Weaponry began to open his eye. The light from the sun made him squint as he saw a few blurry figures in his vision. He could hear muffled voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying. As his vision started to return to him, the figures outlines began to appear, then their color scheme. He blinked as he saw Twilight and her friends standing over him with concerned expressions that turned to relief. Weaponry began to stand up and as he got to his hooves he felt the group of ponies embrace him in a group hug.
“Thank the gods you’re alright darling, we were all so worried,” Rarity said. Weaponry winced in pain before the group quickly let go of him as Luna and Celestia walked over to then. Weaponry felt a knot form in his stomach. He wondered what type of punishment awaited him: banishment, imprisonment, or would they just execute him in front of all pony kind for his actions.
Weaponry bowed to the princesses as he felt his legs begin to shack as they tried to hold his body up. Before they could speak Weaponry said, “I will not argue with any punishment you bring down upon me. Whether it is banishment, imprisonment, or execution. I’ll accept all responsibility for any pain and sorrow I’ve caused this day.” Celestia and Luna looked at each other and nodded.
“Very well, I order you to stand,” Celestia demanded. Weaponry stood up to face the two princesses. He was suddenly embraced by Celestia’s wings as she added, “I order you to forget all your sorrow, your feelings of regret, and all feelings of this being your fault.” Weaponry was taken aback by her orders and slowly stepped away from her embrace.
“But,” Weaponry shuddered before he cried out, “It’s my fault all this happened! I unleashed Ozark; I couldn’t imprison him back in the recesses of my mind. Because of my foolish actions Canterlot, Ponyville are in ruins. Because of my actions, I’ve lost my best friend. Somepony I considered a brother.” Tears where rolling down his cheeks as he felt all the sorrow come crashing down upon him.
“You’re wrong!” Luna stated. Weaponry looked up at her as she explained, “You unleashed Ozark to break the hypnotic spell Chrysalis had on you. You had the intention to imprison him once you were broken free from it. However, what you hadn’t anticipated was Ozark was ready for it and left some of his being inside of you to counterattack your efforts. I understand your feelings of responsibility. Hurting those you love because of a dark entity you couldn’t overcome weighs heavy on a ponies subconscious forever. However, your friends will be there to help you though it.” Luna turned to Celestia who nodded.
“Yeah, it’s not your fault all this happened. Ozark used your willingness to protect those you cared about to his advantage,” Twilight stated. Weaponry looked to her and then to each one of her friends who nodded in agreement.
“Your loyalty to your comrades, your friends, and the ones you love was so strong he used it to his advantage. Such it his way,” Celestia said.
“But every pony will look at me like a monster; it’s just like ten years ago. They’ll,” Weaponry said.
“They’ll know Ozark was the one who created all this calamity and chaos,” Celestia interrupted before she added; “I fear my actions to cover up his actions years ago was the cause of all of this. I shouldn’t have erased him from Equestria history books. I feared there might have been others who sympathized with him and followed in his hooves.”
“No sister. If anyone is to blame it is Ozark himself. He let darkness into his heart and refused to see the ways of peace and harmony we were trying to convey. He wanted everypony to feel as much sorrow and hatred as he felt. He can no longer harm another pony now, thanks to the elements and Weaponry,” Luna said matter-a-factly.
Celestia nodded before she turned to Twilight, her Friends, and Weaponry and stated, “Now that all of this is over, we can begin to rebuild and repair all the damage Ozark and his hideous creatures caused. Everypony nodded in agreement except for Pinkie who was jumping around acting like a cat who was trying to catch a fly.
“Pinkie, what in Equestria’s name are you doing?” Applejack asked.
“Trying to catch these things,” Pinkie said as she showed her a black flake in her hoof that suddenly disintegrated into ash and flew into the sky.
“What it that,” Fluttershy said.
“By the gods! Weaponry your tail!” Rarity cried out. Weaponry and the rest of the ponies turned to see that his tail was slowly peeling away into black flakes that floated into the air before disintegrating. As his tail completely disappeared, his flank began to peel away as the tan flakes floated into the air and disintegrating as well.
“What’s happening?” Twilight said in a panic.
“When?” Celestia asked Weaponry. Weaponry looked up at her as she ordered again, “When!”
“When what?” Twilight asked in confusion but Weaponry merely sighed.
“It happen when I was wondering the San Palomino Desert after Ozark,” Weaponry choked as he remembered all the lifeless bodies of ponies lying all around him. He sighed agin and continued to explain, “I wondered the Desert, ashamed to even come back to Canterlot. Afraid to face all the families of the ponies I killed. After a week: dehydration, starvation, and exhaustion took me. I collapsed to the sand and felt my life being drained way. I could feel my soul being pulled to the spiritual plain, but Ozark had a different plan. He used his dark magic to bring be back from the dead and kept me here in the physical plain.”
“Wait, so if you died in the San Palomino Desert, how are you still here?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Ozark used his magic to bring him back and keep him her in the physical plain and with him gone,” Twilight said before she gasped and added, “You no longer have an anchor to keep you here!” Weaponry simply nodded.
“You knew destroying Ozark would result in this and yet you kept if from us, what the hay where you thinking!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“If you had known. Would any of you use the elements to destroy him,” Weaponry asked.
“Of course not! If we know it would ultimately result in this,” Rainbow Dash argued.
“Then Ozark would have won,” Weaponry contested.
“But there had to be another way? Right,” Twilight asked as she turned to Celestia.
Celestia just shook her head and said, “No, ultimately Ozark needed to be destroyed. He would have spread darkness and sorrow across Equestria. It had to be done.”
“But,” Fluttershy began to say before Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder.
“This is Weaponry’s decision. He saw no other way and in the end. His loyalty to protect his friends was what drove him to this decision,” Applejack said.
Pinkie suddenly gasped before she darted away. She suddenly appeared with a cupcake in her hoof and placed it in Weaponry’s right fore-hoof and stated, “You can’t leave without eating a cupcake. You Pinkie promised!”
Weaponry chuckled and shook his head before he said, “No, I can’t do that can I.” he bit into the cupcake. He swallowed and added, “I couldn’t ask for a better last meal Pinkie.” Pinkie giggled as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“What about me!” Rainbow Dash said as she added, “What about that cider you promised.” Her eyes were starting to tear up as well.
“Sorry Rainbow, I’m not sure I can keep that promise,” Weaponry said as he looked down to see part of his torso was staring to disappear. When he looked up, Pinkie had a mug of apple cider in her hoof. In the other hoof was a tray filled with mugs of apple cider.
“Why should Dashi get to have a cider with you, we all should,” Pinkie said as she began to pass out the mugs of cider to everypony.
“To good friends,” Applejack toasted. The rest of the group raised their mugs and drank down the cider. Weaponry removed the mug from his lips and stared at the cider in it.
“Thank you,” Weaponry said as he looked at the group around him as he added, “I couldn’t ask for better friends then you. You’ve all pulled me back from my darkness, my sorrow I’ve felt for so long. I’m truly grateful for all you’ve done.”
“Well, it’s not like you don’t deserve it darling. You’ve done so much for all of us,” Rarity said.
“Not only that but, you’ve proven yourself to be one of the greatest royal guards I could ever ask for. Thank you for protecting my sister and I and all of Equestria,” Celestia stated. The rest of the ponies raised their mugs and toasted to that as they drank the rest of their cider.
Weaponry looked up to see a small ray of light emanating from the clouds above. He could feel the warmth from the ray of light and as he lifted his hoof towards the ray. He felt a hoof gently grasp his and lift him towards the ray and in an instant he scattered into tan flakes that rose up into the ray of light. Leaving behind Twilight, her friends, and the princesses as they lifted their mugs towards they skies, their eyes filled with tears.
---
Celestia stood in front of a crowd of ponies with Luna, Twilight and her friends by her side. She cleared her through and began, “I know the last few days have been rough. With the attack of the changings, the monsters the changelings turned into, and rebuilding both Canterlot and Ponyville. We’ve all lost so much in these last few days but know that every life lost was to preserve the harmony in Equestria. I’d like to ask that the souls of all the ponies that lost their lives be guided to the promise land where their loved ones await with open hooves.” As Celestia addressed the crowd of ponies she stood in a graveyeard front of three tombstones. Each one having a cutie make engraved into the stone. One had a glistening arrow, another had a shield with a lightning bolt on it and in the middle was a cutie mark that was two swords in a crossed formation with a halberd going vertically while a spear went horizontally through them.