//------------------------------//
// A Palace of Friends 
// Story: The Little Pony Legend: The NightMare's Return 
// by MaggiesHeartLove 
//------------------------------//


*(~)*
Ephesians 1:3~
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 
*(~)*

A Palace of Friends


Two weeks later…

"A little bit to the right. Higher. That's it!" the young heiress smiled in satisfaction once the two anthro pegasus ponies placed the new sign for Future Industries. Since the events of NightMare Moon, Asami was inspired to upgrade a few things with her company: hiring ponies to assist with the projects and deliveries. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were more than happy to be helping her. But the company was not the only thing that had changed. 
Asami now wore a different outfit than what she normally did. It was a long dark magenta dress that ended at her knees but was longer to the left side and shorter on the right, exposing crimson pants with knee high black boot that were tinted purple on the toe. She wore a jacket, the same color as her pants with the sleeves rolled up, exposing her arms and wore golden bracelets on her left hand. Around her waist was a purple sash that faded from purpled to pale yellow at the bottom and a broach that was styled to look like a gear shape, similar to her company's logo, with a lotus flower in the center. The same image was on the longer side of her dress. Needless to say, her clothing was much brighter than before.
Even Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were different. The cyan pegasus now had wisps of her bangs slicked back on to of her head with a smaller piece resting on her forehead. She wore a longer version of her rainbow shirt which now had a long blue line across it, all the way down creating the outline and had a longer collar with a red lightning bolt broach to connect it and a red sash around her waist. She still wore the rainbow arm band and fingerless purple gloves, dark blue pants with light blue boots that had red outlines and yellow around the ankles. 
Fluttershy had her bang styled slightly lower  and wore an outfit consisting of green and pink. She still wore her armband and green arm warmers, only now her shirt was lime green on the front with outlines of pink/red adorned the side, added with the collar, which was pink, and a butterfly broach. Her belt was yellow green with a butterfly and laces coming out, a pale pink skirt with pants underneath and green nomadic-like boots with the same pink/red outlines on the top and ankles. 
It was high time they fully embraced the change.
"Thanks for your help, guys." said Asami.
Rainbow Dash winked with a salute, "No problem, Sami."
"We were more than happy to do it." said Fluttershy, "It was awfully nice of you to give employment to the ponies."
"Hey, change is good, right?" said the heiress while smiling proudly at the already working ponies and humans. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and smiled once she saw her boyfriend, smiling in return.
Bolin now wore an outfit similar to his old one, only now it consisted of brighter green colors and yellow-green rolled up sleeves with dark green wrist bands and a matching sash around his waist with the Earth Kingdom symbol on it and a patch of Pabu's head on the left side of his shirt. He handed his dream girl her drink.
"And you make change look good." he said, earning him a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey, sweetie."
Fluttershy swooned while Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue in disgust, "I'm happy for you two, but try and keep the whole 'kissy-pop' to a minimum while I'm around. I still remember when Korra and Mako were acting all lovey dovey."
Bolin snapped his fingers, "Oh, speaking of Mako, he said we need to be at the island in thirty minutes. Korra's almost back."
Asami and the ponies gasped, "Oh my gosh, let's go!"


(~)


"Okay, what is all this about you guys?" the Avatar chuckled as she was being dragged by her enthusiastic fellow alicorn and her equally enthusiastic boyfriend. Even Mako wore a different look as well. It was similar to his old one, only now the grey and black jacket was bright red which faded to pale yellow orange at the bottom, dark crimson pants with black boots and a symbol on the side of his jacket which resembles a police bade with a flame symbol on it. His high collar was now a strong gold color with darker gold outlines as were the sash and rolled up sleeves. 
"Just be patient." said the alicorn, feeling much, 'lighter' and more 'whole' than she ever had in months. Korra and Mako felt the same way as well, hence their much chipper attitudes. 
"If I had a yuan for every time I head that." Korra joked until she and her companions finally came to a stop, stopping at the near edge of the island, where the entire new Air Nation, the three alicorns, President Raiko, P'Li, Lin Beifong, even Varrick and Zhu Li, where standing, waiting for Korra. The Mane Six also sported new looks. Rarity had her hair in a lose high ponytail with new pale blue streaks across her hair and tail, wearing a modified version of her previous outfit, now with a stylish blue belt with diamond broach, while Applejack wore a green/brown shirt with a dark brown sleeveless jacket, yellow belt with an apple buckle and yellow cowgirl laces frowning around it, red pants and cowgirl boots. Her hair was now styled into a braid along with her tail. Pinkie Pie wore a pink sleeveless shirt with a pink collar decorated with hearts and the stomach of the shirt was white with blue stripes across it, forming various 'x's, she had blue pants and the same light purple boots as before along with a blue headband around her forehead, and her long puffy bang was styled to the side of her head and wore purple arm warmers.
"Okay, are you ready?" Mako asked.
"I've been ready. What is it?" 
From her pocket, Twilight took out what appeared to be somewhat of a crystal. It was nearly identical to the ones that adorned her own palace. Korra arced an eyebrow at this strange gift but took it none the less.
"Um…thanks, it's…cute." The two laughed, much to her surprise, "What's so funny?" Twilight whispered something in her ear, which only left Korra even more confused. She looked down at the crystal and then to her friends, who were all eagerly awaiting for her to do as the alicorn asked. With a shrug, Korra kissed the crystal…which then began to glow brightly. Twilight took the crystal and flew up towards the edge of the island's cliff, tossing the stone into the ocean. One it landed, the water rippled with sparkles as something began to submerge from bellow the waters. Everyone watched in excitement while Korra's mouth hung open at what had only just now appeared before her eyes. Once the building was visible, everyone applauded.
"SURPRISE!!!"
There stood a tall, elegant palace that sparkled like pure sapphires in the midday sun. Only, it not only looked like a castle, but somewhat of an apartment condo, complete with balcony and transparent slide doors which Korra could see from down bellow. It may not have been as enormously tall as Twilight's castle, but it was very, very close. It was roomy enough for a host to have more company but also not too large as to not feel lonely within it. Korra, in all honestly did not know what to say, all while Twilight and Mako were enjoying seeing her reaction.
"How did…when…you…he…them..that…explanation please?"
Twilight giggled as she gripped Korra's arm, "You like it?"
"I…I love it, but…what?"
The pink pony hopped forward and dragged Korra into the palace.
"Come on in!"
Once inside, Korra was completely speechless: the place was perfect! It had a lovely living room complete with a couch, sofas and a table in between with pictures of family and friends, a kitchen with transparent doors so she could see right to the city, it also had curtains. There was a staircase that lead to the penthouse upstairs. The whole place looked like a modern watertribe like home with water tribe decorations, furniture and pictures of friends and family. In the center stood a torn, adorned with her cutie mark on it. In the center of the throne room was the same eight inch star as seen from Twilight's throne room. Not only that, but there were even pieces of crystal, nearly identical to those around Twilight's palace. In fact, the entire palace looked at if it was perfectly polished and marveled by that said crystal. Even spirit flowers decorated the halls with vine-like patters on the walls, and even some adorning her throne, giving it a stunning nature look. Some of the vines even decorated the exterior of the palace, thought not as excessively but enough to give it a slightly forest-like look. The vines were colored to match the palace itself. It felt so roomy inside, and Korra could even sense the worm love of her friends in every inch of the halls.
"How did you make all of this?"
The alicorn queen and Korra's airbending master approached her, bowing in respect. "I know this is a lot to take in Korra." said Tenzin, "But I'm sure Twilight can explain everything." he nodded her head and she began to explain as memories of the events unfolded in her mind.
"After we came back from Canterlot high, I found something underneath my throne. It was a crystal. When my magic touched it, it showed me an image of a palace."

……

Twilight sat on her new throne, surprisingly finding it very comfortable, when suddenly, something magically emerged from the side of her throne. It appeared to be some kind of crystal, blue in color and in the form of a raindrop. Korra was out for the moment so Twilight levitated the jewel towards herself. Her eyes widened when a holographic image appeared before her eyes. It was then that she suddenly knew what she had to do.
The doors opened and Twilight quickly hid the stone away, hearing her sister's voice. "Twilight, I'm back."
"Coming Korra." she secretly hid the stone away where she knew Korra wouldn't find it.
"I can't explain it, but somehow I knew exactly what this crystal was meant for. The palace was simple, but empty. So when you went to visit your parents for the weekend, I gathered everyone we knew and began placing our own ideas for the palace, which we knew was meant to be yours."
The young alicorn had all of her fiends gathered together as she demonstrated the palace image which hovered over the crystal, almost in a holographic image. The structure was far too simple, and Twilight explained that they needed to 'fill it up'. Rarity and Asami came up with ideas for the structure, Tenzin suggested the windows for air to flow inside, Bolin, Flash and Rainbow suggested a gym, Rarity added a walk in closet, Jinora and her siblings added the spirit vine decorations in order to symbolize the spirit wilds. Everyone did their part to design every piece of the palace, Luna added the water tribe and lunar symbols to remind Korra of home. They made the place ideal for their friend. 
Korra felt her heart would just burst with joy. "You guys made all of this…for me?"
They did not need words to answer, for their smiles and loving nods were enough. 
"We know you don't need a palace to prove you are a princess" said Tenzin, "but you still deserve one." the rest of the airbender surrounded her, along with her other friends. 
"So, do you like it?" Jinora asked.
"Like it?….I absolutely love it!!" The princess avatar spread her wings and flew excitedly all across the run, zipping pass them as they ducked. "It's not too big or too small; it's casual yet classy, stylish but humble. And I love the water tribe details! It feels just like home.”
“The lunar designs were done by myself." said Luna, "With the assistance of Rarity of course.”
Rarity smiled proudly, “I do have an eye for this sort of thing.”
“As princess of the night I have a connection with the moon, and since your people's culture is closely associated with it, I feel quite a fondness to it.”
“I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank all so much.” she then turned to Raiko, "Mr. President, are you okay with this? I mean, now the city's got a portal, and a palace."
Raiko simply smiled, "Actually, I think it gives our city much more flair." he said with a wink, earning a chuckle from Korra.
“You haven't seen the best part!” Twilight said excitedly, Korra's eyes sparkled, “There's more? No way.”
“Yes way!" said Rainbow Dash, "Come on!”
Both Korra and Rainbow flew to the stairs with the others following. Upstairs was Korra's bedroom, a lovely king sized bed with a nightstand beside it and a full body mirror. She then spotted a door with an alicorn symbol on it. It looked like a nob.
"What's the door for?”
“Watch this.”, Twilight flew to it and with her horn, she made the nob turn. The door opened and inside was a large hall filled with books. Korra's mouth hung open, Fluttershy closed it.
“Your very own enchanted private library!” Applejack said as she showed her the library.
“My idea.” Jinora and Twilight said in union, "Jinx!"
Korra flew into the library. It was so large it defied the laws of physics for the apartment, “Wow! There are books on everything from Equestria!”  she starts picking the books and reading their covers, "'How to levitate', 'History of the royal sisters'---can't get enough of that one, and---oh, my gosh! "Daring Do"!
Rainbow Dash flew by her, “A copy of every one in the entire series!”
Both girls squealed, “Awesome!"
Then, Korra noticed that there was one side of her room which was partly empty, as if something was meant to be placed there but was not. "Um, what's with this empty space?"
Twilight gestured to a crystal light switch, but it was not meant for the lamp. "Flip the switch." 
Korra did as Twilight said and her eyes widened when the empty space suddenly rippled and appeared Twilight's side of the room from her palace. 
"Because this place is made from pieces of my palace, they're connected. So we can still be roommates, even when we're two worlds apart."
The tears that threatened to escape her eyes finally did. Twilight gained a surprised bear hug from the Avatar. "The words 'thank you' don't feel big enough for what you all did…but I honestly don't know what else to say. This…is the most magical and wondrous gift I could have ever received."
"It brings us joy to see you happy." said the air nomad. That was when Korra had an idea.
"You know what? Maybe there is something I can do." 
Everyone gathered into Korra's new main throne room, as she addressed to the airbenders. The Mane Six and Team Avatar stood beside her, along with the alicorns. The airbenders bowed down on one knee before Korra.
"Tenzin, after I was poisoned I felt helpless. But you never gave up on me. I will admit, when you said the Air Nation would serve as protectors of the world while I was down, I felt…a little envious. I'm sorry. But despite that, I also felt honored that you would make such a sacrifice for me. For that, I won't let it go in vain. I may have my strength back, but even I can't solve all of the worlds problems…not by myself, anyway. So, if the offer still stands, I would be honored to have you all assist not only me, but the rest of the royals and our friends to keep balance in our worlds. After all, this palace, Twilight's kingdom, this new era, it was all created by the love of our friends." she turned her head to look over at the Mane Six and Team Avatar. "We've all learned that Love is not just a feeling that comes and goes. But a power all on its own. It has guided us all through the hard times, even when we thought all was lost. Yes, I know I've said this stuff before, but I guess now I understand it better than ever." she approach Tenzin, placing her hand on his shoulder. "So, what do you say? Will you all continue to help me?"
The airbending teacher smiled proudly as he stood up. "Nothing would make us happier." the young Avatar hugged her teacher as everyone in the room applauded with joy. Leilani approached the princess, and opened her palms, revealing a lovely new hair piece, styled to look like the Raava butterfly. The queen placed it over Korra's clear blue streak, replacing her precious hair tie. It was Leilani's way of saying she was proud of her. 
Then, right on cue, the white and blue butterfly flew down and landed on Korra's finger. She approached her throne and used her magic to create a pedestal, added with a blue pillow, placing the butterfly on it.
"You are always welcome here, old friend."
The butterfly spoke to her, telepathically, "Welcome home, Princess Korra." It didn't take long for Korra to once again be surrounded by her friends.
It certainly was good to be home


(~)


Spike played the keyboard to an upbeat pop rhythm while the airbenders and spirits danced across the island, along with Team Avatar and The Mane Six, celebrating.

(Parody of That's the way it is. By Celine Dion. More upbeat)

Korra;
I can't read your mind 
But I know your story
I see what you're going through, yeah
It's an uphill climb, and you're feeling lonely
But I know it will come to you, yeah

As she rang, Mako took her hand and the two danced. Their eyes locked and filled with all the love in their hearts.

So don't surrender 'cause you can win
In this thing called Love

Everyone bursted out into song, feeling the love within their hearts.

Everyone;
When you want it the most but there's no easy way out
When you're ready to go, but your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your Faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is!

Bolin grabbed Asami by the waist and lifted her up, twirling her. Never had they felt this happy. Asami finally found her perfect match, and Bolin had found his. Love was not easy, but once found, it was worth it

Mako;
Sometimes in life, there's no simple answer
And you don't know what to say, no
But it's plain to see, if we stick together
We're gonna find a way, yeah
So don't surrender 'cause you can win
In this thing called Love

While he danced with Korra, Twilight danced with Flash Sentry and even Spike got to dance with Rarity while Jinora danced with Kai. Even Tenzin got a chance to dance with his life, just as they did when they were young.

Everyone;
When you want it the most but there's no easy way out
When you're ready to go, but your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your Faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is!

Twilight;
When life feels empty with no tomorrow
And loneliness starts to call
Baby, don't worry, forget your sorrow
'Cause love's gonna conquer it all.
All!

Twilight and Korra spread out their wings and flew up, flying around the temple as there friends happily watched. Varrick danced with Zhu Li and even in the spirit world, Aiwei found a friend in the spider scorpion, who became his traveling companion across the spirit world. Even Wan Shi Tong managed to become closer to his knowledge seekers. Everyone had finally allowed love to enter their hearts and that love overcame the darkness within.

Everyone;
When you want it the most but there's no easy way out
When you're ready to go, but your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your Faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is!

That's the way it is
That's the way it is, baby
Don't give up on your faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is.

As they sang the last note, Korra took a flower from the temple gardens and blew on it, magically sending it towards the mountains, where a very, very lonely and heartbroken man remained. His spirits broken. Then, he noticed the same flower appear before him. He took it and allowed the warmth of it to fill his senses…
And his heart.
Korra landed, only to receive a hug from her friend Twilight. The heiress pointed up into the sky. 
"Hey look." the alicorn pointed to the sky. Korra looked up, seeing the stunning Rainbow.	"It's beautiful."
Korra couldn't agree more. "Yeah. Let's never loose sight of it again."

When you want it the most but there's no easy way out
When you're ready to go, but your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your Faith
Love comes to those who believe it….
And that's the way it is!

The end...


*(~)*
Ephesians 1:3~
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 
*(~)*