//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Celebration // Story: A Harmonic Sonata // by keaton-furman-prower //------------------------------// Everypony had come to the center of the town, where lively music was being played. All around there were tables full of food and drinks, and dozens of balloons floated through the buildings. Meanwhile, cannons full of confetti and streamers were being shot at regular intervals, occasionally covering somepony unfortunate enough to be nearby. Finally, in the center of it all, six mares were being admired by everypony else. “You went into the Everfree forest?!” “Did you get attacked by any monsters?” “How did you beat that demon pony?” Sonata groaned as the wave of questions kept coming. “Now everypony’s gonna want to know more about me,” she said. “Hey, it will be all right,” said Glides. “They’re not gonna kick you out even if you are a singing sea monster.” “Can we talk about it later?” asked Fluttershy. “The mayor’s about to speak!” The six mares looked up as the mayor, a brown earth pony with an hourglass on his flank, walked up to address the crowd. “Fillies and Gentlecolts! It is my great honor to welcome our wise and benevolent ruler, Princess Luna!” The crowd cheered and stomped as the dark blue alicorn emerged from the town hall. These were quickly joined by whispers of surprise when she was joined by a second alicorn; one slightly bigger than her who had a white coat and a solid pink mane. “My little ponies! Today is a most wonderful occasion! Although the beginning of this day may have brought you dread, this marks the beginning of a new age! For today, my sister has returned!” As she finished, she gestured towards Celestia, who smiled nervously at the ponies stared at her. “I believe that my sister has a few words of inspiration to share with us.” She then nodded at her sister, who walked up to the stage and cleared her throat. “She’s gonna say something!” said Sugar. “I’ll bet it’s going to be something amazingly smart, friendly, and full of-” “CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA!!!” Everypony covered their ears at the incredibly loud voice. “FOR TOO LONG THOU HATH BEEN UNABLE TO APPRECIATE THY PRINCESS OF THE SUN, AND WE HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED OF THY LOVE!!! BUT TODAY THAT ENDS, FOR WE HAVE RETURNED TO-” Before Celestia could continue, Luna stuck her hoof onto her lips. “Sister, the Royal Canterlot Voice has been obsolete for centuries.” The white alicorn blinked in surprise, then looked towards her subjects. They had all taken a few steps back in shock, and many of them were now giving her odd looks. “Oh,” she said as her cheeks turned crimson. “Forgive me, my little ponies. It has been so long, and I was not aware that certain customs were no longer used.” Luna patted her on the shoulder. She then turned to address her subjects. “What my sister means to say is that she has been locked away for a very long time, and so she is a stranger in an unfamiliar world. However, with time, as well as your support, I am confident that she will become a worthy and valued ruler as she was a thousand years ago.” She then looked directly at the element bearers. “This, of course, would not be possible without six brave mares who underwent a perilous journey through a treacherous forest to recover the legendary Elements of Harmony. They are truly our greatest heroes, and so it is only natural that we should recognize them. So please, give a round of applause for Amethyst Star, Sugar Belle, Night Glider, Tennis Match, Fluttershy, and Sonata Dusk!” The six mares gasped as everypony began to face them and applaud. Tennis, Sugar, and Glides seemed to be taking it in stride, smiling and waving at the cheering ponies around them. On the other hoof, Fluttershy, Amy, and Sonata seemed quite nervous. “How long until it's over?” Sonata asked. “Don’t worry, Sonata,” said Glides. “These ponies really like having you around! You're going to get along with everypony in town!” The blue-maned pony tried to smile. However, the dark-blue pony's words lingered in her mind. Everypony in town. “I can't believe you took on that big scary mare!” Glides chuckled and sipped on a cup of punch as her little sister chattered excitedly. “Oh, it wasn't that big a deal, Nightshade.” “Yeah it was! You're a hero now! Can you imagine how the Shadowbolts are gonna react?” On the outside, Glides managed to keep her calm demeanor. On the inside, however, she began to giggle excitedly. “Oh, I'm certain they're going to be impressed by that,” she said. “But they're also gonna want me to be able to go really fast, you know?” “Aw, that's a piece of cake!” said Nightshade. “You're the fastest pegasus in Equestria, aren't you?” Glides smiled. She was certain that there was one or two pegasi out there who were faster than her, but she simply couldn't tell her sister that she was wrong. “Well, I guess I am,” she said as she ruffled the purple filly’s mane. “But there are a lot of fast pegasi in the Shadowbolts, so who knows.” As Nightshade giggled, Glides’ mind traveled to the friendships she’d made earlier. She then wondered about her little sister. “You know, I wasn’t alone when I went to find the elements. My friends helped a lot with that.” “Really?” said Nightshade. “That sounds so cool!” “Well, having friends with you makes any challenge a lot easier. And you can have all sorts of fun adventures with them!” At this, the little filly frowned and looked away, causing Glides to raise an eyebrow. “Shadey? Is something wrong?” For a moment, Nightshade didn’t speak. However, she kept turning back to glance at her flank. Then, she looked back towards her sister. “All the other foals at school have their cutie marks already, and they don’t want to be friends with… a blank flank.” At this, Glides frowned as she remembered her own school experiences, particularly those dealing with her own cutie mark. She then looked at her sister, who was looking downwards with a sad expression. “Hey,” she said finally. Just because you don’t have your cutie mark yet doesn’t mean you’re not special. I’m sure you’re gonna have it really soon. And even if you don’t have it, you’re gonna find friends who’ll accept you for who you are, cutie mark or not.” As she said this, she pulled her little sister into her arms and hugged her tightly. It took a few moments, but Nightshade slowly began to smile again. Amy grinned as she thought about the past few hours. So much had happened that she was having trouble accepting that it was all real. It wasn’t just that she and her friends had managed to save Equestria. The fact that she even had friends was something amazing to her. She chuckled to herself as she grabbed one of Sugar Belle’s best muffins. She had always known her to be a great baker, but now that she could consider her a friend, her pastries somehow looked even more appetizing than ever. “MUFFINS!!!” Hearing the voice, the pink mare quickly jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid being crushed by a flying gray projectile. Amy’s seat then vanished in a huge cloud of dust and splinters. Amy rolled her eyes, and cleared the dust with her magic. As she did so, she saw a gray mare with a blond mane happily eating a plateful of muffins. “You know, I was going to eat at least one of those.” The mare stopped eating momentarily and turned towards Amy. Upon seeing her, a huge smile formed on her face. “Amethyst!” she said, leaping up and hugging her. Amy simply chuckled and hugged her back. “Hey, mom.” Derpy let go of her daughter and smiled at her. “I heard that somepony became a hero!” she said excitedly. “So you’d better tell me everything!” “Oh, it wasn’t that big,” Amy said as she began to blush. “I mean, I had plenty of-” She suddenly noticed that something didn’t look right about her mother; her left eye was covered with an eyepatch, and the area around it seemed to be a slightly darker gray than the rest of her coat. “Mom? What happened to your eye?” Derpy grimaced as she thought about what had happened to her fellow Shadowbolt. “I-it’s nothing to worry about, dea-” “Mom, what happened?!” Derpy cringed. She didn’t want to have to burden her daughter with any details, but she also knew that Amy hated being lied to. “We were fighting Hellfire Sun, and she burned my eye.” Amy stared at her in shock. She wanted to shout at her mother for being foolish enough to pick a fight with a godlike entity that could throw fireballs as hot as the sun. However, she would never do anything to draw too much attention to her mother’s great secret. So she instead pulled Derpy as close to herself as she could. “Are you crazy?!” she said, her voice quiet yet angry. “You could have gotten yourself killed!” “I know!” said Derpy, her teammate’s close encounter with death still weighing heavily on her mind. “But I’m a Shadowbolt! This is what we do! You, on the other hoof, have no business running off into the Everfree Forest to find a way to beat that sun monster!” Amy bit her lip. On one hoof, she hadn’t simply run off into the forest to find the Elements of Harmony. On the other, she knew that her mother had a point. “Sorry, mom,” she said. “It’s just that I worry about you. I mean, you go out everyday in that uniform. Most of the time you just go on patrol or do air shows, but sometimes you have to do stuff like fighting monsters or… evil ponies. And every time you do something like that, I worry that you’re going to get hurt, or even die.” Amy looked away, not daring to see how her mother reacted. To her surprise, however, Derpy placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Amethyst… you know how tough I am. I’ve never let anything get in my way. Not bullies, not monsters, not even a broken eye.” To emphasize this last point, Derpy pointed at her eyepatch, causing a smile to briefly appear on her daughter’s face. “I know how to handle myself. And even if I didn’t, I’d never let myself get killed. After all, I have a family. I can’t just leave them without a mother, can I?” Amy smiled and wrapped her arms around Derpy. The gray mare chuckled as returned the embrace. “So, why don’t you tell me about your new friends, Amethyst?” Tennis munched on a cupcake as she sat at a table next to her sister and cousin. “Tennis, you're a hero! You saved Equestria!” the little pink filly said in awe. “Oh, it wasn't just me, Diamond,” said Tennis. “If it wasn't for Sonata, none of us would have known what to do. And of course, we all helped save Equestria together.” “Well, that's amazing,” said Coco. “You should introduce them all to me sometime. I could probably make some inspiring dresses for them to wear.” "What, like Gala dresses?" Tennis chuckled. "What are the odds of us getting invited to a fancy fru-fru party?" Diamond Tiara giggled at the thought of Tennis being forced to wear a fancy dress. “You should do that anyway! It would be so funny!” “I’ll wear a dress when your mother becomes nice,” Tennis said in a deadpan voice. “Is that meant to be an insult, Tennis Match?” Immediately, all three ponies went silent. Diamond’s eyes widened in fear as she turned around, her eyes immediately meeting those of her mother, Spoiled Rich. “Oh! Hello mother!” she said nervously. “Don’t mind me! I’m just-” “Spending time with your cousins,” Spoiled Rich said. “Cousins who have no sense of sophistication or standing in Equestrian Society.” “For your information, I just saved Equestria!” Tennis yelled. “And Coco has a very sophisticated and fancy boutique!” Spoiled Rich then shifted her harsh gaze unto Tennis, who immediately cringed. “Being a hero is irrelevant if you waste your days playing that foalish little sport of yours. And your sister was only able to get to where she is now because of the help of my husband. If either of you were left to your own devices, you’d be on the street within a month!” The angry mare then turned her muzzle skyward and began to walk off. “Come along, Diamond Tiara. We must make sure your image doesn’t get sullied by your dealings with… commoners.” “But mother-” “I said… come along.” The pink filly winced in fear, but nevertheless joined her mother. As the two walked off, Coco and Tennis gave each other worried looks. “Oh my,” said Coco. “Poor Diamond. Can you imagine having to follow every rule that mare sets?” “Sheesh,” said Tennis. “She reminds me of your old boss.” “If only we could do something to help her,” said Coco. Tennis sighed. More than anything, she wanted to see little Diamond be happy. But how could she do that? Sonata sighed as she watched the ponies partying around her. She knew that she should be feeling happy. After all, she had found friends, saved Equestria, and reunited Luna with her long-lost sister. So why didn’t she? Hoping to cheer herself up, she began to make her way towards the dessert table. However, before she could get anywhere, she ended up colliding with somepony. “Ow!” The blue earth pony rubbed her head as she got to her hooves. She turned to the pony who had so rudely bumped into her, but before she berate him, she noticed who it was. “Dusk Shine?!” Meanwhile, the lavender stallion was having an internal freakout. Oh my gosh. She’s not just Luna’s student now! She’s a national hero now. She’s saved all of Equestria! She’s- No! Focus, Dusk! She’s just a normal mare. A mare who has a lot of achievements, but just a mare. Stay calm, focus, and- “Sonata! I can’t believe you’re a hero now!” Damn it! “I know! I can’t believe it either!” Dusk blinked. Roll with it, he thought to himself. “So, what are you doing here?” Sonata asked. “Oh, I’m just here to, um, clean up the mess Hellfire Sun made,” said Dusk. “Oh, yeah,” said Sonata. “Of course you did.” Once again, neither pony spoke. “Uh, I have to go… clean up more of the mess,” said Dusk. “Yeah!” said Sonata. “And I have to go see my friends. For, you know, hero reasons.” The two ponies looked away, their faces growing pink. “Well,” said Sonata, “I… IreallyenjoyedtalkingtoyoubutIknowyouhavetogosoI’llbeonmywaysobye!” And with that, the blue mare turned around and began to walk as fast as she could, her face growing redder by the second. “I can’t believe you went into that forest all by yourself!” Fluttershy could barely breathe as the orange, yellow-maned mare held her tightly. “You could have been eaten by a monster! Or gotten killed by that demon pony in the sky! Do you even realize how many things live in that forest?!” The mare continued to squeeze Fluttershy’s body. Fortunately, Big Mac lay his hoof on her before she could tighten her grip any further. “Ma, quit stranglin’ ma fiancee.” “Yeah!” the little yellow filly next to him said. “If ya strangle her, ah won’t have a big sister anymore!” The mare rolled her eyes as she softened her grip on Fluttershy, allowing her to breathe at last. “I’m so sorry for making you worry, Miss Blossom! But I didn’t go alone! After all, my friends needed me, and I couldn’t ever let them go in alone!” “Well, you should have told them to get out!” said Orange Blossom. “There’s no reason for anypony to go into that death trap!” “Honey, stop worryin’ so much,” a red, green-maned stallion said as he approached her from behind. “Ya know Flutters ain’t gonna get eaten by no monsters! Especially with that freaky stare of hers!” Orange Blossom sighed as she let Fluttershy go. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. You know how much I worry that something will happen to you or somepony else. Ever since little Jackie left I’ve always-” “I know, Miss Blossom,” Fluttershy said as she placed her hoof on Orange Blossom’s shoulder. “But I’m really sure Jackie is doing just fine. After all, she’s living with your sister, right?” “That’s true,” said an elderly voice. “She might not write too often, but that just means that she’s real happy with her life!” Slowly, a smile formed on Blossom’s face. “I guess you’re right. Jackie is probably doing just fine, and I’m overreacting.” “Oh, don’t feel sorry,” Fluttershy said as she placed her hoof on Blossom’s shoulder. “It’s only natural to feel worried when somepony you care about is in a dangerous situation.” “Yeah!” said Apple Bloom. “But there ain’t no reason to worry about Fluttershy! She’s the coolest, bravest, and most dependable big sister ever!” At this, the yellow pegasus’ cheeks began to turn pink. “Oh, thank you, Apple Bloom. But I’m not that special.” “Aw, of course you are! After all, how many ponies would go runnin’ into the Everfree Forest to save Equestria?” “Fluttershy went into the Everfree Forest?!” Granny Smith yelled. Sugar grinned happily as everypony around her danced and played around the town square. Even though the beginning of the day had been so terrifying, it had all worked out in the end. Also, everypony was enjoying her treats. Especially her muffins. “Hey Sugary!” Her smiled fell slightly, but she nevertheless kept it on her face as Pinkie Pie bounced up to her. “Hi, Pinkie. Everypony is really enjoying the party you set up.” “Yeperooni!” said Pinkie. “But what everypony is really enjoying is how you and your friends all got together to save Equestria from Black Snooty!” “Actually,” said Sugar, “her name was Hellfire Sun.” Pinkie ignored this comment, and continued to speak. “Anyway, you’ve come far, Sugar. You’ve learned all my great recipes, my tricks for dealing with baddies, and all about your party pony mane. But your quest to become a true party pony has only begun.” Sugar grimaced. She could tell where this was going. “Remember, my dear pupil,” Pinkie said in her best impression of Starswirl The Bearded. “You still have much to learn. You know not of the exact ratios of streamers to cupcakes, or the order of colors of balloons, or the secrets of frosting. Yea, you still know not your own Sugar-Sense.” “Sugar-what?” “And as a true party pony, it is my duty to show you what it truly means to be a party pony. As my master taught me, I shall teach you.” “You taught yourself,” Sugar pointed out. “And then, one day, you too shall throw parties for everypony in Ponyville!” And with that, Pinkie grinned as widely as she could and threw her hooves into the air, tossing out a large number of streamers. Sugar, for her part, simply groaned and grabbed a muffin from a nearby platter. “The mayor is your father?!” Amy nodded as her friends gasped. “Yup. I mean, he's spent a lot of time as a time agent, and so he's decided to settle down.” She took a sip of punch before continuing. “At least, that's what he's been telling us. Personally, I think he's still working for the agency.” The others looked around, each unsure of how to react. “So,” Glides said finally. “Is there anything else we should know about your family?” Amy opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a grayish purple unicorn filly ran up and hugged her. “Little sis! Daddy said you went into the Everfree forest to save the princess!” Amy chuckled and stroked the filly's mane. “Don't worry, big sis. No scary forest is going to hurt me! You know how awesome I am!” “Wait,” said Sugar. “Amy, shouldn't you be the big sister?” “Nope,” said Amy. “I'm the younger sister, and she's the older one.” “How-” “Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.” Everypony stared at her in confusion. “Well, I have to say that this has been the most eventful Summer Sun Celebration in centuries,” said a voice, causing everypony to look up to see Princess Luna. To everypony's surprise, she was carrying Spike on her back. “Sonata! Is it true? Did you manage to stop Hellfire Sun? That is so cool! You're like a superhero or something!” “Thanks, Spike! But I couldn't have done it without my friends!” Spike looked at the five mares who were sitting with Sonata, and then jumped off Luna's back. “Hey, girls! And...” Spike's eyes narrowed as his gaze fell on Amy. “Hey.” Sonata grinned. “Don't worry about Amy, Spike! She's really nice once you get to know her!” The little dragon raised his eyebrow for a moment, before shrugging and waving at Amy. “If Sonata says you're all right, I guess you're good.” Luna smiled as she watched her student and her friends laugh together. “I am very proud of you, Sonata. You have come a long way since I first took you under my wing, and I know that you still have many great things ahead of you. The greatest difference is that from now on, you shall do so with the help of your friends.” Sonata began to consider what Luna was saying. “But how? If I go back to Canterlot when all this is done... I won't be able to see them anymore.” She turned to look at her friends, who were all looking back at her, visibly saddened by the news. She then felt her mentor's hoof resting on her shoulder. “And who said that you have to go back to Canterlot?” Sonata's eyes widened. “You mean... I could stay here?” Luna smiled gently. “I believe it would help you greatly, Sonata. After all, there is no greater magic than friendship, and you could learn a great deal from your friends if you chose to stay with them.” Sonata thought about what Luna was saying for a moment. She knew she still had plenty to learn, and she didn't know how much she could learn without her teacher to guide her. On the other hoof, she didn't want to leave her friends. And if what Luna was saying was true, then she would learn just as much, if not more, by staying with them. Finally she made her choice. “I want to stay in Ponyville.” Sonata was then taken by surprise when her friends threw themselves onto her cheering as they hugged her tightly. However, it was quickly replaced by pure happiness. “Very well,” said Luna. “Spike, take a letter: I hereby decree that Sonata Dusk shall remain in Ponyville to continue her studies, especially in the area of the Magic of Friendship.” Once Spike had written all this down, he too giggled and ran up to join the group hug. As he did, Sonata smiled and shed a few tears. It had taken a long time, but she'd finally found a place where she belonged.