New Age of Harmony

by Spirit Chaser

7: The Princess's Legacy

What had Twilight been saying for the past few hours? No more distractions, they needed to focus on the Heart. What were they doing at the moment? Allowing themselves to be escorted to a secret base so that they could further discuss liberating The Hollow. Also known as the very thing Twilight had been against: the ultimate distraction.

On the way over to Resistance Headquarters, Sleeping Shadow and Clear Mind had explained themselves and answered any questions. At the same time, Wild Side had been flirting with Rarity, which was amusing for all of ten seconds, and apparently not amusing at all for Fluttershy.

The Resistance was formed by one female pegasus named Hurricane Heart. When Twilight asked about why they were the only hollows with names, they had explained that it was part of their rebellion and that they picked out their own names. And when Twilight asked about what Hurricane Heart was like and why she formed the Resistance, Shadow said that it would be better to see her in person and that Twilight find the answer for herself.

Apparently the Resistance had a great intel network (of which Wild Side is a part of), so they knew as soon as Kuwabara’s town had burned down. They also knew that Twilight took him down herself, which was why they wanted her to help them. Help them with what exactly, they weren’t completely sure. That’s why the three had offered to escort them to the headquarters to discuss.

Of course before Twilight could say anything, Rarity accepted the offer for all of them. Twilight decided not to object to that (although she had a few choice words for Rarity), after all, the three seemed like the type of ponies who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Or at least Sleeping Shadow did, Wild Side seemed like the kind who would shrug it off at first and then kidnap you in the middle of the night. She couldn’t get a proper reading on Clear Mind, but he appeared to be the most thoughtful one of the three. Always analyzing things with those squinted eyes of his.

“We’re here,” Sleeping Shadow announced, stopping suddenly.

Twilight nearly bumped into her. She looked closely at their current surroundings to see if they missed something and just as she thought, they were still deep in the forest.

“Your secret headquarters is in the forest?” Twilight asked, unimpressed.

“You could say that,” Sleeping Shadow said quietly, approaching a tree.

At first Twilight thought it was just a normal tree, but upon closer inspection, she saw that the tree had three long scratch marks on the bark. That meant nothing to her, but the three had clearly recognized it. Shadow lowered her horn so that it was level with the marks.

“The tree is enchanted,” Shadow explained. “It can appear and—”

Her horn began to shimmer with orange light. The tree began to shimmer with the same type of light. After a moment, the tree shimmered out of existence. Twilight heard gasps of awe from her friends and she wasn’t quite sure, but she may have gasped as well. Was it illusion magic or just a special spell? Either way, it was quite impressive.

“—disappear within the blink of an eye.”

“Are you sure because that looked more like six or seven blinks to me,” Pinkie stated with an audible bounce to her voice.

“Haha, hear that Shady? The pink one called you slow,” Wild Side chuckled, flashing his mischievous smile.

“The pink one has a name, Wild Side,” Clear Mind said, his voice barely above a whisper. “What was it again, miss?”

“I’m Pinkie Pie,” she shrilled. “The friendliest pony in all of Equestria. Ooo, I bet I’m also the friendliest pony in all of The Hollow!”

“No competition there,” Sleeping Shadow mumbled, investigating the hole in the ground that the tree left behind. “Now normally we just teleport into the base, but we should do this manually for your first time.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Fluttershy whispered, cowering slightly.

“Don’t be afraid, adorable one,” Wild Side said, winking. “As long as you’re not afraid of heights, high speeds, the sound of wind in your ears, or the possibility of whiplash then you’ll be fine.”

Fluttershy merely squeaked in reply and buried her head in her mane.

“Clearly she’s afraid of all those things,” Clear Mind observed. “Sleeping Shadow, you should teleport her inside, we’ll take the rest manually.”

“What?” Shadow yelped. “Come on Clear, if she can’t even handle all that then why are we taking her in the first place?”

“Because we stick together,” Twilight said. “No. Matter. What.”

“If you chase away our Alicorn friend, then have fun explaining that to Commander Heart because she will not be happy,” Wild Side snickered, eating an apple.

“Ugh!” Shadow groaned through clenched teeth. “Know what? I’ll take her, but only because you two irritate the heck out of me.”

“Oh don’t be that way, Shady,” Wild Side said slyly. “We were—”

“Save it,” Shadow grunted. “Hold on tight, Fluttershy.”

Without another word from either of them, Fluttershy and Shadow vanished in a flash of light. Clear Mind nodded, then turned to face them.

“I warned you that Wild Side would offend you,” he said. “Now I must warn you that my younger sister is still very much a child.”

“What does that mean?” Rainbow asked.

“Her patience is thin and she takes everything as an insult,” Clear Mind explained. “Be careful when talking to her or you may end up with a new frenemy.”

“Don’t be so harsh, C.M.,” said Wild Side. “After all, everyone has positive traits to balance out their negative ones. Aren’t I the positive to your negative?”

“Hmm,” Clear Mind grunted. “Anyway, if everyone would so kind as to jump into the hole, then we—”

“You want us to what?” Applejack exclaimed. “How deep is that thin’?”

“I don’t know the exact length but I can confirm that it is very deep.”

“And you want us to leap in there? Why we’d bite the dust landin’ from this high up!” Applejack snapped.

“Look cowpony,” Wild Side spoke up. “We don’t just chuck ponies to their doom for fun. Your fall will be slowed down by a series of slowing charms placed throughout the fall. That dangerous enough for you?”

Applejack slowly trotted up to Wild Side, who stood there unmoving. She moved her face to within an inch of his. The look in Applejack’s eyes was rivaled only by the look in Wild Side’s. It was like watching two unmoving walls challenge each other to move first.

“Listen flappy gums,” Applejack spat. “Ah can handle any kind of danger you throw at me. In fact, Ah’ll bet you ten bits Ah can handle it better than you can.”

“Heh, I don’t exactly have any bits, you know on account of being a hollow, but I do enjoy a challenge,” Wild Side spat back.

“Then watch me win,” Applejack whispered.

Without another word or even yelp of excitement, Applejack leapt headfirst into the dark hole.

“Applejack!” shouted Pinkie Pie, trotting up to the hole.

“Yee-haw!” came the reply from within the abyss.

“Is she...okay?” Rainbow asked, peering into the hole.

“She’ll be fine,” Clear Mind said in his usual semi-monotone. “But I really don’t recommend jumping in headfirst.”

“Whatever, recommendations are for doctors,” Pinkie scoffed as she followed suit and dove in head pointing down. “Wheeeee!”

“There goes Pinkie,” Rainbow commented.

“Your turn, gorgeous,” Wild Side smirked, winking at Rarity.

“While compliments are appreciated, you are quickly becoming extremely bothersome,” Rarity scoffed, holding her head high. Wild Side merely chuckled in response.

Rarity edged towards the hole, whimpering slightly as she did so. She shoved her head into the hole and then immediately retracted it.

“Absolutely not!” Rarity gasped. “You can’t even see the bottom, what kind of lady would just thrust herself into danger?”

“Aren’t you the one who kicked a manticore in the face once?” Twilight asked. Rarity merely stood dumbfounded at the question for a good five seconds before she too leaped into the darkness.

“Ahhhhhh!” echoed her screams.

“Who’s next?” asked Wild Side, watching Rarity go down.

“I am,” Twilight announced. She had already faced much worse than a deep, dark hole. This would be the first walk in the park since arriving in The Hollow.

“Really Twi’?” Rainbow asked, “you don’t want me to take one for the te—”

Twilight had tuned out Rainbow’s voice as she trotted a few feet away from the hole, then charged forward and dove in. The first thing that came to mind was a powerful urge to scream...so she did. With that out of the way, she noticed just how dark it was in the tunnel. She could barely even tell that she was falling, which made it all the more terrifying.

She immediately noticed when she passed through a slowing charm. The magic just captured her body and slowed her descent by a good amount. Not long after, she passed through another one, and then another. Finally, when she didn’t think her fall could become any slower, she hit what must’ve been the final slowing charm. Her theory that it was the last confirmed itself when she literally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Flapping her wings for effect, she gracefully floated to the ground, right beside Rarity.

“Twilight!” Rarity rejoiced, giving her friend a hug. “Wasn’t the fall simply divine? I thought it would be horrifying, and it was, but then it became rather enjoyable, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, whatever you say, Rarity,” Twilight breathed, attempting to get her heart to stop beating so fast, and her breathing to return to normal.

“Who’s showing up next?” Pinkie asked, bouncing beside Applejack.

“I don’t know, probably Rainbow...Dash.”

Twilight’s sentence was slightly delayed as she looked up and saw a barrage of colors coming towards her at high speeds. Suddenly she had a flashback of Rainbow arriving in the Badlands. She became so absorbed in the memory that she forgot to move out of the way.

“Oomf!” Twilight coughed as a cyan blur assaulted her. “Ugh, Rainbow, what?”

Rainbow had landed directly on her back, forcing Twilight to awkwardly turned her body so that their faces were pointed at each other. However, upon doing so she immediately realized that their snouts were only inches away from each other. A fact that Rainbow herself seemed to notice as her famous red cheeks returned.

“Hey Twilight,” Rainbow whispered. “W-what’cha doing?”

Twilight opened her mouth to comment, but couldn’t find the sounds because she was too focused on Rainbow’s beautiful eyes. The way they complimented her coat...wait, Rainbow had asked her a question. Twilight commanded her brain to start working again.

“U-umm,” Twilight stammered. “Waiting for you to get off of uhh, me.”

“Huh?” Rainbow blurted out, blasting Twilight with the surprisingly pleasant scent of her breath. “Oh...OH!”

Rainbow flew off of Twilight faster than she could blink. Twilight fought back her mysterious feelings of disappointment as she rose to her hooves. Terrified to see her friend’s faces, Twilight slowly looked around the room. The only pony who didn’t look embarrassed was Pinkie, who as usual, had a wide grin and was giggling quietly.

“Uh, ahem,” Twilight cleared her throat. “R-Rainbow, why did you fall down the tunnel so fast? What happened to the slowing charms?”

“Oh,” Rainbow coughed, attempting to rub the red out of her cheeks. “I kinda wanted to test the spells, so I sorta flew down the hole as fast as I could without creating a sonic rainboom. Heh heh.”

“You...what?!” Twilight shouted. “Without even knowing how well the spells worked, you decided to leave your life in their hooves? You definitely could’ve died there and I think you should be thanking Celestia that you didn’t!”

At first Rainbow still looked embarrassed, then her face turned to shame, and just as suddenly, to anger. She flew down beside Twilight so that she was looking her in the eye. Although after what they just went through, Twilight found looking at her eyes to be rather...unnerving.

“So now do you understand how it feels Twilight?” Rainbow demanded, steel in her voice. “How it feels to have somepony you care about come so close to death?”

Twilight was caught off-guard by that comment. She took a step back as she forced her open mouth closed. Just what was Rainbow trying to say? She may never know because as she tried to figure it out, she heard another pony exiting the tunnel. Leaping backwards, Twilight looked up at the hole.

“Geronimo!” shouted Wild Side as he landed as gracefully as she did.

“About time, Wild Side,” Sleeping Shadow said. Twilight forgot she was in the room, in fact, Twilight forgot she was in a room at all.

“Yeah well, I had to be careful just in case the fast one broke the charms,” Wild Side spat. “But luckily, they’re still working properly. How was the trip, cowpony?”

“Just fine,” Applejack scoffed. “Just so you know, Ah would’ve jumped in even if I thought the spells were broke.”

“That’s right,” Pinkie cheered. “Applejack is just that tough!”

Applejack looked less than pleased by her personal cheerleader, but tipped her hat just the same.

“Yeah, keep talking tough ponies,” Wild Side jeered. “We’ll be getting down to business soon enough, now where’s that Clear Mind?”

“Does he even scream when going down that thing?” Twilight asked.

Wild Side opened his mouth, but closed it as the mentioned hollow landed flawlessly before their very eyes. He didn’t show any physical discomfort, and she definitely didn’t hear him make any sound at all as he came down.

“That answer your question, Alicorn?” Wild Side asked, trotting over to Sleeping Shadow.

“If that’s everyone, then I want you all to follow me,” Shadow commanded.

“Where’re we going?” Rainbow asked.

“Straight to Commander Hurricane,” Shadow replied. “She wants to meet you as soon as possible.”

As they followed Sleeping Shadow, Twilight focused hard on her surroundings in order to push away her confusing thoughts about Rainbow Dash. The best description for the base was a massive cave with a surprisingly high ceiling. The walls were smooth and black, although they appeared blue in the light. The glowing crystals in the wall and the giant illuminated waterfall were the only sources of light. The crystals seemed natural, but many of them were clearly artificially put there to even out the light, creating a balanced atmosphere.

“The crystals are controlled with magic right?” Twilight guessed. “So that the intensity of the light can be altered or even completely turned off in case of intruders.”

“Correct Princess Twilight,” Clear Mind stated.

“You can just call me ‘Twilight’” she insisted.

“As you wish.”

The next feature she noticed was the different rooms. They were trotting down a long hallway of sorts, but along the walls were entrances to different rooms with labels on the top of each. She noticed the “Training Room”, “Magic Room”, “Crystal Room” and “Meeting Room”. She wondered what the Magic Room was for, and made a note to visit it later, if she was allowed to.

They entered another wing of the base, which was immediately different from the other part because it was populated. Ponies in vests ran around the large room, each seemingly having something to do. None were very colorful, as expected of hollows, but there were definitely more rebels than Twilight had expected. She could easily count at least fifty of them. The walls in this room were different because they appeared to have been customized to hold vests and weapons. The only purpose of the room seemed to be to get your equipment and get to another area.

“I can see that you already own one of the protective vests, Twilight,” Clear Mind spoke above the chatter of busy ponies. “But as for the rest of you, I suggest you each take a vest.”

“Ooo, will it let me fly?” Pinkie asked, unable to be still.

“No,” Clear Mind said plainly. “But it’ll help protect against magic, and it has a shield char—”

“No flying, no buying,” Pinkie snapped, crossing her forelegs and sitting on her haunches.

“Pinkie, just take the dang vest,” Applejack sighed.

“Hmm, I have changed my mind about acquiring one of your goods,” Pinkie laughed. “I’ll take one in pink please.”

“My apologies, they only come in gray,” Clear Mind said.

“You drive a hard bargain, but okay,” Pinkie smiled. Applejack rolled her eyes, but wore an affectionate smile as she did so. Rarity squealed...for some reason.

“Rarity?” Twilight questioned.

“Oh, I’m sorry darling, I was just thinking of...something,” Rarity coughed.

“Uhh...”

“Hey slowpokes,” Wild Side spoke up. “Put on your vests and let’s get on with the tour, yeah?”

After trying on their vests, they moved to the next section, where Twilight immediately saw her dream job. This part had large slabs jutting out of the ground that served as desks for all the working ponies. And working they were, on maps, on reports, on various statistics. This was the intelligence room, and Twilight wanted to be a part of it.

“And this is where I work, kiddos,” Wild Side bragged.

“When you said you worked in intel, I didn’t know there was actual intelligence at work,” Twilight said, gaping at all the brainiacs.

“Yup, but I’m not the intelligence, I’m the field spy. I report it and they log it,” he continued, “I don’t get to touch any of the brainy stuff though. I have many handsome layers, but I’m no genius.”

“But I am,” Twilight whispered.

“Moving on,” Sleeping Shadow announced.

Twilight knew that her friends were going with the others, but she couldn’t tear herself away from the beauty of the Intel Room. She had just noticed the books on the carved shelves. Full of knowledge about The Hollow no doubt. None of the intel ponies were wearing protective vests either. If she got a job here, then she wouldn’t have to enter the battlefield anymore. It’s the perfect solution.

“You coming Twi’?” Rainbow asked, “or you just gonna sit here and take in all the egghead stuff?”

“Look at it Rainbow,” Twilight gushed. “I could just be a simple little analyzer. How amazing would that be?”

“Very, considering that you didn’t want any distractions in the first place,” Rainbow snickered.

“Oh...yeah,” Twilight had ironically forgotten about her strategy. If it was still in place, then they wouldn’t be anywhere near the Resistance base.

“C’mon egghead, let’s get catch up,” Rainbow teased, flying ahead.

Looking forward, Twilight suddenly found herself immersed in the beautiful colors that Rainbow left behind when she flew. What was going on? She had seen those colors so many times before and they’ve never had any sort of...effect. Shoving more strange thoughts aside, Twilight flew after her friends.

When she finally caught up, the others were learning about the rooms. There were large rooms that held sixteen beds. Eight carved in one wall, and eight carved into the opposite wall. Personal belongings would be held in saddlebags, located in a hole near your bed. If you weren’t a unicorn then you would have to have a unicorn levitate your bag to you.

For a pegasus, Hurricane Heart sure had a thing for magic, Twilight thought.

“Let’s see, there are six of you and three of us, so we could all fit in one room if you wish,” Clear Mind stated matter-of-factly.

“Don’t you three already have a room you’re staying in?” Rarity asked. “Or is there coincidentally six empty beds?”

“We’ll just take up a new room,” Wild Side replied. “You’ll need some friendly faces around here. Resistance members don’t play around.”

“Ah wouldn’t exactly call your face ‘friendly’, partner,” Applejack snorted.

“I changed my mind, I’m not rooming with the cowpony,” Wild Side sneered.

“Yes you will,” Clear Mind commanded, glaring daggers. Wild Side looked like he wanted to stand up for himself, but decided against it.

“Alright mate, I was just joking around,” Wild Side beamed. “Besides, the cowpony is only being annoying because she has a crush on me.”

“W-what?!” Applejack shouted. “In your dreams, Ah’m not into hot headed jerks. Celestia knows I can barely handle being friends with Rainbow Dash.”

“Haha, that’s because she has a crush on me too,” Rainbow snickered.

“Quiet Rainbow!” Twilight suddenly snapped.

“Huh?” Rainbow grunted.

“Yeah, everypony needs to relax because Applejack doesn’t have a crush on any of you,” Pinkie shrilled. “In fact—”

“Applejack,” Sleeping Shadow interrupted. “Please do not mention the pony you just mentioned here. We’re not like the other hollows, but we still have relatively bad blood with certain Equestrians.”

“The pony Ah just mentioned?” Applejack repeated. “Y’all mean Cel—”

“What part of ‘shush’ don’t you get?” Wild Side snapped. “Look, after Princess Prime separated Equestria by committing that crime, things have never been the same.”

“Many still believe that if she had stayed and helped instead of abandoning us, we wouldn’t be in as bad condition as we are now,” Clear Mind spat, showing more emotion than usual.

“Commander Heart takes it the hardest, so don’t mention it at all around her,” Sleeping Shadow stated, staring at the floor.

Twilight didn’t what to say or think. Kuwabara told her that Celestia had committed a great crime that permanently split Equestria, but to hear that it affected even the good hollows was just too much. How long has Celestia allowed another nation to die while keeping it a secret from the rest of her nation?

“Speaking of Hurricane Heart,” Clear Mind said, recapturing his monotone. “It’s time you met her.”

“Sounds good to me,” Twilight said, happy to change the subject.

“Great, follow us, she’s in the next section,” Sleeping Shadow explained, moving forward once more.

Upon reaching the next section, Twilight was stunned to see a solid cave wall blocking their way. Twilight looked around the room three times but saw nothing that would give away the secret of the room.

“Ok, what gives?” Rainbow whined.

“We pride ourselves in illusion magic here,” Sleeping Shadow explained as she pointed her horn towards the wall. An orange shimmer formed the outline of a large opening in the wall. The wall flicked between appearing and disappearing before it finally disappeared, leaving a large doorway, free to walk through. “And I happen to be the top of the class.”

“So you can create giant spiders, big deal, Shady,” Wild Side scoffed. “Still can’t fly, can ya?”

“Wild Side is envious of unicorns,” Clear Mind explained. “Most hollow pegasi are, especially since flying’s been outlawed. Makes us rather useless in our own eyes.”

“That true, Wild Side?” Shadow teased. “Does the sight of me make you feel useless?”

“Let’s just get on with it,” Wild Side muttered, trotting through the doorway.

Sleeping Shadow followed with a smile on her face, perhaps satisfied that she got to annoy Wild Side for a change. Through the doorway was a set of stone stairs leading to a small platform. Sitting on the platform was a white pegasus with wings she had never seen before. It was as if each every feather was specifically crafted with a purpose and came together to form a rather unique set of wings.

“Commander Heart, we’ve returned with the ‘secret weapon’” Sleeping Shadow announced, saluting as she did so.

Wild Side and Clear Mind copied her movements, and for a moment, Twilight wondered if she should do the same. She looked at her friends and saw the confused expressions on their faces match her own. She decided not to do anything, after all, Hurricane Heart wasn’t her commander.

Hurricane Heart rose and flexed her wings, showing off their beauty. In fact, the beauty of her wings almost completely masked the mess that was her body. The parts of her body that weren’t covered up by her vest was covered in scars and burns, some minor, some major. Twilight opened her mouth to comment when Hurricane Heart faced them and revealed her milky white eyes. Twilight couldn’t find any words to say after that.

“Sleeping Shadow,” whispered Hurricane Heart, her voice smooth yet coarse. “And...”

Hurricane Heart closed her eyes and flapped her wings a few times, even though she was still on the ground. Twilight looked to Shadow to see if this was normal and the knowing smile on her face said that it was.

“Oh, so we’re all here,” Hurricane said suddenly. “Excellent, welcome Princess Twilight to the secret base of the Resistance and soon, your new home.”

“Whoa,” Rainbow grunted. “We haven’t agreed to anything yet, in fact, what do you even want from us?”

Hurricane flapped her wings once more and smiled. Rainbow looked on in confusion as Hurricane stretched her legs slowly. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment to blink and when she opened them, the leader of the Resistance was no longer in front of them.

“Ahh!”

Looking up at the source of the scream, what Twilight saw had frightened her deeply. Hovering gracefully beside Rainbow was Hurricane Heart herself, wearing a satisfied face.

“What I want is to bring King Hollow down,” Hurricane whispered, enunciating each syllable.

Rainbow continued to hover silently, unable to say anything in response to the display of speed that rivaled her own. Hurricane chuckled quietly and flew back to her platform, at normal speed. Making herself comfortable, she gestured for all of them to relax. The three Resistance members immediately sat on the cave floor. Following their lead, Twilight plopped to the ground. She heard Rarity complaining quietly about sitting on the cold cave floor and tried to gesture for her to be quiet with her wing. She had no idea if she succeeded or not.

“Okay, so you guys want to know what I’m asking of you and why,” Hurricane Heart said as a fact and not a question. “Fine, I understand that you came to The Hollow for a reason and it wasn’t to be kidnapped by the secret Resistance. Therefore, I won’t bore you with a retelling of ancient history, or the reason why I’m blind or something like that. Instead, I’ll share some facts with you. For starters, its a fact that King Hollow is a terrible, evil monster. And its a fact that stopping him would benefit all of The Hollow. Now, how do we stop the King? For that, I thought we might enlist the help of the Princess and her knights.

“Look, my organization is doing just fine on its own, but after successfully operating behind the shadows for a while now, we haven’t done anything noteworthy. You’ve been here for a day and you killed one of the most fearsome Majors around and burned his town to. The. Ground.”

Twilight felt like interrupting just to say that it was actually Kuwabara who burned his own town to the ground, and that they simply let it happen. She also wanted to point out that she didn’t appreciate being known as Kuwabara’s killer, but Hurricane Heart didn’t seem like the kind of pony you interrupted so she let her continue talking.

“Without you, we are a lowly organization made up of talented unicorns, skilled pegasi, and resourceful earth ponies. But with you six...we’re the Princess’s private army, and we’re ready to make a real difference in our broken world.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Twilight sat up. A move that earned her all the eyes in the room.

“Let me ask a question, Commander,” Twilight spat. “Are you asking me to fight?”

“No, Princess,” Hurricane Heart spat back, a twisted smile decorating her face. “I’m asking you to resist. Resist the tyranny that has plagued our nation for as long as any of us can remember.”

“That confirms that you’re asking me to fight,” Twilight concluded. “And I can’t say I’m happy about that.”

“Twilight,” Rarity harshly whispered. “What are you doing?”

“Defending myself, Rarity,” Twilight replied. “I don’t know if you would have thought differently, but for me, killing Kuwabara was the most horrifying thing I’ve ever done and I would sure hate to do it for a living.”

It certainly felt good to admit that she was in constant torture due to her actions, but she was afraid of the repercussions. Then again, maybe she had immunity. If Hurricane Heart needed her so badly, then she wouldn’t risk hurting or upsetting her. Still, Hurricane had clearly been through a lot, underestimating what she would do could be a fatal mistake.

“Do I dare believe my own ears?” Hurricane asked, sarcasm dripping in her voice. “Have I gone deaf too? Did a princess just turn away at the mention of violence? What exactly did you sign up for if not a life full of war and pain? After all, that is the princess way.”

“First of all,” Twilight snapped, feeling herself lose control. “I didn’t sign up for anything, if you must know, I was practically forced to become a princess. Second, only I can choose what the ‘princess way’ is.”

“Oh, so you were forced into a life-changing event huh?” Hurricane Heart asked, the fierceness leaving her voice. “Well...we’ve all been there, but the important thing is that you form your own destiny from it. You’re a princess now, and its time that you decided what that means. Carve your own legacy from it. We can help, all you have to do is help us free our nation.”

Twilight was still fired up by the job offer, but after Hurricane’s speech (not to mention the emotion in her voice), it was hard to decline. What she wanted was to be a part of the intel branch, but what she would be getting was a position in the army. Was it worth it to save The Hollow? Would they even survive saving The Hollow? Was it worth it? Twilight had just noticed that Hurricane had appeared in front of her, extending her hoof for a hoofshake. Twilight checked on her friends. Of course Rarity’s face just screamed to accept the offer, Pinkie and Applejack held small smiles of encouragement, but it was clear that they had something else on their minds. Fluttershy’s kind eyes were clearly just telling her to follow her heart.

Rainbow’s face looked just as confused as Twilight felt inside. It looked as though Rainbow was afraid to tell Twilight to do something that would bring her pain, but at the same time, doing it would be great for the hollows. As Twilight tried to find the emotions in Rainbow’s confused face, she found herself getting lost in Rainbow’s eyes once more. But why? Shaking her head furiously, Twilight turned to face Hurricane Heart.

Well, we haven’t traveled all this way for nothing, Twilight thought. Your mission can wait, Celestia. Its time to carve out my own legacy.

As soon as Twilight’s hoof met Hurricane’s, she immediately felt as though she was signing a binding contract. Hopefully she read the fine print. Of course her friends began cheering at this small victory. She also thought she heard a whoop of joy from Wild Side. Mostly, she was focused on the triumphant look plastered across Hurricane’s face. She wasn’t sure if she could trust Hurricane, and she was very unsure on whether or not she liked her, but her intentions seemed to be pure so that counted for something.

“So, what will my knights be doing for the Resistance?” Twilight asked once the cheering died down.

“Well I suppose that’s up to them,” Hurricane said. “You were mandatory for our combat force, but if they wanted other jobs...”

“No way, sign me up for the combat force!” Rainbow spoke up. “This knight is gonna see some action.”

“Sign me up too,” Applejack said. “If you don’t got a farm for me to tend to, then Ah might as well be beatin’ Rainbow at her own game.”

“I would like to be trained as a mage actually,” Rarity announced. “I would be a battle outfit designer, but I’m afraid my designs wouldn’t be very stealth-oriented or, ahem, protective.”

“Ooo, can I be in intel?” Pinkie asked. “There’s no place I can’t get into, the Cakes told me so!”

“If that one’s gonna be in intel then I need more vacation days,” Wild Side commented.

“Um, Miss Hurricane sir,” Fluttershy muttered, using her hair as a shield. “Is there a medical division? Because...I would like to be in it, if there is one, I mean.”

“I think you’ve all made great decisions in choosing your roles,” Hurricane announced. “And don’t worry, you can all still go on missions as one unit. I know sticking together is important to you, and the last thing I want is to inconvenience you guys.”

“Yay,” Fluttershy stated. “I hate being inconvenienced.”

“Hey, Applejack mentioned a farm earlier, what do you guys do for food around here?” Rainbow asked.

“We actually do have a farm, but its managed by magic...and it’s location is secret,” Clear Mind explained.

“Okay, I...guess” Rainbow accepted the explanation.

“Speaking of, let’s throw a celebration dinner!” Hurricane Heart shouted.

“Yes, Commander,” Clear Mind agreed. “I’ll make sure the cooks know to make extra tonight. Or rather, every night after today.”

Without another word, Clear Mind made way for the opening. The revealing spell had worn off earlier, but he seemed to know where he was going anyway.

“Clear Mind, wait,” Hurricane Heart said. “Make sure you tell them, that it better be a meal fit for a princess.”

---

“So this is what a group dinner looks like?” Twilight yelled over the chatter.

“I’d call it more of an engaging family dinner, Princess,” Hurricane Heart shouted, chewing on her deluxe dandelion sandwich.

Having had nothing but elegant dinners in Canterlot, Twilight had to adjust to loud dinners when she moved to Ponyville, but this was beyond loud. For this dinner, it was as if the default volume was shouting. She was seated at a table that held her, her friends, Commander Heart (as she was now to called), Sleeping Shadow, Wild Side and Clear Mind. The Commander seemed to have no problem with shouting and eating at the same time, which unnerved her as it seemed both rude and impossible.

Clear Mind was his usual quiet self, even though he was eating enough for ten ponies. Shadow had obviously consumed hard cider, too much hard cider to be precise. Wild Side was using her state to his advantage as he told a barrage of jokes that were barely considered jokes or funny, but she laughed at each one.

Meanwhile, her friends were how they usually were at parties: Pinkie was the life of the party, Rainbow started having toughness contests as soon as she was done eating, Applejack was chatting with the cooks about the food, Rarity was taking her food in small servings until she was properly full and Fluttershy was sticking close to Twilight because she didn’t know anyone else.

“So...Commander,” Twilight said, finishing her food.

“Heh, it feels good being called ‘commander’ by a princess,” Hurricane chuckled, swallowing a mouthful in the process. “Continue.”

“How long have you been the leader of the Resistance?”

“Its kinda hard for blind ponies to tell time...so I don’t,” she giggled. “I understand the concept, but constantly asking someone what time it is makes me seem weak, so I just ask them to keep track of certain events.”

“Oh,” Twilight replied weakly, embarrassed by the outcome of her question. “Umm, speaking of...how do you...see, exactly?”

“Princess, you don’t have to be sheepish around me,” Hurricane stated as an order, “it just wastes time. Anyway, as I’m sure you noticed, I was born with special wings and on top of giving me borderline supersonic speed; they allow me to see things by kinda ‘tasting’ the air.”

“Huh?” Twilight and Fluttershy exclaimed in unison.

“Yeah, I’m not totally sure how it works, but by flapping my wings, I can see blurs and outlines and stuff. It was super weird at first, but once I adjusted...I just kinda accepted it. Its who I am, you know?”

Twilight looked at Fluttershy as if to say “Is that normal?” Fluttershy’s confused shrug gave her the answer she needed.

“Yeah I guess we know what that’s like,” Twilight weakly responded. “I was kind of born with a large amount of raw magical energy, and Fluttershy had a fear of heights.”

Fluttershy blushed and squeaked at the mention of her embarrassing fear, which made Twilight feel bad about saying it. It was hard to come up with small talk at a loud party.

“You guys are funny,” Hurricane chuckled. “I’m gonna go partake in one of Rainbow Dash’s toughness contests. I just know that I’m faster than her. Anyway, I’ll see you guys around, but don’t expect me to be as friendly as I was tonight. Just saying.”

Hurricane expanded her wings, flapped them a few times and flew after Rainbow Dash. Did she really want to know which of those two was faster? Absolutely not, although Rainbow would probably be talking about it later anyway.

“You sure you don’t even want to try and socialize, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, sipping her water.

“No, that’s okay,” Fluttershy insisted. “I don’t think I’m outgoing enough for these ponies.”

Twilight was about to argue when she saw two hollows engage in a public roughhousing much like the one Rainbow and Applejack got themselves in the other day. The crowd did nothing but cheer them on.

“Yeah, that makes two of us,” Twilight agreed.

“It’s just so odd,” Fluttershy commented. “I never would've imagined that hollows could be so...emotional.”

Twilight immediately thought of the revelation she made about Rarity and shoved it aside. She knew for a fact that Rarity would cut off all her hair while she was sleeping if she told anypony her secret.

“Uh, yeah,” Twilight sheepishly agreed. “Well I suppose that if I was forced to hold in my emotions for a while, then I would love to release them in, ahem, outbursts.”

“Sounds like Rarity,” Fluttershy giggled.

Twilight nearly choked on the water she was sipping. It took several deep coughs just to convince herself that she wasn’t actually choking.

“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy exclaimed, rubbing Twilight’s back. “I’m sorry, was my joke not funny?”

“No, no,” Twilight coughed and coughed again. “Ahem, no Fluttershy, your joke was fine. I was just thinking of something else and the water went down the wrong pipe. Yeah, that’s it.”

“Oh okay,” Fluttershy smiled. “Do you mind if I ask what it was?”

“Uhh...”

Whatever else Twilight was going to say was drowned out by Rainbow’s loud grunt of effort. She and Commander Hurricane had evidently engaged in a roughhousing session themselves and Rainbow had just lost.

“I just lost my grip, that’s all!” Rainbow shouted, face quickly turning red either from rage or embarrassment.

“I flipped you over me!” Hurricane shouted. “What part of that has to do your grip?”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle loudly even as Rainbow dared to challenge Hurricane to another round. She wondered if they had tested their speed yet, although if they had, surely everyone would’ve known.

“Oh, were you thinking about Rainbow Dash?” came the unexpected question from Fluttershy.

Despite how innocent the question sounded, Twilight surely would have choked on more water if she was still sipping it. Instead, she felt her eyes grow wide and her mind become scrambled.

“Uhh, honestly I wasn’t...until now,” Twilight muttered.

“Did she talk to you yet? What’s going on? Oh, I want to be in the loop! I mean, if its okay with you,” Fluttershy gushed.

“Whoa, slow down there, Fluttershy,” Twilight nervously laughed. “What are you talking about? She hasn’t ‘talked’ to me. Is there something we need to talk about?”

“Oh,” Fluttershy blushed furiously. “Umm, oh my, should I say something? I have too, she’s just taking too long. Umm, can I ask you something, Twilight?”

“Of course.”

“Who would you say you had a crush on?”

If there was one question she wasn’t expecting, it was that one. Crushes? Who had time for crushes? Twilight spent all of her time either with her friends, or reading. Feeling affection for someone would probably put a dent on that schedule, and she wasn’t willing to sacrifice her friends or books for anything. Although being in a romantic relationship was an important part of life. It was essential for starting a family, after all. As long as it was serious, she had heard Rarity explain ‘playing games’ and it just sounded like an even bigger waste of time.

Regarding Fluttershy’s question, the only pony she would even consider to a ‘love interest’ was Flash Sentry, and that was just his alternate world counterpart. He was just so sweet and kind, but she wouldn’t keep going between Equestria and Canterlot High just to be with him. Talk about time wasting. She didn’t even know his pony counterpart....

“I guess no one, Fluttershy,” Twilight responded, looking down.

“You were probably thinking about that Flash Sentry colt though, right?” Fluttershy said, reading her thoughts.

“Well, I did consider him yes, but relationships are too time wasting for me. I only time for you girls and my books. Although I guess I’ll have some new responsibilities now that I’m a princess.”

“Its not really about being in a relationship, Twilight,” Fluttershy giggled. “Liking somepony is natural and its not entirely in your control. Whether you really wanna be with that pony or not, you’ll still start to notice certain things about them, and start thinking about them, and start caring for them.”

“Can we please talk about nature or something?” Twilight frantically asked, not enjoying how familiar the symptoms sounded.

“Oh, that would be lovely, but I really think we should talk about—”

“Do you have a crush, Fluttershy?” Twilight blurted out. Maybe it was her way of lifting the pressure off of her, or maybe it was her curiosity. Either way, she felt a hundred times after asking that question. Although it didn’t look like Fluttershy felt any better after receiving that question. Her eyes went wide and she immediately covered her mouth with her hoof. Twilight was about to tell her to forget about it when she spoke.

“Actually, that’s a fair question,” she said, removing her hoof. “And the answer is...yes, I do. Hehe, that felt good to say.”

“Congratulations, Fluttershy,” Twilight cheered. “Who is it?”

“Well, that depends.”

“On what?”

“Whether or not you think its okay for a mare to like another mare,” Fluttershy squeaked.

“That’s a silly question, of course it is,” Twilight stated, smiling. In Equestria, you were encouraged to love whoever you want no matter what. Well, as long as it was reasonable, and a mare loving another mare was. Same with colts as well.

“That’s a relief, because I think I have a crush on another mare,” Fluttershy squeaked in a higher pitch.

“You don’t say?” Twilight asked sarcastically. “Its fine Fluttershy, really. Now if you don’t mind me prying, who is it?” Fluttershy looked more mortified than before from the question. She quickly scanned the room, but not much had changed. Rainbow was dedicating herself to beating Hurricane at something, Pinkie was partying harder than before, Applejack was probably in the kitchen having a cook off, and Rarity was struggling to finish her cake. The party in general was as loud as ever.

“Umm, I don’t mean to be rude, Twilight,” Fluttershy announced. “But I’d rather not say for now, but when I do feel like saying, I’ll be sure to tell you.”

“That’s all I ask,” Twilight replied, undeterred either way. “Now we should probably finish our meals, it won’t be like this everyday. Although if it is, then we’re leaving immediately.”

---

The rest of the party went as expected. There were laughs, brawls and things that were just plain stupid. There was more food too, but it was quickly devoured. Twilight played along when she was dragged into activities, but when the party finally ended, she couldn’t be happier. Now she was preparing for bed along with her friends, which currently included Wild Side, Sleeping Shadow and Clear Mind as they all shared the same sleeping area.

“So we sleep in holes carved into the walls and call them beds?” Rarity stammered.

“Correct,” Clear Mind confirmed. “You can also place as many spells as you wish on your own bed, just for extra precaution.”

“Or if you want to prevent nighttime pranksters,” Sleeping Shadow groaned, recovering from her hard cider marathon. “Also known as Wild Side.”

“I only pranked you twice and you know it,” Wild Side teased.

“Because I immediately set up the charms after the second time,” Shadow snapped.

“I would’ve stopped on my own.”

“Enough, everyone please go to bed,” Clear Mind demanded. “Especially you, Shadow. Good luck being ‘top of the class’ with a raging hangover.”

“Ugh, I like it better when you don’t comment on stuff,” she groaned in reply as she climbed into her hole.

Everyone followed suit, eager to get some rest. Especially Twilight after the day she had. The highlight of her day was agreeing to forget about her journey for eternal peace long enough to defeat a maniac king. Even though she had doubts, she must have been doing the right thing because Celestia didn’t interrupt with her “divine intervention” like with Kuwabara. Then again, there was only one way to know for sure. Twilight closed her eyes and focused on positive thoughts as she drifted to sleep.

“Having fun, Princess?” asked Kuwabara, smiling cruelly against the raging flames behind him. “Delaying your oh-so important mission just to pursue a doomed cause. How foolish.”

“You’re wrong, Kuwabara,” Twilight shouted, hearing the lightning in the sky respond to her voice. “I’m doing the right thing, that must be a foreign concept to you.”

“Mock all you’d like, Princess. Try as you might, the truth is...you can’t save everyone.”

Twilight just noticed that there was someone behind Kuwabara, someone lying down. She had taken a step forward when she noticed that her hoof didn’t quite connect with solid ground. Instead it sunk into the ground and continued to sink until she lifted it out. She turned in a circle to take a good look at her red, burning, lifeless and endless environment. The flaming red sand triggered something in her mind, a horrible memory. She knew where she was.

“Step. Aside,” she commanded as she stepped towards Kuwabara. The Major merely chuckled, his usual response.

“As you wish, Your Majesty,” he whispered, moving aside. Without him in the way, Twilight could clearly see the pony lying injured on the ground. Twilight’s heart instantly dropped as she took in the azure coat, the protective vest and the stream of blood gracefully draping her body.

“Trixie!” Twilight shouted, rushing towards her dying friend. Kuwabara leapt in front of her, intent on stopping her. One of his many mistakes was challenging her after injuring one of her friends. Unleashing a familiar primal roar, Twilight commanded the lightning to completely fry Kuwabara. Even though lightning was invading his brain, Kuwabara still chuckled loudly and clearly.

“Killing all in your way to protect your friends,” Kuwabara commented while literally melting due to the intensity of the lightning. “What dark justice. Hope you can live with yourself...Princess.”

Kuwabara had effectively melted into a gray puddle that sank into the sand. Lightning stuck all around her, wild and free. The flashes of light further illuminated the flames, leading to the perfect image of chaos. With no more distractions, Twilight hurried over to her fallen friend.

“Trixie,” Twilight whispered, “Trixie, please answer me...”

She lowered her head and allowed the shameful tears to fall. Who was she if she couldn’t even protect her friends? Were there more? Was Trixie just the first in a long line of bodies as a result of Twilight’s failures?

“Did I do this?” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Did this happen because I couldn’t protect you? What have I done...”

Twilight looked down and realized that the flames had begun to lap at her hooves, asking permission to consume her whole. Unable to fight it, Twilight allowed them to. She welcomed the warm sensation overtaking her body. The feeling of her flesh melting off her bones and her soul leaving her body. She continued to hold her friend while the horrifying process took hold of her. The flames overtook her eyes, making it so that the only thing she was fire and the only thing she felt was fire. Was the sound of her crying the result of fire too?

No, the sound her crying was real. Twilight woke with a start as she wiped the tears off her wet face. She looked around her and saw, much to her relief, that she was still lying in her hole in the Resistance base. Everyone else was still asleep, which meant that it wasn’t quite time to wake up yet. Unfortunately, she knew that going back to sleep was impossible for her. How much longer would she be plagued by nightmares?

Deciding not to sit in bed and sulk, Twilight glided to the floor. She double checked her friends to make sure none of them were awake. That’s when she noticed that the color composition of the room was way off. There was no light pink or cool orange. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were missing. Twilight felt a small panic rising in her chest before she silenced it and told herself that they were probably just up and about in the base. Well she might as well find them since the only other option was to sulk by herself. And she was so done with that.

It surprised her how well she was able to navigate the base considering how similar everything looked. Lurking around the base while it was empty was extremely creepy because she knew that someone could be watching her from the shadows. If she hadn’t noticed Sleeping Shadow resting in bed then she would’ve already assumed that she was here somewhere...watching. After scrambling around the base for a few minutes, Twilight still had no idea where her friends were. Not to mention that she starting to get lost hersel—

“...don’t mind at all,” came Pinkie’s cheerful voice.

Needless to say, Twilight nearly had a heart attack. She had no idea what direction her voice came from so she stood perfectly still and waited to hear it again.

“Ah know that, but...Ah’m just not sure,” Applejack replied, sounding right next to Pinkie.

So they both must’ve woken up at the same time and came to the same place. How does that work? Did one of them wake the other up? What exactly were they doing?

“Why not?” Pinkie whined.

“Ah...Ah don’t know, it doesn’t seem right. How are you so sure that it’d all work out?” Applejack asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

By now, Twilight had guessed that they were by the waterfall due to their voices coming from the area as the running water. She didn’t dare get closer though, she wanted to hear them finish this conversation.

“It’d work out because we care about each other,” Pinkie explained. “You do care about me right?”

“Course Ah do, sugarcube,” Applejack sighed. “But this is so much more than just carin’ about each other a whole lot. This could throw off the whole dynamic of our group. That wouldn’t be fair to them.”

What exactly were they talking about? Whatever was going to throw off their group couldn’t be good.

“Silly, I’ve talked with Rainbow Dash and I bet you’ve talked with Rarity,” Pinkie said in a sing-song voice. “Rainbow thinks its a good idea you know, and I bet Rarity does too.”

“Of course whoever you ask is gonna say its a good idea. Doesn’t mean that it is,” Applejack grumbled.

“Oh, I’m sorry Applejack, I thought you cared about me more than that. Guess I was wrong though, oh well,” Pinkie remarked sadly.

“Pinkie Pie, Ah like you a lot more than Ah think Ah should. Ah don’t mean that in a bad way, its just that you can do so much better than a cowpony like me. You could easily have anypony in Ponyville.”

Where they talking about liking each other as friends or... What were they talking about? Twilight wished she could get closer to hear every word, but she definitely couldn’t risk being caught at this point. She squished herself against the cave wall and listened intently.

“Applejack, ever since that day when we switched cutie marks and I got to live your life for the day, I’ve been thinking...a lot. You have such a hard life but you never complain, never ever take days off, and never, ever, sever, take your time with us for granted. You’re the only pony I know who can perfectly balance work with fun! And if there’s one thing I’m looking for in a special somepony, its somepony who really appreciates fun.”

“You really do care for me, don’t you sugarcube?”

“I really do like you, Applejack. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cup—hrmpf!”

At this point, Twilight couldn’t resist looking just a little to see what was going on. She slowly moved her head around the corner of the wall...and quickly hid behind the wall again, covering her mouth. The sight of Applejack’s mouth covering Pinkie’s was almost too much for Twilight. For so long it had just been the six of them as best friends, but now...everything changes. Seeing them like that had really weirded her out, but she supposed she would just have to get used to it. One thing’s for sure, she forgot all about her dream.

“—cake in my eye,” Pinkie continued, voice sounding dazed and far away.

“Ah believe you Pinkie,” Applejack assured her, voice sounding equally dazed. “And even though Ah had tried to convince myself otherwise, Ah really like you too.”

“So you wanna give us a chance?” Pinkie asked, excitement rising in her voice.

“Eeyup.”

“Yippee!” Pinkie positively exclaimed. The sound of Applejack grunting slightly told her that they just hugged this time. So it was official, Applejack and Pinkie were engaged in a romantic relationship. Definitely one of the weirdest things to come out of visiting The Hollow. Still, she couldn’t help but feel happy for them. She began to wonder how they would break it to the others, but that was up to them after all.

“You shall not regret this, milady,” Pinkie announced while Applejack giggled. “So now that that’s over, when are you gonna ask out Rainbow Dash, Twilight?”

Author's Note:

This is definitely one of the more talkative chapters where not much happens because stuff is getting set up, so I hope you were able to bear with it and enjoyed reading!