things to stop the tears from falling.
That was the biggest battle in the moment.
Eventually did she open her eyes again and rubbed through them with a gentle motion. The lamia was more than glad that Twilight had returned to her and nudged her gently on the shoulders. Though the soothsayer herself just waved her for a moment before she turned back around. “Sorry Pinkie, this whole departing thing is, it’s heavy on my mind. I hope you understand,” she said to the lamia who luckily seemed to have understood the words.
So in silence she pointed to the castle of Canterlot itself and the mare released a deep sigh through her nostrils. That was the place that they would have been heading, that was the place where they needed to be going. Only problem happened to be that the stairs would be the death of the two of them if they had some bad luck.
A little grumble was given off by the soothsayer before she set the first step away from the harbor. Their journey had officially gotten to an end with everypony still alive. The next big issue was waiting for Twilight though. That very issue happened to be nothing else than the home front.
~~~~
With the terrible stairs having conquered had Twilight and Pinkie made their way over to the top of the mountain side. The two of them were exhausted while they glanced over the view that was given to them. A view that still was as beautiful as it always had been. Twilight was just mesmerized by the sights whereas Pinkie seemed to have been upside down from them.
Every last little bit that she saw almost seemed to be pieces that came directly out of a dream of some kind. Pinkie was aware that the world on the topside was large, but she couldn’t have ever imagined that it would have been that large. Just the sheer amount of the ocean that stretched before them was literally breathtaking.
Pinkie had to keep reminding herself upon the fact that behind said ocean there were still beings too. Lands that were unexplored by most of them and they just rested there. Almost as if there was nothing better to do.
But as with all things, even the view had to come to an end and a couple of minutes later were they both wandering through the halls of the castle. Halls that were eerily empty if Twilight had to be the judge on them. Almost like they were in her dream when the devil had possessed her. Except there were traces of being beings home.
Curiosity struck the unicorn because she wanted to know the finer details, but instead was halted by a senior guard. Neither of them had seen him and his eyes carried a stern expression within them. “Halt there, that creature you have with you doesn’t belong here,” he said in a deep tone. Though he didn’t reach out for his sword.
Twilight was still a highly respected soothsayer of course, and not one that would have been able to be tempted by the darker things of the arcane. Which was actually working right into his own advantages when it came to the matter. Yet the soothsayer herself had a different set of words for the matter. She narrowed her eyes as she spoke her much desired words. “With all due respect, senior guard, this creature here happens to be a friend of mine and shall be asked for asylum by your commander in chief. Which to my knowledge still happens to be Shining Armor.”
There she had the guard straight where she wanted him. The aged stallion did a step aside before he nodded to her words. She was completely right with them and there wouldn’t have been anything that could have changed the mind of the unicorn soothsayer. “If you say so, milady Sparkle. On a lighter note, I wish you a warm welcome back to the castle.”
“And, you couldn’t have said it before?” Twilight asked before she let out a little giggle on the matter. The guard began to blush a little bit while he allowed the two of them to pass through.
Twilight and Pinkie would have made way for the room that belonged to the unicorn before she would be searching out her brother and tell him everything that he needed to know about all of the matters that were brought to light. The time was there to finalize every last little bit of what needed to be done.