//------------------------------// // Chapter Six ~ This Is How It Ends // Story: Treaty Between Lands // by Harmony Note //------------------------------// Twilight collapsed in a clearing of the forest, catching her breath. "Where...where am I? I don't remember this area..." she began to get scared once she heard animals. "Ohh, I hope somepony comes by soon..." she tried to use her magic to teleport and also tried flying, but she was too weak. Especially from skipping breakfast. Back in Canterlot, no pony had known what Talon did, surprisingly. As he walked by Twilight's room, he frowned. Talon saw all the damage he'd done to her suite. He walked out onto her balcony and remembered last night when they flew off to their picnic. He looked closer once he saw figures fly by the moon, then he gasped, "Griffons!" he ran down the halls and tried to inform Celestia, but Luna beat him to it, since she'd been on guard. After Celestia heard what happened, she angrily walked up to him. "You called your entire army to attack my kingdom after the treaty unexpectedly broke?!" she growled. Talon sneered, "Are you really going into this right now?! Twilight's missing!" All the princesses and Shining Armor gasped, "She's WHAT?!" "How could she possibly have gone missing?!" Celestia asked frantically. "I-It's all my fault, I got so mad after she abandoned me at the altar, and I scared her off..." Talon admitted. Shining Armor snarled and grabbed the collar of Talon's tuxedo, "What did you do to my sister?!" "She's in the EverFree Forest!" Talon snapped. "Well, we have to go find her, come on, girls!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Princess Celestia stopped them, "No, you need to help fend off the griffons." "You know what, I'm going after her." Talon retorted. Shining Armor glared at him, "Why would we let you go after Twilight? To run her off some more?!" "BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT HER!" Talon screamed. As the battle was going on around them, that was all they heard during a moment of silence along with panicked and frightened shrieks. "Very well, Talon. You have one chance to bring Twilight back to us." Princess Celestia stated. Princess Luna's jaw dropped, "Sister, what are you doing? Do you not remember that he lost her in the first place?" "Look, maybe I did, but that is all the more reason why I should trail her down. She's my responsibility." Talon said sternly, putting his claw down. Shining Armor growled, "Fine, punk. But you better not come back empty-hoofed, or I swear..." "I'll find her." Talon repeated. He flew off before anypony else could threaten him. Twilight started crying in the forest since she was scared, but then she saw two timberwolves. Come on, Twilight, you've dealt with enough of these... she told herself. She felt a bit stronger after resting, and attempted casting an absent-memory spell, but it seemed like they were either impervious to magic or she was still too weak to have any effect. Once they got closer and she realized her spell fizzled, she began running, also tried flying, but her wings were still sore. "Ahhh!" her hoof got stuck in-between two rocks and she gasped. "Good...timberwolf, nice timberwolf..." she shielded her eyes and then heard a crash and the timberwolves whimper. Talon had cut both of them with his claws, and then he kicked them until they fled and ran back into the woods. "Are you alright?" Talon asked. Twilight was confused, "Why are you here?" "Answer me, are you okay?" Talon said again. "Yes, I'm fine...but..." she was cut off. Talon sighed and tried not to cry, "I know what I did was wrong...I shouldn't have struck you with my claw, and...your eye looks terrible...it's swollen...and it's...it's all my fault..." he began sobbing. "It's really my fault." Twilight retorted. "How is it your fault? Just how is it your fault I clawed your eye? How is it your fault you ran off? It was all me..." Talon looked down at the ground. Twilight shook her head, "I shouldn't of left you at the altar. I was being selfish. I didn't know if I cared about you more or my friends, and I was just really torn apart on the inside. The reason I said 'I don't' was because I wanted to be with my friends. Marrying you meant I wouldn't ever see them again. You promised me so much happiness even without them, and I wasn't sure what to think. I was under a lot of stress and I had no idea what to do." "W-Why didn't you just tell me in the first place? We could have worked something out, you know." Talon responded, and he stopped crying. Twilight frowned, "I'm sorry..." "It's fine, I'm just glad you're safe." he hugged her tight, and then gasped, "We need to get back! The griffons are attacking the palace!" "The griffons are what?!" Twilight asked worriedly. Talon remarked, "I'll explain everything later, for now we need to get back!" Twilight tried to fly, but then fell after getting a few inches off the ground. "You're hurt, you can't fly..." "No, no I can. We need to get back." Twilight tried again, but failed. "Okay, that's it. I need to carry you, you can't do this yourself." Talon didn't care what she said, he put her on his back and then told her to hold on tight. He took off into the sky, dodging the griffons fighting pegasus guards in the air once they reached the castle. "Brace yourself!" he shouted, crashing into a stain-glassed window. "Twily!" Shining Armor ran over to her after zapping a griffon and helped her up, "Are you okay? What did he do to you?" Twilight coughed, "I-I'm fine...ow! And Talon didn't do anything except save me. I'm grateful for it." Princess Cadance flew over past the griffons as Celestia distracted them, "Thank goodness you're safe! But...what happened to the two of you?" "Long story, we'll explain later. For now, we're too beat up to really do anything to help..." Talon groaned in pain from the pieces of glass lodged in his wing. As the griffons saw Talon back with Twilight, they immediately stopped fighting and surrounded them. "Alright, back up. Give them some air." Princess Celestia demanded. "We must get them to bed, they need rest." Princess Luna requested. They both passed out, and two guards each took them to their separate suites, but when the one guard got to Twilight's room, it was trashed. He gently set her down and went to Celestia. "Uh, your highness, Princess Twilight's room is a mess. Where shall I put her?" he asked. Princess Celestia was surprised, "Well, we'll have to get that room fixed...in the mean time, keep her in the next suite over." "Of course." the guard replied, then he returned to where he left Twilight and put her in the bed over in the next room. The next day, Twilight woke up and held her head. "What happened?" she asked, Twilight thought she was talking to herself, but there was somepony else in the room. "Well, after battling off Talon, and being chased, you looked pretty banged up. Both of you actually, so we decided to give you guys some bed-rest." Princess Cadance replied. Twilight frowned, "Talon and I...we had a fight?" Cadance nodded, "Unfortunately. And he seemed really nice, too. Anyways, I brought you some hot tea, I thought it would make you feel a bit better." she levitated a cup and poured some tea in it. Twilight took it and drank some. "Where is Talon, by the way?" Twilight questioned. "He's in a few suites over. Prince Talon was pretty miserable, too. He did save you from a few timberwolves and brought you back, however." Cadance responded. Twilight was a bit confused, "How do you know about the timberwolves?" "Talon explained everything once he woke up about an hour ago. He also told us about how his past relatives wanted him to do this, not himself." Cadance said. "But he said he loved me." Twilight mentioned. Cadance looked at her, "He does love you, but I'm not sure what we're going to do about the wedding. Why did you say no in the first place? Everything was going fine." Twilight sighed, "I just couldn't decide between my friends and Talon...I love them all so much. Marrying Talon meant I wouldn't ever see them again. I wasn't sure if I was ready to make that commitment. Then after a while, I realized I was just thinking about myself. I wanted to stay with my friends over protecting Equestria. That was not my responsibility, my place was to marry Prince Talon and bring peace between two countries. I couldn't do that, but now I think I can. Especially since I love Talon back..." "Well...that explains a lot." Cadance blinked blankly, "But on the bright-side, looks like we're having a wedding after all!" "Yeah, but when? I think we're both too roughed up to move." Twilight frowned. Princess Cadance thought a moment, "I'll have to discuss it over with Celestia and Luna, but it won't be before you two are fully recovered." "Alright." Twilight replied. Three and a half months later... "I now pronounce you mare and griffon." Princess Celestia declared and smiled, "You may kiss the bride." Ponies cheered as Talon and Twilight kissed, officially uniting the countries. Pinkie Pie sobbed loudly then gasped, "This calls for a party!" after the wedding, everypony went outside to the after-party. "Well, this certainly has been one crazy wedding." Rarity chuckled. "Yeah! It was loco in the coco! Speaking of which, is the cake chocolate or vanilla, AJ? I'm sooo hungry!" Pinkie Pie jumped up into the air. Applejack laughed, "I made it both, Pinkie." Pinkie stared into the distance like her mind exploded then smiled wide, "TWO flavors?! That's like two, two times the yumminess!" she ran towards the dessert table. "Pinkie Pie, wait up!" Applejack ran after her, knowing how she got around cupcakes, cakes, and other sweets. Rarity smiled, "I'd better go find Sweetie Belle. We might have to leave soon, but congratulations, Twilight!" "Thank you, and if you do leave, see you next week, Rarity!" Twilight waved. Talon walked over to Twilight, "I've got some punch for us." he grinned. "Thanks." she smiled and levitated one of glasses and drank a bit. "You know, maybe it won't be so bad having ponies in Griffonstone. If we got along, I'm sure they can, too." Talon chuckled, "Even though we may have...had to fight to make it happen." Twilight laughed, "Yeah, but it all turned out well in the end." He smiled at her, "Well, we don't have to leave for Griffonstone for about another hour. Want to dance?" "I'd love to." she grinned and they both started dancing with everypony else. "Oh, and maybe having your little dragon assistant around wouldn't be so bad after all...I'm sure he'd love Griffonstone." Talon said. Twilight smiled and hugged him. "The end!" Pinkie Pie jumped up. Applejack shook her head, "Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie laughed and then jumped back down off a table.