It was always a refreshing feeling to wake up after a good night’s sleep after being deprived of it for a couple days. Of course that is only when you are given the chance to do so at your own pace. Having something else do it for you tends to leave you disoriented and irritated instead of refreshed though. This is especially true when it’s a thrown book impacting into your face much like Aegis Flare is experiencing now. Of course her head crashing into the underside of the table shortly afterwards as she tried to leap to her hooves didn’t help much either.
As she sat there trying to figure out what just happened she remembered just where she was. Peeking out from under the tablecloth she noticed a few ponies in the room but nowhere near the number there should have been. “Really Scootaloo? I asked you to wake me up when it was time for the celebration to start.”
As she muttered to herself she remembered to drop the sound barrier around the table in time to hear a familiar voice singing out. “It was under Eeeee.” She was wondering why Pinkie Pie was back when the party in the library was over when she heard Twilight reading from something.
“There are seven Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is not known as it is known to change over time but in all cases it is a link for the other five to open the path to the seventh. The seventh is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the six elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest.” Aegis Flare was about to say something from her position when she felt a chill flow through the building, freezing her in place.
“The Everfree Forest?! Darling, that is no place for a lady to be going, especially when it is dark out like it is now!” The hidden unicorn felt a bit of warmth returning as she felt herself getting agitated at Rarity, while the other feeling, which she identified as fear, ebbed. Things weren’t over though as the others kept going.
“Whoa nelly, that really is a problem that ya have there. Is there anything that we can do ta help?” Aegis Flare heard a bit of a tremor in her voice which seemed odd for somepony that lived next to the forest and dealt with timberwolves from it occasionally.
Peeking out from under the table she noticed the four she had heard, along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. All of them looked off for some reason, as if they were moments away from bolting, which was unusual for all of them except for Fluttershy. She then noticed Twilight shaking her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own. Besides, don’t you all have ponies that you need to check on after all that happened?”
“Well the weather team must be wondering what to do right now…”
“Mah family must be terrified right now and I just left them there…”
“Oh dear, I can’t believe I just abandoned poor Sweetie Belle Like that…”
“Everypony must be so sad right now, I have to go cheer them up…”
“*Squeak!*”
As the five were making their way to the door an orange glow sprang up around the room blocking them in. Before they could panic any further a voice rang out behind them. “Now I know that you aren’t going to just walk off and let a pony who has no idea what to expect from the Everfree go in there alone, are you? All of you would stand a better chance in there than any random unicorn from Canterlot, even if she is the student of the princess.”
The six turn around to see the orange unicorn crawling out from under a table, while rubbing her head and looking at the cover of a book. “Also somepony really needs to watch where they are throwing these books, especially the thick ones.” She tosses the book with her magic in front of Twilight, revealing the title to be Common Treatments of Head Injuries and Ailments.
They stare at her as she walks over to the leftovers from the previous night’s party and gets a cup of the punch. Finally one of the six unfreezes enough to actually say something. “Wait a moment darling, what do you mean that I would be better than her in the Everfree? A lady of my upbringing would never be found in such a terrible place. Surely a pony trained by the princess would know what she is doing, wouldn’t she?”
When Aegis Flare shakes her head in response there are a couple chuckles as Twilight glares at her. “First, you actually know enough about the Everfree to know to stay out of there. I doubt Twilight has even seen a timberwolf with her own eyes, let alone a manticore, hydra, or star beast.” She glances over at the purple unicorn for verification to have her turn away slightly in answer. “Then there is also the fact that you have a black belt in at least one form of martial arts and just looking at her I can see that she doesn’t work out much.”
They don’t notice Twilight’s blush as all eyes turned to stare at Rarity in surprise. She just glances around at them all looking unperturbed. “What? A lady has to be able to defend herself if it comes to it. Rainbow Dash was the one who introduced me to the instructor so she already should have known about it.”
When all eyes shifted towards the rainbow maned pegasus she just shrugged. “I didn’t expect her to actually go through with it when she asked about it before. She’s always at the spa when she gets the tiniest bit sweaty so I figured she would have given up right away.”
After a few eye-rolls were exchanged the orange unicorn looked out the window to see that it was dark out and glancing at a clock noticed that the sun should have been up a while now. “I’m just now noticing, but why is it still dark outside? Shouldn’t the princess have raised the sun by now?”
Her questions were quickly answered, though maybe a bit too quickly, as Pinkie Pie explained everything that happened over a matter of seconds without pausing for a breath. Even with her going off on random tangents multiple times it was only a matter of minutes before Aegis Flare was caught up on everything and had a hoof implanted in her face. “So not only were you going to go into a dangerous forest alone, but you were also planning on taking on an alicorn alone as well? You really need the help more than I thought, and that’s just to keep you out of trouble.”
Twilight looked a bit offended as she broke into a rant. “Well somepony has to do something to stop her and I was the only one to even find out about all this. If nopony does anything then this night will never end and we’ll never see Princess Celestia again!?”
Rolling her eyes she just sighs at the overly dramatic unicorn. “I never said anything about not going, if what you were reading about earlier was part of your plan to stop her then that’s fine. But there is no way you are going alone and I hope the others aren’t letting their fears get the better of them to see that doing nothing is a bad idea.”
The others looked a bit sheepish except for Rainbow Dash who takes this as a challenge. “Hey! I’m not scared of anything it’s just that… Huh, why did I want to check on the weather team anyways? There isn’t anything for them to do for a couple days anyways and most of them can’t even fly in the dark well enough to work.”
The other four that were making excuses earlier were also looking confused as well. “That’s odd; I was thinking the same thing. My parents are with Sweetie Belle right now so why would I need to check on her?” The others mentioned similar things while both Twilight and Aegis Flare looked confused.
“It’s strange, after you finished reading about those Elements of Harmony I felt a chill of fear but I have no idea what it was from.” Twilight’s horn lights up as she scans the room after hearing all this. All eyes turn towards her when she gasps in shock.
“Somepony was casting a fear spell over the room just moments ago! But why is it all of you were affected but Flare wasn’t?” Once again all eyes shift to the mentioned unicorn while Rainbow Dash flies up to her and glares at her.
“Yeah, why weren’t you as scared as the rest of them? Are you working for Nightmare Moon?” Having heard some complaints about Rainbow Dash’s brashness before, Aegis Flare just rolls her eyes. Before she responds she casually brushes at the fur around her throat away, revealing the old scar to the other’s view.
While Applejack and Rarity knew about her history; that didn’t stop them from gasping and wincing along with the others when they saw the damage. “A little bit of fear is nothing compared to having a timberwolf nearly tearing your throat out as a little filly. Even after all these years I still can feel their teeth digging into me. Yet I’ve learned that letting my fear control me only makes things worse and prevents you from doing what needs to be done.”
The cyan mare backs down at this explanation with a bit of respect and pity in her eyes. Even the others including Twilight look at her with a bit more respect at hearing this. Twilight looks around at the others before turning back to the orange unicorn with a small smile and a sigh. “Fine, if you all want to follow me in there then I won’t stop you, but I still think it’s a bad idea.”
The others look to each other before nodding and turning back to Twilight. “Ah think that we all agree even after that scare. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple.”
The others make sounds of agreement as Pinkie Pie bounces out the door. “Especially if there's candy apples in there. What? Those things are good.” Twilight just sighs again before following her out the door towards the forest with the others not far behind.
As they all walk through town they eventually reach the main entrance of the Everfree forest where they all pause for a moment. As Aegis Flare passes by them all without hesitation they are forced to follow her before they have a chance to prepare themselves. “Is she always like this? I mean with how harsh she acts and just being so standoffish?”
Rarity looks over at Twilight before facing forward once again. “Oh darling, you get used to that eventually. She really has had a hard time growing up, what with her parents disappearing a few years back leaving her alone to take care of her sister. Of course she could do with being a bit more ladylike; she’s as bad as Rainbow Dash and Applejack most of the time.”
Twilight rolls her eyes at the last bit but the rest gives her something to think about for a bit. Eventually she looks around the forest to see how creepy everything looks while they near a cliff. “So, none of you have been in here before?”
Rarity shakes her head in disgust. “Ugh, Heavens no! Just look at it - it's dreadful.”
Applejack is quick to chip in her bits. “And it ain't natural. Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria.”
The purple unicorn glances over at the orange earth pony in confusion. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“Nopony knows. You know why?” Rainbow Dash turns and smirks at the ponies behind her while Aegis Flare rolls her eyes at the antics of the ponies following her.
“Rainbow, quit it.” Applejack tries to suppress a shiver of fear but it’s hard for her with how close her family is to the forest.
“'cause every pony who's ever come in, has never come out!” As the cyan pegasus stalks back towards the others as she attempts to scare them, a loud cracking sound echoed across the area as the entire cliff side breaks apart sending the seven tumbling down a steep slope.
“Fluttershy! Quick!” As Rainbow Dash calls to the other pegasus, the two rush down and catch up Rarity and Pinkie Pie and airlifts them to safety. This leaves Applejack and the other two unicorns to slide towards the edge of another cliff at the end of the slope. Aegis Flare looks back and sees that Applejack managed to catch ahold of a root but Twilight is still sliding out of control. She gestures towards the earth pony then towards Twilight and, at seeing her nod in response, turns towards the cliff with a look of determination.
Trusting that the two will be safe she focuses on saving herself and comes up with a good idea on the fly. Moments away from the edge her horn lights up with an orange glow which is soon followed by a matching glow at the edge of the cliff. Right as she reaches the edge and she gets a good view of the ground far below an orange platform appears and starts spiraling down towards the ground.
She left the cliff and started sliding down the platform in a spiral towards the ground below. She looked up to see Applejack holding onto Twilight as she dangles off the edge before she passes two feathered forms heading up to help them. She let out a sigh of relief at seeing them safe now but she was overly distracted by this that she failed to notice the ground coming up fast. Because of her distraction her front left hoof hit the ground first at an odd angle causing her to yell out as she tumbled forward.
As she was holding her leg in pain the others finally brought Twilight in for a landing and she immediately walked over towards her. “Are you crazy?! What were you thinking just diving off the edge of a cliff like that?”
Aegis Flare limps over to the nearby lake and sets her leg in it to soak in the cold water as Applejack leapt down the cliff along some ledges. “I was fine until I got distracted at the bottom, and as for being crazy? Well my father always said that all ponies are crazy to some extent so I guess that’s a yes.”
Throwing up her hooves in frustration, Twilight stalks off towards the others, but not before pausing to give a small smile at Applejack. As the others followed the path in the direction of the castle the orange unicorn rubbed at her leg. “Are you doing all right there Flarie?”
She looks back to see Pinkie waiting for her while the others were walking ahead. “I will be in a moment; I just landed badly on an old injury. It flares up occasionally still, but usually at the worst times.” As the pink pony begins chuckling at her she realizes what she said on accident and rolls her eyes before removing her leg from the lake. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up Pinkie; let’s just go catch up with the others.”
The others had gotten out of sight by that point so they had to go into a light trot to catch up. When they heard a loud roar the two looked at each other before taking off at a gallop. When they arrived they found the others facing off with a manticore that looked awfully familiar to the unicorn. “Not him again. Pinkie, we need to go and stop them before somepony gets hurt. Pinkie?”
Looking over, she notices that Pinkie is gone and on searching around finds that she is running off towards the others. She was about to yell out but she paused when her ears caught the wound of Fluttershy calling out for the others to wait as well. Shaking her head she looked towards the others to see Applejack go flying off the manticore’s head and Rainbow Dash charge in to fly in rapid circles around it.
When she noticed the creature’s tail rear back her eyes widened and she reached out with her magic again and wrapped the tail in a bubble shaped shield. She wasn’t a moment too soon as the tail came whipping around to strike at the pegasus out of the air. She sighed in relief at being fast enough as the tail would have pierced into her side if she didn’t protect her.
When the others began to charge toward the manticore as a group she brought a hoof up to her face in annoyance. She was about to shout out to get them to stop but she was surprised when Fluttershy beat her to it while flying in front of the others. She smiled as the butter yellow pegasus began to approach the manticore while the others watched in shock and she moved to join them. “It’s surprising that she could shout like that, but that manticore stands no chance now. I haven’t seen an animal yet, monster or not, that has been able to stand up to Fluttershy.”
After Fluttershy removed a large thorn from the manticore’s paw the others quickly passed it while Aegis Flare paused next to it for a moment. “Really now? All that over a little thorn? I would have thought you would have been a bit calmer around ponies after all the fish I caught you over the years.”
The manticore looked down at her with wide eyes before looking a bit ashamed and growled something at her. “He apologizes for doing that, but he says that the thorn was really painful so he couldn’t think.” Looking over she nods to Fluttershy before turning back to the manticore.
“Well it might be a few days before I come by here again, but please try not to hurt anypony again. I’d rather not have to fight you when what we have works so well.” At the large creatures nod she begins trotting to catch up with the others while Fluttershy flies ahead, saying something to Twilight as she passes her. She finally catches up with the others and flank bumps Twilight as she passes by.
“So what was that about being crazy, Twilight? Only crazy ponies recklessly try to attack a manticore on hoof like that, even if it is one as harmless as that one.” Twilight just stares at her in shock before chuckling sheepishly at the passing unicorn.
As they continued on their journey Twilight kept an eye on the unicorn leading them through the forest. She was surprised at the reaction Aegis Flare showed after the incident with the manticore and wanted to know more about her. She trotted past the others until she came alongside the orange unicorn. “I was wondering; how did you do that thing with your magic back at the cliff? And why do you seem to be so calm while we are out here?”
Aegis Flare glanced over at Twilight before lighting her horn and grabbing something off the side of the path and floating it in front of the purple unicorn. Looking down Twilight sees a small pile of elderberries wrapped in an orange field that she at first thought was basic levitation, but on closer examination was much different. “What I used back at the cliff was a variation of a basic shield spell shaped in a way that it made a platform shaped like a slide. Over the years I’ve learned just how versatile that one spell is and have found many uses for it.”
Her eyes widen as Twilight realizes what she is looking at as the shield vanishes, dropping the barriers into her telekinetic grip. “That is high level magic, being able to shape the spell in ways like that! How is it that I’ve never seen you at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? That’s the only place where you could have learned how to do something like that.”
She was answered with a huffing sound as her conversation partner rolled her eyes. “My parents looked into that place before but with their rules they never would have accepted me. No matter how talented a unicorn is the school would never accept one that is spell-blind. Also as for why I’m so calm, I’ve been through this forest for years exploring much of the area surrounding Ponyville so I know much of what to expect already.”
To say that Twilight was shocked would be an understatement as her pupils shrunk at hearing of the other unicorn’s condition. She was about to say something else but was interrupted as she was shoved aside by Rainbow Dash. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you mean that you’ve been running around in here for years? Nopony ever voluntarily goes into the Everfree and those that do never return.”
She was suddenly pulled back as Applejack took her tail in her mouth and pulled her back. “Simmer down there, Rainbow. Ya haven’t been around long enough ta know but she is the one ponies go ta when they need something special from in here. Ah can’t begin ta count how often she has helped drive off the timberwolves when they raid the farm.”
By this time Twilight was finally able to find her voice again. “What do you mean that you are spell-blind?! Nopony that has that condition should be able to cast spells like what you did!”
Aegis Flare just chuckles once again as she surveys the area ahead of them to see the trees thickening a bit, blocking out the light. “You must not have found a book on the subject then. While it means that I can’t learn spells in the usual ways, I can still cast spells that are related to my talent if I can work out the process to do so.” She gestures back to the mark on her flank of the shield within a ring of fire. “Pretty much that means I’m limited to shield spells and fire magic though I try to avoid the latter variety.”
The purple unicorn goes silent as she is given much to think about, though her eyes narrow as she falls back and looks at the pony leading them. As she comes next to Rarity the white unicorn looks over at her. “Is there something the matter darling?”
At her words Twilight shakes her head before letting out a sigh. “It’s nothing really. I’m just having trouble figuring that mare out. Even more-so after she mentioned that she is talented with fire magic. But that should be impossible as unicorns with dangerous magic are kept track of by a special branch of the guard and there is a list of them in Canterlot. Even if they are no longer watched their names are recorded, even mine is there, but I’ve read through it before but I don’t remember seeing her name on it.”
“Well dear, that is odd but it might be because her parents were part of the guard themselves. I’m not sure which part but until they disappeared they were always helping out around Ponyville. Maybe they had some special privileges that could have made an exception of her?” Twilight frowns as she considers this but shakes her head.
“No, the only ones that could do something like that are Princess Celestia and select members of the leaders of the guard.” She sighs as she shakes her head once again. “There’s no point in thinking it over now though with everything that is going on. I can talk with the princess about it once all this is finished.”
As the forest around them starts to get darker the seven ponies start grouping closer together so they don’t become separated. Hearing the others complain about the dark; Aegis Flare was about to create a light until she was interrupted by a scream from Fluttershy. She took a combat stance as her head darted left and right searching for a threat until her gaze settled on a glowing tree that was shaped like a monster. She jerked back a moment when she saw it, but paused when she noticed that it wasn’t moving at all.
Looking around she spied other trees like the first and she got curious about what they were. While the others were busy panicking over their appearance she advanced on the first tree and prodded it with a hoof. She turned back to reassure the others but she stopped when she heard laughter and her gaze was drawn to Pinkie Pie.
Her jaw dropped when the pink pony started to sing but when she dispelled whatever had changed the trees with a laugh she almost fell over from shock. As she continued with her song and the others joined in with the laughing she shook her head and let out a chuckle. As she did that the tree she was standing next to returned to normal causing her to shake her head while the others rolled around laughing.
When they finally got ahold of themselves and started moving again she walked next to Pinkie Pie for a bit. “I’d ask you how you know that would work, but I expect that you wouldn’t give me an answer I could understand. Good work in noticing that those trees were completely harmless.”
Pinkie just glanced over before bouncing her way to the front of the group. “Well why wouldn’t they be harmless? They just sat there making faces at us and didn’t move. You need to work on that laugh though, it’s like you haven’t let out a real laugh in a long time.” Aegis Flare just rolled her eyes but she couldn’t help but smile at the pink pony’s antics.
With that obstacle out of the way they continued on but it wasn’t long before they were blocked yet again. Aegis Flare glared at the roiling river in annoyance before looking around for a way across. She was about to just create a bridge with her magic until she saw the others running off again. Sighing she followed after them and wondered what the point was of being the expert on the forest if the others kept running around recklessly.
As she trailed after them she heard something crying and when she passed through some brush she found them talking with a river serpent. She had arrived just in time to see Rarity lop off her tail and use it to fix the creature’s mustache. She winced as she thought about the complaining that would probably happen later as she followed the others.
As she caught up to Twilight she let out another sigh. “You really don’t seem to care about how dangerous this forest is with how often you keep running ahead. Though I was surprised to see a sea dragon out here, they usually avoid the Everfree for calmer waters.”
The purple unicorn looked over with an odd look before shaking her head. “You worry too much. Other than the manticore we haven’t seen anything really dangerous and I doubt that we will.” She looked ahead and spotted a break in the trees ahead, and through it, a stone structure. “There it is, the ruin that holds The Elements of Harmony. We made it!”
Aegis Flare shook her head as the excited unicorn took off yet again without any thought to consequences. When she saw Twilight stumble and appear to be falling off the edge of something she lit up her horn but held off when Rainbow Dash reached her first to pull her back. Seeing that the bridge was out, the cyan pegasus flew across to tie off the bridge again.
While the pegasus was making her way across, Aegis Flare spent her time looking down over the edge of the cliff. After watching her poke around the edge for a minute Twilight finally decided to speak up. “What are you looking for over there?”
“I’m just trying to figure out how falling off a cliff isn’t really dangerous. You did say that we wouldn’t run into anything before you ran off after I complained about you all running off.” This earned a face-hoof from Twilight while Pinkie was laughing behind her. Shaking her head the purple unicorn looked over to see what was taking Rainbow Dash so long to see some other figures across the way causing her to shout out to the pegasus.
Things started to get tense as mist flowed over the gap and they waited for some sign from Rainbow Dash. When she flew back over to land with the others they all let out a sigh of relief that nothing had happened. With a bit of showboating on her part they all crossed the bridge and finally entered the ruins of the castle of the royal pony sisters.
Aegis Flare expected to have to search high and low in the ruins to find the Elements of Harmony, but was surprised when they found them after the first couple rooms. She and the others soon gathered around a large display holding multiple stone orbs. The gathered all of them into a circle where they could examine them closely but they soon came across a problem which was voiced by Rainbow Dash. “Where’s the seventh?”
“The book said: ‘when the six are present, a spark will cause the seventh Element to be revealed.’” Twilight examines them closely while the others watch on.
Applejack looks at the others before she feels a need to question this. “What in the hay is that supposed to mean?”
“I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don't know what will happen.” They all back away from the Elements to give Twilight a chance to try and figure out a way to find the seventh Element. While the others gather just outside, Aegis Flare takes the chance to examine the surrounding rooms out of curiosity. She hadn’t has the chance to check the place out before and wondered why she never thought to after all these years.
It wasn’t long before a yell rang out through the ruins and she charged back just in time to see Twilight vanish in a swirl of magic along with the Elements. They all search around the area trying to find where Twilight went until Rarity pointed out a glow of magic coming from a tower visible from the window. As most of them take off running to search for a way over there Aegis Flare tries to stop them. “Everypony wait! It would be faster if I just… and they are already gone. Why do they always rush off without thinking or listening to me? Now I know how Fluttershy feels when everypony ignores her.”
With a sigh she heads back to the window and charges up her magic before creating a pathway out of her shields. Looking back the way the others took off she leapt out the window along her shortcut. “I just hope Twilight is doing okay.”
Inside the tower Twilight stared in disbelief at the shards of the Elements after Nightmare Moon had destroyed them. She felt so lost that she didn’t even see the midnight alicorn charging up another attack until it was headed right for her. Her eyes widened for a moment before she squeezed them shut again in fear at what was about to happen. When she heard the blast of magic connect with something, but not feel it, she cracked her eyes open.
What she saw in front of her made her gasp in surprise as she found Aegis Flare standing in front of her. When she fell to her knees, Twilight rushed forward to help her and gasped in shock when she saw the deep crack running down her horn. “Flare, what happened?! How did you…?!”
Nightmare Moon watched with a look of interest at seeing a pony able to block her attack and actually survive it. She had seen the unicorn rush in at the last moment and throw up a barrier in front of the other unicorn but she hadn’t expected it to work. “Well, well. It seems that there really are some ponies of some skill with you. Too bad all she did was delay the inevitable.”
Twilight looked up in fear at the alicorns voice but when she heard more voices from the stairway behind her she looked back in realization. Turning back towards the alicorn she had a smirk on her face as she finally figured out the key to defeating her. “You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here!”
The other five ponies entered the room and spread out behind the other two as Twilight looked at the alicorn in defiance. “Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!”
As she named out each of them, the shards of stone started to float around them to the horror of Nightmare Moon. Twilight stepped forward to help the orange unicorn to get back onto her hooves before continuing. “While each is powerful alone it takes a certain something to bring them all together. It may be different over the years but today it was all about taking that first step despite what could happen. Aegis Flare, who kept us from breaking apart before we could even begin by standing against fear, and who risked her own life to protect another without thought represents the spirit of… courage! The spirits of these six ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us.”
Nightmare Moon was in full panic-mode as she yelled out a protest. “You still don't have the seventh Element! The spark didn't work!”
Her gaze softened as Twilight looked back at the other six ponies behind her. “But it did! A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends! You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the seventh element: the element of... magic!”
Nightmare Moon began screaming in terror as the shards gathered around the necks of the six ponies and a seventh glow appeared atop Twilight’s head. Beams of energy were emitted from the five into the one at Aegis Flare’s neck before it fired at the one on Twilight’s head before it scattered into a rainbow that rose up into the air before coming down and engulfing the alicorn.
Once the rainbow had cleared the room was silent for an indeterminate amount of time as ponies lay around the room unconscious. Eventually they started stirring as the recovered from what had happened. It didn’t take them long to notice the new jewelry they were wearing, or the fact that the wear and tear of their recent trials were no longer present as Rarity's tail and Aegis Flare's horn were mended, though Aegis Flare looked at hers slightly annoyed. It was a large yellow gem in the shape of the shield of her cutie mark.
When Princess Celestia flew in through a window with the rising sun they all looked on in relief. It was a surprise to them all when she went up to where Nightmare Moon was and drew their attention to her sister Luna. Aegis Flare was curious if she could also be the one the thestrals were waiting for or if she at least knew of her but knew that now wasn’t the time to ask.
With the princesses returned and the sun in the sky once again they made their way back to Ponyville. Somehow Pinkie Pie had managed to run ahead of everypony else and get a party set up in celebration of the end of Nightmare Moon and the return of Princess Luna. Reactions were varied when the townsfolk found out who had saved them though, other than Twilight, most of the reactions were full of pride over them being ponies from their own town.
Eventually things wound down and the princesses had to leave for Canterlot, but before going a proclamation was made allowing Twilight to stay in town for her studies. While the others celebrated, Aegis Flare took this chance to speak with the princesses in private before they left. “Princess Celestia? May I speak with something before you go?”
At her nod and under her gentle gaze she took a deep breath to steady herself. “First is about more of a curiosity with your sister that I learned from my father. He said that the thestrals were still waiting for the return of the Night Mother and I’m hoping that Princess Luna knows what that means.” The princess inhaled sharply as she looked towards her darker sister who stared back in shock before nodding slowly as a tear trailed from an eye.
Seeing as the easy part was over, she took another breath and hoped for some news after so long. “The second thing I wanted to ask was if you know what happened to my parents, Bella Donna and Vanator. It’s been years now since they have disappeared and I was wondering if you had heard anything since they worked for you.”
Princess Celestia looked at Aegis Flare in confusion a moment before her eyes widened as she finally recognized the mare as on she had seen years ago with the two mentioned. She looked at her sadly as she tried to decide how to words her thoughts as well as how much to reveal. Eventually she sighed. “I am sorry to say that I cannot tell you much of what you want to know as even I don’t know what happened to them. They were on a diplomatic mission when they disappeared without any warning. There is much more that I cannot tell you, but if they still live then I know that there is an important reason for them to have disappeared.”
While this didn’t do anything to reassure the young mare, it was still more hope than she had for years. She wasn’t sure how much to tell her sister yet, but at least she finally had something. Thanking the princesses for their time she made her way back to her friends, and only now did she realize that she actually was using the word for them and meant it.