To the Moon and Back Again

by dashie76

The Hero's Decision

"It was all we could do, Hero."

The Hero faced away from Tarin in stoic silence. The guard had teleported the two of them along with the Princess back to Canterlot castle nearly an hour ago. Tarin had explained what had been happening to the Hero - how she had fought the evil child, how she had given her life for peace and harmony, and finally, how she had gone down in history as a legend. She had yet to say a single word. The crackling fireplace cast a somber light over the pair, dimly lighting their faces and casting long shadows across the lavish walls and floor of the room.

"Look, this wasn't my first choice either. I do not agree with my wife's judgement on this matter, but she believed that this was our only option. So I must support her."

Again, the Hero remained silent.

"For Luna's sake, are you even listening to me?"

The Hero turned to face Tarin. "I heard you."

"So...what will you do?"

Her gaze fell. "What would you have me do?"

Tarin gritted his teeth together. "I told you...Princess Luna wants you to fight the Skull Kid."

She looked up, her eyes half lidded. "Is that a fact." She walked across the room to a bed. Upon it lay the Princess, her breathing shallow, her mane devoid of its usual color. The Hero placed a hoof on the Princess' neck. She felt a faint pulse. "Is that a fact..."

"That's what I said!" he snapped at her. "My wife has just sacrificed much of her magical power to bring you back from whatever dark recess your spirit had escaped to! It will be weeks - perhaps months - before she is even well enough to walk! We have already evacuated the city...." He pointed up at his caramel colored horn. "...and I can only pray I am strong enough to manage the day and night cycle until she is well enough to resume her duties as this land's Princess! I implore you, Hero, think of my situation here!"

The Hero slowly turned away from the Princess. She stared at Tarin with a look of pure malice in her eyes. As she shuffled towards the royal guard, he faltered and stepped back.

"No," she said quietly. "You think of mine. I was at peace. My work in this world was finished. I was enjoying eternity until your Princess Luna brought me back into this...this..."

She stomped her hoof on the floor so hard that the wood cracked. "This HELL! For three days, I endured loss, pain, and payed the ultimate price at the end of it all! I watched as families were torn apart, wilderness and civilization alike reduced to rubble! I witnessed the murder of my dearest friends with my own two eyes! For three whole days..."

She placed her hooves on either side of Tarin, pinning him against the wall. Her voice fell to a deathly whisper.

"Do you have any idea what I went through? And now you want me to experience that again? No..."

She brought her hooves back to the ground, her body trembling. "No. This isn't my battle, my fight, or my problem."

She stormed towards the balcony, and as the wind blew her mane across her face, she turned to look at Tarin one last time. "And whatever you do, do it quickly. Because if what you told me is true, then this is the night of the third and final day since he's appeared. Day and night cycle?" She let out a bitter laugh. "You won't stay alive long enough to raise tomorrow's dawn."

And with that, the Element of Loyalty, Savior of the World, and Hero of Time flew off into the night sky, her prismatic tail lashing through the air behind her.

Tarin was silent for some time.

Finally, the guard's steely resolve broke, and he fell to floor and cried. He cried for his fate. He cried for his Princess.

And he cried for his land.

~~~~~^~~~~~

Rainbow Dash touched down on the cobblestone streets of Canterlot. Half of the streetlights were out, and the rest were flickering unsteadily. They cast the only light on the city, as every house, hospital, and skyscraper was dark and silent. Her footsteps were loud and heavy, echoing through the silent town. As she walked along, she muttered to herself.

"Friggen' Princess...who needs her...can't believe this..."

She could have been walking for hours or minutes, for all she knew. As she turned a corner in the street, her foot struck something in the gutter. Falling down into a puddle of water, she shakily stood up again and turned back to see what had caused her fall. A young filly sat on the ground, rubbing her head.

"Owww..."

Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, spraying water droplets into the street. "My bad, kid. I'll watch where I'm going next time."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Oof..." the filly stood up, stretching. "I probably shouldn't have been playing in the street anyways."

"Uh...okay. Well, see you later." Rainbow Dash turned to walk away, resuming her muttering. "Stupid kid...doesn't even know not to stay out of the road..."

"WAIT!" the filly called out.

Rainbow Dash jumped and turned back around to face the child. The foals's eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

She began to stutter. "T...That mane...that tail...that cutie mark..."

Rainbow Dash gave the filly a strange look. Then the realization hit her. "Oh, no..."

"Are you the Hero of Time?!"

The mare shuffled awkwardly. "W-Well..."

The filly ran up to Rainbow Dash. "Oh please, oh please, oh please tell me that you are!"

She sighed inwardly and cracked a nervous smile. "Y-Yeah, kid. I'm the Hero of Time, alright."

"YAY!" The filly began to hop around on the spot in joy. She flew forward and tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground, hugging her.

"Whoa, there kid. Calm down. Heh..."

"It's you! It's really you!" The filly pulled Rainbow's face right in front of hers. "I can't believe it! I almost didn't think you'd come! But now we've all been rescued!"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Rescued...?"

The filly's face fell slightly. "Y-You are going to stop the evil child, right?"

Confused, Rainbow Dash helped the filly to her feet.

"Y-You see, when I was a foal, my mommy used to tell me this really cool story. It was called The Legend of the Hero of Time. It was about a mare who looked just like you who fought this bad guy called the Skull Kid and saved the world."

Rainbow's eyes widened.

"My mommy told me that it was just an old mare's tale...b-but then, a few days ago, this weird pony in a scary mask appeared. H-He started attacking Equestria. He called himself the Skull Kid, just like in the story..."

Hey, Rainbow Dash!

"A-And then the moon started falling...just like in the story..."

Ugh...not now, squirt.

"My mommy told me that...she told me that..."

Aw, come on! Just one lesson! I promise it won't take long!

"She told me that everypony was going to die..."

...Alright, squirt. I can't stay mad at you anyways.

Awesome!

"B-But then I remembered the other part of the story..."

Just like that, squirt. You've got it!

W...Whoa...

"The part with the Hero of Time..."

I'm flying! I'm flying, Rainbow Dash!

You sure are, squirt!

"And I thought that if I was really good...and if I prayed extra hard to Princess Luna..."

...Big sister?

...Yeah?

"T-That the Hero might come back to save us again..."

...I love you.

...

"D-Did my prayer come true? Are you here to save me and my mommy?"

The filly felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up into the mare's glistening eyes.

"Hero...why are you crying...?"

"...It's nothing..."

...I love you, too...

"Don't worry, kid. Tell your mom that the Hero of Time's got this one covered."

And with that, she took off once more into the night sky.

...Little sister.

Comments

[tailspin]

gotta love scoots she's the best most awesome filly and little sister any pony could have