The air rippled with explosions as a tall, purple mare was chased down a demolished block of Old Ponyville. ‘Three of them! How did I miss three of them!’ She looked back to the three raiders currently attempting to murder her with their high explosive stash.
A few seconds after she leapt over a refrigerator, it blew apart, sending shrapnel in all directions. She stopped for a split second to shield herself with her left wing, proving to be her near-fatal mistake.
A chunk of one of its panels slammed into her wing, snapping it before striking her face and throwing her off her hooves. She cried out in pain as she looked at her wing. It was clearly broken, the rifle strapped to her side underneath in just as bad a shape. A clink at her side spurred her back to action, scrambling away quickly before the little grey apple exploded.
Only the adrenaline flowing in her veins kept her from certain death. ‘Cover. Cover! Anywhere, cover!’ There was another loud clink at her hooves and she reflexively beat at it with her remaining good wing. Two more grenades were tossed clear before going off.
“Come back here and we’ll kill you!” a raider pony yelled, tossing another grenade in her direction. She leapt away as she darted toward the only remaining not-quite-demolished structure in sight.
The Castle of Friendship. It had certainly seen better days, with chunks missing from its base, giving it a teetering look, like it would topple over at the slightest provocation. A glint from one of the windows sent a chill down her spine as she closed.
The window flashed and a gunshot rang out from the castle.
“Gah!” she didn’t have time to react as the bullet whizzed past. It struck a raider’s armed grenade in his hoof, detonating it instantly. ‘It… missed me?’
Another gunshot sounded and felt like it had missed her by a scant few inches, slamming into the second raider’s leg, severing the limb entirely, and the raider pony dropped to the ground, clutching his stump and cursing, completely forgetting the live grenade he’d just dropped. He never got the chance to get away before it detonated, killing him.
Realizing now that she’d stopped and watched, the last raider took the chance to reload his missile launcher, and it was aimed right at her.
‘Oh horseapples…’ she thought as it fired.
A third gunshot rang out and slammed into the missile, detonating it. The last raider was thrown backward from the explosion and didn’t get back up.
The mare took a look at the castle and flinched when she heard another gunshot. After a few seconds, she realized that either the sniper had missed, or shot at another target. She watched the castle for a minute as the entire area quickly fell silent.
Cautiously taking a look around, she examined the last raider’s corpse, taking his launcher and four spare missiles as well as his dozen grenades. She debated taking his armor, but it was so patchwork that it looked like it would’ve ripped apart if she removed it.
As the adrenaline wore off from the battle, the mare sat down and examined her wing properly. ‘It’s broken. Have to set and splint it to heal properly,’ she coldly thought, her thoughts helping to distance her from the coming pain. Her horn lit, a dull raspberry, before the ruined rifle under her wing was dropped to the ground. She cried out as she set her wing, magically realigning the bones. Her pack opened and a long strip of medical tape came out, winding around the wing and her abdomen.
Taking a stimpak out of her pack, she injected her wing with the healing fluid. It helped ease the pain as the cuts and gashes on her wing sealed. ‘There. Now it’ll heal properly, if I live that long.’
Stowing the broken rifle and her loot away in her pack, she ruminated on the sole building left. ‘Home again, after so long.’ She looked up to the castle, her castle, and arduously made the trek toward it.
She had reached the front door. The main staircase had been trapped, but she stepped lightly around the mines. Those had been easy. The tripwires had been hard to spot, but once she figured out the pattern, it was easy to find and step over them. A pressure plate linked to a grenade bundle had been harder, but she managed to get three grenades out of the trap.
Her horn lit and she pushed the doors open, stepping inside. The sniper’s rifle had disappeared after the fight and had yet to come back. ‘Whoever that sniper was, I have to thank them if I find them.’
She looked to the castle she’d owned back before the war. At a glance, it was mostly intact, but looking deeper, the entire structure was spiderwebbed with cracks.
Knowing where she was going, she ended up at her own room pretty quickly. The seals she had placed on the doors all those years ago were still in place and yielded to her signature as easily as the day they’d been installed.
For the first time in over six hundred years, the Princess of Friendship had returned home.
Twilight Sparkle strode in and shut the door, the seals reapplying instantly. She looked over her room. The books she’d left behind were still in good condition, surprising her. The picture on her mantle drew her eyes next. Six ponies, including herself, hugged together in Old Ponyville’s town square. It floated down to her, and one of her hooves stroked across the dusty glass surface. Almost absentmindedly, a second picture floated down next to it, of her and an older, white alicorn kissing passionately, still in their wedding dresses.
‘Where had it all gone so wrong?’ Her ears pinned back as she remembered her best friends and her wife.
A knock sounded at the door, knocking Twilight from her thoughts. She stared at the door for a few seconds before it was knocked on again. She set both the pictures off to the side and made her way over to the door. She’d grown some since she was last in the room, so she had to crane her neck down to look out the peephole.
On the other side of the door was a large pony. Its face and body were covered in a dark greyish armor, and a massive sniper rifle was slung under a white wing.
A hoof reached up once more, and instead of knocking, held up a note.
Twilight Sparkle
I know you’re in there. I just wish to talk. No tricks. No traps.
T
Her subconscious told her she knew this pony. Not just as the sniper, but from before. The wing was familiar, comforting.
After a few seconds, the seals unlocked and the door opened. The pony strode in before the door shut again.
“Alright, who are you?”
The pony chuckled, a tinkling laugh that Twilight knew. Only one pony laughed like that. Twilight took a step back, her ears perking. “T-Tia? Is that you?” she asked, unbelieving.
A hiss sounded and the helmet split in half before dropping to the floor. The first thing Twilight saw was the pony’s mane as it sprung free of its confines. Four colors, waving gently in a non-existent breeze: blue, pink, green, and purple. White coat, with a horn sat atop its head, accompanied by the most piercing, violet eyes she could ever recall.
“You came back,” the mare, Princess Celestia, spoke. Another hiss sounded and the armor seemed to peel away from her body, separating into sections and dropping to the floor in a specific pattern. Underneath the heavy armor, Celestia wore a simple jumpsuit.
“You finally came back,” she whispered, more to herself than Twilight. Once the armor had finished it’s process, only the shoes covering her feet remained on her. She stepped away from the armor, closer to Twilight. Everything went silent as both ponies stared into each other’s eyes. Each noted that the other pony had scars across their face and neck, likely from just trying to stay alive.
“I did.”
“Why did you go?” Celestia held up a hoof. “No. Pertinent questions first. Where did you go?” Celestia eyed the rest of the room as she gave Twilight time to answer. It was nearly as she left it, minus the pack on the floor and two pictures sat on the floor in the middle of the room.
“Where did I go?” she asked, drawing Celestia’s attention again. Twilight had looked away silently, refusing to meet Celestia’s gaze. She sniffled once before responding, “Away.”
Twilight whispered, “Someone had to try and rescue Spike.” She laid down and curled into a ball as best she could. The memories of failure overwhelmed her, and she started crying earnestly.
Celestia lifted a foreleg, as if to close some distance, but thought better of the action.
Twilight’s spiral continued, “Couldn’t. Wasn’t fast enough. Wasn’t strong enough.” She slammed a hoof on the floor before yelling, “I couldn’t save him! He was–” Her tirade stopped suddenly and she coughed. “He was almost gone… by the time I got there.”
Celestia’s heart sank. She knew what Twilight was trying to say. The drake they’d both helped nurture and care for was gone. Steeling herself, she stood up and made her way over to Twilight.
A clanking brought Twilight from her memories, but she refused to acknowledge Celestia.
A cold hoof touched her shoulder as Celestia whispered, “I’m sorry.”
She laid down next to the smaller mare, her wing laying over Twilight. “I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you.” She crossed her neck over Twilight’s, a hoof reaching over and holding on to Twilight’s counterpart. “I’m just so–”
Twilight squeezed Celestia’s hoof as she finally turned to look Celestia in the eyes. “I was there when he… went.” Celestia’s wing tightened around Twilight’s form.
“The fallout got to him quickly. He was so sick. I stayed and took care of him as–” Twilight’s voice cracked. “–as best I could.” She buried her head in Celestia’s neck before breaking down completely.
Celestia held Twilight tight as the smaller mare wailed and cried in her embrace. Her own tears fell, but not nearly as intensely as Twilight’s did. She cooed and whispered to console Twilight, trying to help calm the mare down.
As minutes the minutes passed and turned into an hour, Twilight finally calmed down. A forehoof wiped away the snot that accumulated on her nose, but it wasn’t her own. Celestia nickered and nuzzled into Twilight’s neck as she continued, “He said something before he left. Something I desperately hoped with all my heart.”
A kiss on her forehead prompted Twilight to continue.
“He said, ‘She’s waiting for you to come home. Don’t ask me how, but I just know.’ He also added, ‘Tomorrow, you are going home to her. Leave this sick bag of scales to his rest.’ before going to sleep for the last time. That was three years ago, but I’m home now.”
“He was right. I waited here for the better part of a millennium.” She looked at her armor on the floor. “All in the hope you would eventually return. I only ever left if I needed supplies, which I scavenged from the town and surrounding area.”
Twilight shifted, turning over so they were face to face. Her wing twinged in pain, but ignored it as she stared into Celestia’s eyes. It took a moment, but she realized they hadn’t changed since the last time they’d spoken more than six hundred years ago.
“I love you. With all my heart.” She nosed forward and kissed Celestia.
Surprised, but not unpleasantly so, Celestia returned the kiss. “And I love you, Twilight. With all my heart.”