//------------------------------//
// 6. Homecoming 
// Story: Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World 
// by Keeper of Jericho 
//------------------------------//


Wings of Tomorrow
Lament of the World

6. Homecoming


Fluttershy stared at her reflection in the mirror, shyly observing how she looked in a borrowed dress of Twilight's. The two ponies were roughly the same size, but since Twilight was a unicorn, there were no adjustments made in her clothes for wings. That meant it was a bit of a tight fit around Fluttershy’s shoulders, with her wings squeezed against her body. Still, it wasn’t unbearable, and for now it would have to do. She didn’t have much choice anyway; Twilight had explained to her that in this new age it was illegal to go out in public without at least a minimum of clothing. That was why Grey Helm had taken her into custody before. The idea seemed strange to her, but she was glad she now at least understood what she had done wrong. And wearing clothes wouldn’t be too hard to adjust to.

“It’s really nice of you to lend me one of your dresses, Twilight,” Fluttershy said gratefully, glancing briefly at her friend before looking back at her reflection. The dress was a rather simple affair: sky blue, with ankle-length sleeves for her front legs, and a gown trailing down her back, covering her hind legs, flank and tail. It squeezed a bit around the waist, and her wings were decidedly uncomfortable, but it was… nice. “You’ve done so much for me already today… I hope I’m not being a bother…” 

“Don’t be silly, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied with a smile. “We’re friends. What kind of friend would I be if I just left you to your own devices? You can’t go out in public without clothes, but you don’t have any at the moment, so it’s only logical and right that I lend you some of mine.” She gave Fluttershy an apologetic look. “I know it’s nothing terribly fancy, but I’m afraid the rest of my wardrobe is either not your size or made specifically for unicorns.”  

“Oh no, it’s… nice,” Fluttershy said hurriedly, not wanting her friend to think that the borrowed dress wasn’t good or fancy enough for her. She didn’t really mind how she looked at the moment, as long as she could go outside and go home without causing any trouble.

Twilight trotted around her friend one last time, inspecting her from every angle to make sure she was presentable. Once done, she came to a halt next to Fluttershy and nodded, apparently satisfied with what she was seeing. “It’ll do,” she declared. “We should go shopping for some proper outfits as soon as possible, but for now this’ll suffice. Ready to go home?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes! If… if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.” She blushed a bit and hid behind her mane, hoping she hadn’t been too assertive.

After she had comforted Twilight when she was upset over the loss of Spike, the two mares had spent some time being simply together, supporting each other with their presence like true friends did. Not a lot was said during that time, both occupied with their own thoughts. Occasionally Fluttershy would ask a small question about lighter matters, and Twilight answered it to the best of her abilities. Eventually, though, she had declared that she wanted to go home to see how her little friends were doing. Twilight hadn’t objected, and had taken Fluttershy upstairs to her room so they could find a suitable dress for her.

Now the two friends trotted carefully downstairs and through the hall, Twilight leading the way. She opened the front door of her house and let Fluttershy pass through, before following and locking the door behind them. The streets were still buzzing with activity, though they were noticeably less crowded, given that it was already late in the afternoon. Twilight checked the large clock of the town hall tower, which towered over the rest of Ponyville. It was half past four. 

She looked at Fluttershy to make sure her friend was holding up. The pegasus still didn’t look very comfortable or at ease in her new surroundings, but at least she wasn’t stared at anymore, given that she was now properly dressed. It visibly relieved her, and Twilight was glad for that.

“This way,” she said, smiling encouragingly as she began to walk down the street to the right of her house. Fluttershy followed closely, sticking to Twilight like glue. So much physical contact wasn't exactly how things were done these days, but she didn’t mind. If it helped to give her friend strength, it was fine. “You don’t have to be so scared, Fluttershy. Nopony is going to hurt you. Most of them are probably too busy to take notice of you.”

Fluttershy made a soft squeaking sound as she looked around her, taking in all those ponies and the monotonous row of similar-looking houses. “But there are… so many…” she muttered, referring to the amount of citizens.

Twilight chuckled lightly. “You should see Canterlot, or Manehattan. Though it’s true that Ponyville is more populated than you remember.” She stepped aside to let another guard on patrol pass, Fluttershy growing visibly tense as the uniformed pony walked by. “Ponyville is still young, so it still offers many possibilities for ponies hoping to build a good life for themselves. That’s why there’s a steady stream of newcomers almost every day. Every year the village expands beyond its previous borders, and new districts are built on a daily basis.”

“Is there enough room for that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, for now at least,” Twilight answered. “As you’ve probably noticed, our houses tend to be smaller than what you’re used to. The architecture in this age is quite compact. The total surface covered by the village is about the same as the Ponyville we remember, but the population is thrice as high, as you can see just by looking around.”

Fluttershy nodded quietly. If there lived thrice as many ponies in this Ponyville than in the one she knew, that explained perfectly why everything was so crowded and small here. It was the only way they could have enough room for everypony! Though she did wonder what the cause of that increase in population was. Was it also a result of the new technology? She wanted to ask Twilight, only to notice that her friend had apparently gone on to explain something again, so she put her question away for now and paid attention.

“Of course, Ponyville is structured a bit differently as well now, to say the least,” Twilight said, seemingly not noticing if Fluttershy actually paid attention or not. “It’s divided in four districts. The town square is the centre of the village, and from there you can easily reach every district. There’s the living district in the east, where common ponies like me live. To the south is the high district, where the few upper class ponies living here have their residence. There’s the market district to the west, where you’ll find shops to suit your every need. And finally, the industrial district in the north, where the train station and the airship docks are, as well as the factories.” She paused briefly to look at her friend from the corners of her eyes. “You’re free to do as you please, of course. But if you want my advice, I’d stay in the market or living district. Unless you have business there, it’s best to stay clear from the other two districts so you won’t get in anypony’s way.”

The pegasus nodded timidly. “O… okay, I… I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Glad to hear it!” Twilight cheered, and she happily trotted further through the maze of Ponyville’s streets, her friend following her quietly, like a shadow.


---


The outdoors were as great as Fluttershy remembered them to be. The grasslands surrounding Ponyville hadn’t changed, not much at least. The paved road that ran through it, from the town to Sweet Apple Acres, was a bit wider, and the few solitary trees she remembered were gone. But aside from that, the grass was green and high, full of colourful flowers with playful butterflies, bunnies, and of course, cows. Every inch of it felt familiar and trustworthy, enabling her to truly feel at ease and relaxed again. The sky was clear, the sun was shining, and the air was fresh. Everything here was wide and open, so very different from the crowded, claustrophobic streets of Ponyville. Here, she could breathe. Twilight didn’t fail to notice and smiled.

The two ponies trotted at a gentle pace along the road, not really hurrying. Fluttershy was obviously blossoming open like a flower in these familiar surroundings, so Twilight let her set their pace. 

In her head, Twilight rolled out her map of the area. They had left Ponyville through the west gate, following the road that ran straight west for now, in the direction of the Everfree Forest, which loomed in the distance. She knew that the road would soon enough take a sharp turn to the south, towards Sweet Apple Acres, where a small path would later branch off towards the Everfree Forest. But that wasn’t their route. Fluttershy’s cottage was to the northwest of Ponyville. A smaller path, similar to the one that led to the Everfree Forest, would deviate from the main road a few minutes before the sharp turn to the south. That was the path they’d have to take. Fluttershy was sure to notice herself, Twilight thought. After all, that road hadn’t changed a single bit. Even though it looked weathered and was overgrown with weeds and grass due to being so rarely used. Nopony ever really had a reason to go near the abandoned cottage.

“Twilight?”

Fluttershy’s quiet speaking of her name pulled her from her thoughts. She shook her head and grinned sheepishly at her friend, embarrassed at being caught spacing out.

“Yes?”

Fluttershy rubbed a hoof nervously over one of the tiles that the road was paved with. She seemed rather nervous again, hiding behind her mane. “I… I was actually wondering about something… I, um, I just thought of it… And maybe you could… If you don’t mind…”

The sheepish grin on Twilight’s face was replaced by a genuine, kind smile. “You know you can ask me anything, Fluttershy, so, ask away. I’d be glad to help.”

Fluttershy nodded, and began to walk again, with Twilight quickly catching up. They trotted side by side, Twilight waiting patiently for the Fluttershy to pose her question. Said mare avoided her gaze, finding the flowers on the other side of the road suddenly very interesting. Finally, her curiosity triumphed over her nerves, and she found her voice again. “I… I was wondering… If… if Princess Celestia is… in a dungeon, then who makes the Sun rise?”

A surprised ‘Oh!’ escaped Twilight’s lips before she knew it. It wasn’t that difficult or sensitive a question, even for her, and given the time it had taken Fluttershy to actually ask it, she had expected something entirely else. “Well, you know that the Princess didn’t always take care of the Sun. Remember the tale of Hearths’ Warming Eve, before Equestria was founded, the unicorn tribe took care of that. So when the Nobles’ took over, the great duty of raising the celestial bodies fell once again to normal unicorns. There’s a specialized group, the Court of Mages, who are responsible for it. Though it takes fourteen of the most talented mages to do it, and three centuries ago it took even more.”

Fluttershy gave another short nod, indicating she understood. But given from how tense she still looked, Twilight guessed there was something else she wanted to ask concerning this subject, and she suddenly realised what it might be. The realisation felt like a hand of ice grabbing hold of her heart.

“But Twilight, I… I know why those awful ponies did… ehm… that to the Princess… But what about Princess Luna? Why didn’t she do something about it?!” Fluttershy asked, her voice shaking.

Twilight felt herself grow cold, and she stopped walking. She had guessed correctly what her friend would ask, and she didn’t like it. For the answer was sure to hurt her friend even more, it would no doubt shock and horrify her. She gnawed on her lower lip nervously, unsure if she should tell the truth or find an excuse to not answer the question. Fluttershy by now had noticed something was off, stopping her trot as well. Timidly, she turned around to look at her friend who had fallen behind.

“Twilight?”

Twilight sighed deeply. There was little choice; Fluttershy had the right to know the truth. And as she had thought before, it might be best if she got all the bad news as quickly as possible, so she could come to terms with it as soon as possible. No sense in delaying the inevitable, it wouldn’t be fair or healthy for Fluttershy. Her mind made up, Twilight met her friend’s gaze and spoke, her voice even and neutral.

“Princess Luna is dead.”

The silence that fell after those four words was so thick one could cut it with a knife. Fluttershy simply stared at Twilight, her mouth opening and closing endlessly, as if she were a fish out of the water, her eyes as wide as saucers. It randomly came to Twilight that Fluttershy’s eyes had had quite some stretching exercise today. She pushed the thought away brusquely. This was no laughing matter. At all. Her friend was visibly struggling with what she had just been told, clearly having a hard time believing that she had heard Twilight correctly. 

“D… dead?”

Twilight sighed again – she had been doing that a lot today – and gave a sad nod of confirmation. With a heavy heart, she began to walk again, Fluttershy falling in besides her, visibly shocked and shaken by this latest piece of news.

“You have to understand, when Princess Celestia was overthrown, Princess Luna was still banished on the Moon as Nightmare Moon,” Twilight explained, her voice strained. “But just like in our other life, the stars aided in her escape on the longest day, one thousand years after her banishment. At exactly the same time as we remember. Only, we weren’t there. Rainbow Dash was in the Kingdom, and you were missing. There were only four of us present on the day when Nightmare Moon returned. Only this time, there were no Elements of Harmony to stand up to her.”

Fluttershy wanted to say something as the words and their meaning sunk in, but words failed her. She could manage nothing more but a small squeak.

“When Nightmare Moon returned, I think she must have been as shocked as the guards that day. Neither had expected the other. Nightmare Moon had expected to return to find Celestia on the throne of Equestria, only to find a world without her sister, with airships and steam engines, and the land she wanted to cover in Eternal Night torn in two by civil war,” Twilight continued, ignoring Fluttershy’s small squeak as if she hadn’t heard it. “Likewise, the guards hadn’t expected her appearance at all. After all, most of us thought Nightmare Moon was just an old pony tale, which she turned out to clearly not be.” 

Fluttershy nodded shyly. She could imagine that it must have been very confusing for both sides. That still didn’t explain why the Princess had lost her life. “What happened then?”

“In the end, though, the absence of Celestia didn’t really bother Nightmare Moon. In fact, she found it terribly amusing, calling us ponies foals for having taken down the only one who could stand up to her. Now nothing would be able to stop her from making the night last forever,” Twilight answered. By now they had reached the weed-and-grass-covered path that would take them to Fluttershy’s home, and they left the main road, Fluttershy to engrossed in the tale to notice the state of the path. “Unfortunately, Nightmare Moon had underestimated the advances in technology and power that ponies had made in her absence. All forces stationed in Canterlot were dispatched to confront her and bring her plans to a halt.”

Twilight let her eyes drift upwards towards the sky, and in her mind’s eye, she could still see the massive fleet of airships that had darkened the skies above the fields of Ponyville that day. “A great battle ensued between the forces of the Republic and Nightmare Moon. The cannon fire of the airships and the spells of the soldiers meant nothing to her, but the commanders of the Republican Forces were present as well on that day. They engaged Nightmare Moon in direct combat. It is said that that battle was the greatest since the confrontation between the first Nobles’ Court and Celestia, and the Republic suffered many losses. But in the end the commanders were victorious, and Nightmare Moon was…” A short pause. “Destroyed.”

“D… destroyed!?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Destroyed,” Twilight confirmed coldly with a curt nod. “I was there, Fluttershy. Or rather, I witnessed the battle from afar. Many ponies did. The hairs on my coat still stand up straight whenever I think back to it. It was night, but you barely noticed it, for there were so many spells and explosions that they illuminated the night sky as brightly as if it were day. Thousands of ponies, all fighting against one opponent, who kept them at bay. I'd never witnessed anything like it! The very sky trembled because of the massive amount of power unleashed in that fight!” 

Fluttershy noticed she was trembling with fear as she heard the description of the battle. She was glad she hadn’t been there to see it; she probably would have hidden under the couch in her cottage anyway, if she had lived here then.

“Nightmare Moon was very powerful, but at the end of the fight the commanders managed to break through her magic shields, and then she was hit by a barrage of literally thousands of spells and explosions from cannon fire…” Twilight continued, speaking as if in a trance, for in her mind it was as if she was there again, witnessing that historical clash. “There was an overload of magical energy, followed by a massive explosion originating from Nightmare Moon. The shock from that blast was felt all the way to Canterbury, so I’ve heard. On the other side of Equestria!”

She paused for a moment to let that sink in. “Ponyville was right next to the blast and suffered a lot of damage. Not a single window survived, and some houses even collapsed! And don’t get me started on how many months I’ve spent helping Applejack repair the orchard at the farm.” She rolled her eyes as she thought back to those days. “But after the explosion, Nightmare Moon was just gone. There was nothing left, except her helm, which I heard is displayed in the throne room in Canterlot. After they showed it to the Princess to taunt her, of course.”

Fluttershy physically winced after that last sentence. She knew Princess Celestia loved her little sister very much, and that it had always hurt her that she had had to banish Luna. She remembered very well how happy the Princess had been when the Elements of Harmony had freed Luna from Nightmare Moon, and she could only imagine how painful it must have been for the Monarch of the Sun to learn that her sister, even if she was still Nightmare Moon, had perished. To taunt her by showing the only thing that remained of her sister was a very cruel thing to do, and Fluttershy felt very angry at the ones who had done so, and sorry for the Princess.

There was another brief silence as she pondered over everything Twilight had told her. “S… so, Princess Luna, she…”

“She died in that explosion as Nightmare Moon, yes,” Twilight confirmed with a sigh. She bowed her head in sadness as she thought about the Princess of the Night. Even in her other life Princess Luna hadn’t been seen often since her return, but the few times they had met, Twilight had come to know her as a wonderful pony, who wished for nothing more than to do good for her subjects and earn their love and appreciation in return. And it had been her and her friends who had made it possible for the Princess to have that second chance. That had caused Twilight to always feel some sort of responsibility for Luna’s welfare, even if the Princess was far more powerful than she could ever hope to be. 

But the Princess had had use for her help, as proven on Nightmare Night, which Twilight still fondly remembered. It had taken a bit of classic trial and error, but in the end Twilight and her friends had succeeded in making Luna feel welcome and helped her adjust to the new social customs, becoming friends in the process. A friend she would never have in this life. The knowledge of that never failed to sadden her deeply. It made her feel as if she had failed somehow, even though there was nothing that she could have done to change things. They hadn’t had the Elements; those were still encased in stone in the Everfree Forest. And even if she could have managed to save Luna from Nightmare Moon, to what end? All that would have awaited her was the same fate as Celestia, and Twilight could live without having that on her conscience. Not that living with the death of the Princess was any easier.

Fluttershy had similar feelings. She hadn’t been as close to Princess Luna as Twilight, and their encounters had been far more brief. On Nightmare Night, she had been frightened by the former Nightmare Moon, because the Princess was so loud and… rather direct in her way of speaking to ponies. But after she had managed to calm down a bit, Fluttershy did realise that Princess Luna had meant well, and was a kind pony at heart, just like the big sister she strived to be like. To hear that the Princess of the Night had passed away, unredeemed, was distressing even for her.

That still left one question that begged to be asked, however. “But, um, Twilight… N… Nightmare Moon… or Princess Luna… She was an alicorn, a princess… How… how could she lose to normal ponies who didn’t have the Elements of Harmony?” It didn’t really seem possible to her. Then again, it had seemed impossible for normal ponies to take down Princess Celestia, too, and yet they had managed that too, somehow.

“That’s a good question. I mean, if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes, I would have a hard time believing that an alicorn as powerful as Nightmare Moon could lose to mortals,” Twilight had to admit. “But there are a couple of special circumstances that have to be kept in mind when discussing this.” She cleared her throat, which told Fluttershy that her friend was about to give her a lecture. “First of all, Nightmare Moon had been imprisoned for a thousand years. The conditions of that banishment are something only the Princesses knew, but I think it’s safe to say that Nightmare Moon was, for the lack of a better term, simply out of practice after a thousand years of solitude.”

“Secondly, we have to keep in mind that she returned expecting to find Celestia and a peace-loving nation, instead she came face to face with an entire army of trained and experienced soldiers. She had the disadvantage of lacking proper knowledge or preparation,” Twilight continued her explanation. “And finally, I think Nightmare Moon underestimated the forces she was up against, or the progress ponies have made during her absence in this time line. She probably didn’t think that she could lose to normal ponies.”

“If you think about it, she had the disadvantage on pretty much every field, except for terms of raw magical power. But the past few centuries ponies have managed to cross the gap of power between an alicorn and a normal pony considerably. Individual ponies can gain much greater levels of personal strength, and it is all thanks to one major discovery, one Nightmare Moon had no way of knowing about.”

Fluttershy peeked curiously at Twilight from behind her mane. “And… what discovery was that?”

“The discovery of magicite, of course,” she replied, as if that explained everything. When Fluttershy gave her a blank look of incomprehension, Twilight realised who she was talking to and blushed sheepishly. She hurried to explain. “You see, the discovery of the magical properties of orichalcon by Steel Gear proved the existence of minerals that were sensitive to magic. Though he himself didn’t discover it, it was Steel Gear’s discovery of orichalcon that allowed the pony generations that came after him to discover magicite.”

“That discovery is actually quite recent, it happened roughly a century and a half ago. There are many kinds of minerals and gems out there, as you know, many of which we’ve known about for a long time. But magicite is extremely rare, and very, very, dangerous.” 

Fluttershy gave her a puzzled look. “Um, why?” she wondered aloud in her usual quiet, shy voice.

“Because of its abilities,” came the answer. “Magicite is a mineral that scientists have placed in the same category of minerals as orichalcon. Namely, minerals that are sensitive to magic. Orichalcon reacts to magic by giving off heat if it is charged with a sufficient amount. Ponies discovered another mineral they called luminite, which gives off a soft light when you fill it with magic. Both have practical use in our daily lives. Magicite however, has more than just one use when you charge it with magic.” Twilight glanced to her side to make sure Fluttershy was following her so far. When it appeared that she was, she continued her lecture.

“You see, magicite is very mysterious, and its exact workings are still a mystery to everypony. But that hasn’t prevented ponies from finding good, and dangerous, uses for it. It was Ambervale the Steady who discovered that magicite, unlike orichalcon or luminite, doesn’t act as an output for the magic it is charged with. Instead, it’s more like a conductor. When you charge magicite with magic energy, and then have it come in physical contact with any living creature, it will transfer the abilities of the magic within to whatever being it is touching, for as long as the contact lasts.”

By now Fluttershy’s eyes were rolling in their sockets. She was by no means a slow or unintelligent pony, but the great amount of words that had ‘magic’ in them, coupled with the many difficult terms she had never heard of before, resulted in her having become hopelessly lost. Twilight noticed and realised she had been doing ‘that’ again, getting so worked up in her excitement of lecturing that she forgot to keep using normal words. She had to explain it in ‘non-egghead’ terms, as Rainbow Dash would so elegantly have put it. She decided to do so with an example.

“Say that I have a magicite crystal, and I put a simple levitation spell in it. If I then give the magicite to Applejack, for example, she’ll begin to float for as long as she is touching it.”

The light of understanding dawned on Fluttershy’s visage. At least she thought she understood it. “So, um…” she began. “This… crystal… lets earth ponies use magic?”

“Not exactly,” Twilight corrected her gently. “It gives anypony, be it a pegasus, earth pony, or unicorn, the ability to use whatever it is that the magicite is filled with, and only if they’re touching the magicite. If I put a translation spell in the crystal, then anypony who holds it will be able to understand any language they hear. If I put a spell that grows flowers in it, then anypony who holds it will be able to grow flowers, but nothing else.” She smiled slightly at her friend. “Do you understand?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I… I think so. But, um, what does this have to do with Nightmare Moon losing to normal ponies?”

“I’m getting to that. You can also store useful magic in magicite, Fluttershy. Unicorns often put spells in it that increase their strength or stamina, so they can better withstand the strain of higher spells and can cast them more easily or often,” Twilight explained. “You may remember how I took care of that Ursa Minor, and how much that took of me. It sapped away all my strength to use so much magic. With magicite and the correct spell, I could do the same thing almost as easily as lifting a teacup, so to speak. You’d be surprised how much more unicorns are capable of with a bit more stamina, especially if they’ve been training to already have a higher stamina than the average pony.”

Fluttershy pondered about this for a while, then nodded. She was beginning to understand what Twilight meant.

“But that’s not all,” she continued. “Pegasi and earth ponies can also use magicite, but they don’t have the same magic as unicorns do. They often use magicite in different, more raw ways, since one spell wouldn’t be very useful to them. That’s why ponies developed an enhanced form of magicite. They put a specific spell in it, which allows them to fill the magicite with something other than magic. Raw elements, such as fire, or lightning.”

Fluttershy gasped, and Twilight gave her friend a serious look. “Magicite charged with fire or lightning would give the pony who holds it the ability to wield those elements, making them tremendously powerful.” She paused for a moment, thinking back to the fight she witnessed between the Republic and Nightmare Moon. “And that’s exactly what happened. One of the commanders of the Republic uses fire-charged magicite, and it earned her the nickname ‘the Phoenix’. Nightmare Moon could never have expected or prepared for ponies with such abilities, or unicorns with abnormal magical power due to the magical support of their magicite. It gave the Republic forces the element of surprise, and they used it to the fullest.”

“Of course, you mustn’t think every pegasus or earth pony runs around throwing fire at everything,” she hastened to add, giving Fluttershy an assuring smile. “Only the best and most well-trained ponies are allowed to wield magicite, since it’s so rare. And only a very selective few of that group of the best get their hooves on elemental magicite. In fact, I can think of only three ponies in all of Equestria, Republic and Kingdom combined, who do. That’s because magicite isn’t only rare, but learning to properly use and control elemental magicite is said to be as easy as convincing a grown dragon to give away its hoard. It takes a lot of practice and dedication.”

“Oh my, that hard?” Fluttershy asked, not really knowing what else to say. The idea of pegasi and earth ponies wielding fire or lightning seemed pretty strange and surreal to her, and she wasn’t sure what to think of it. It sounded very dangerous, at the very least.

Twilight only nodded in response. Silence reigned between the two mares for a while, during which Fluttershy, just for a change, was busy processing the new information she had been given, while Twilight found herself looking up at the sky thoughtfully, wondering if she had forgotten to mention anything.

“Oh, well, since you know what happened to Nightmare Moon now,” she said carefully with a hesitant look on her face. “You might be wondering what happened when Discord broke free from his stone prison and how he was resealed.”

Fluttershy hadn’t really thought of that big, dumb meanie yet, and frankly she cared little about him, but she had to admit that now that Twilight brought it up, she was indeed curious. The events with Nightmare Moon had changed so much, for the worse. Would the same be true for that other event in which she had stood with her friends to use the Elements, in her other life?

“Since you brought it up… I… would like to know, yes, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“It’s quite simple, actually,” Twilight replied. “There was no need for the Elements of Harmony to reseal Discord since he never broke free in the first place. Just like Nightmare Moon, Discord is…” She hesitated for a second. “Well… he's dead too.”

“Dead!?” Fluttershy echoed, though this time more out of surprise than shock. Unlike princess Luna, she held no love for the spirit of Disharmony and Chaos. The memories she had of him were all unpleasant, and all a memory too much. She felt no sadness or shock upon hearing that the draconequus had passed away, though it did pique her interest in how exactly that had come to be.

“Been for a while, actually,” Twilight clarified. “His statue was smashed to pieces by the Nobles’ Court not long after their uprising against the Princess. Though how they knew that that particular statue was actually dangerous because it was, in fact, a sealed spirit and not a statue, is anypony’s guess.” She shrugged. “Neither do I know what happened to the pieces… But I don’t think it really matters. I doubt Discord survived being smashed.”

Despite everything, Fluttershy found herself wincing a bit. No, she didn’t like Discord, not one bit, but to smash him into pieces while he was incapable of defending himself seemed like a cruel way to depart from this world. It certainly wasn’t something a good pony would do, she thought. But if Twilight was right, it had happened a long time ago, and there was no sense in getting herself worked up about it now. Wrong as it was of her to feel so, she had to admit he would not be missed by anypony.

She was about to ask Twilight something, but it just so happened that at that moment they emerged from between the trees of the forest that the unused path had taken them through, arriving in a clearing where she was greeted by a very familiar sight. Her eyes grew wide again, though for a good reason this time, and the corners of her mouth lifted up in a touched smile. She could feel warm tears welling up and her heart beat faster with every passing second. Twilight had told her that it had remained unchanged, that, even though all of Equestria might be different now, this place had remained untouched by the distortions caused by Steel Gear. And yet despite that, there had been a part of her that had doubted her friend’s words, though it shamed her to admit it. But her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. She wasn’t seeing things.

Her cottage laid before her, almost precisely as she had left it. She was home.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile widely as she watched her friend stare at her house. Fluttershy had a look in her eyes as if she was dreaming, so transfixed she was by the sight of her cottage, that wonderful, warm, cosy place she called home. There was no doubt that it made her immensely happy, Twilight could clearly see that. What she didn’t see was the carrot that sailed through the air. Her companion did notice, and cried out a warning, but Twilight only had time to turn her head before the thrown vegetable hit her square between the eyes.

Fluttershy gasped.

“No! No, Angel, no! That’s not a good bunny!”



End of chapter 6.