• Published 12th Jan 2014
  • 805 Views, 6 Comments

When Friends are Said and Dun - xenos29



A tale aboutTwilight coming into her own as a Princess, learning one of the hardest lessons about friendship. Safe for readers big and small as they explore Equestria. Reccommended, but not necessary, to be familiar with the show and comics

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Chapter 40

Three days later, and life had gradually returned to normal for everypony, despite the fact it would take weeks to repair all the damage. Though town hall had to be rebuilt from the ground up, much of Ponyville was still intact. Mayor Mare was even talking about having the 'Remembering Our Roots' festival late.

Everypony went about their business, trying to unwind and rebuild. To her relief, Twilight learned that not only had Carousel Boutique, Sugar Cube Corner, and the library gone unharmed, but that Sweet Apple Acres had survived as well, losing only its west field, where the fruit bats had taken over. Applejack said she and her family would replant it anyway, hoping it wouldn’t come back to bite them later.

The princesses decided it would be best for Alpenglow to return to his place underneath the old castle. The last time they spoke to Twilight, they were busy clearing out the cave with the help of Discord, the royal guard, and a fully healed Smoke Jumper. Nopony had talked about Alpenglow. They all had silently agreed that visiting him could wait until Ponyville was back on its feet. Twilight figured her guard would understand.

When it came time to travel back to the castle, Twilight and her friends decided to walk, which gave them a chance to stop by Zecora’s house. After a brief visit, she gave the ponies a bundle of wild flowers and wished them farewell. It was still well early in the day when they had begun crossing the bridge. Once inside, the ponies went down the hole one by one like before. The sun was just starting to climb into the gap between the mountains when Twilight floated down into the cave.

The ponies crossed the rebuilt bridge, through the chamber with Tawny and the other knights, and into the cage containing the box. They walked slowly, seeing their surroundings with new eyes. The princesses, Discord, and the guards were already inside the cage, waiting next to the box and its prisoners.

Twilight approached the princesses carefully, trying to keep her gaze from wandering prematurely to the center of the room. Princess Celestia cleared her throat and gestured her head towards the entrance. The guards promptly saluted and left, while Discord appraised Twilight with an approving nod before snapping his fingers and disappearing into thin air.

"Is everypony alright?" asked Princess Celestia. "You all look exhausted."

"Not physically, Princess," answered Rarity.

"I understand. We've been feeling the same way."

"I just don’t get it, Princess," said Applejack. "Why’d he do it and not tell us? Why'd he put it all on Twilight?"

"He told us he left a note for you all. Did you find it?"

"We did," said Twilight, looking to Spike. He hopped from her back, carrying a bundled stack of small, flat boxes and a scroll. Twilight almost forgot about them; they were so light, she had hardly noticed the extra weight when Spike had climbed on with them back at the library. Each of the boxes had a name on them, and soon everypony was holding one, and Twilight the scroll.

"Interesting," said Luna, "we never knew Alpenglow to be one for buying gifts."

"I don’t think he bought anything," said Princess Celestia, as the two curiously watched the ponies open the boxes.

"Huh, it’s a book," said Applejack, holding it up. There was a note taped to the cover that Applejack read aloud, "Applejack, my friend Honeydew shared your love of farming and family. There was a time when I would go over to her farm and bake with her and her little sisters. This is a copy of one of the recipe books we used, courtesy of Ms. Singer." Applejack quickly flipped through it. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any of these…hmm, I bet with the right seeds, me and Applebloom could grow everything we needed. And I bet these'd be great for the festival."

Rarity opened her box delicately. She pulled out a cone-shaped hat, adorned with ribbons and the glittering speckles of tiny cut jewels. "Oh my…" Once again, there was a note attached the gift. "As you probably know better than me, Rarity, these hats were normal wear once upon a time, especially among city ponies. Though my friends never cared for it, I thought it might suit you. If you ask nicely, the princesses can lead you to the rest of the outfits, still stored away somewhere, for the festival or for you to use as you please." She examined the hat fondly. "They don’t make them like this anymore."

"We can have the rest of the wardrobe sent to Carousel Boutique, Rarity," Princess Celestia offered.

"That would be wonderful. Thank you, Princess."

"Not really sure what to expect…" said Rainbow, opening her tiny box. Inside sat a badge of the Equestrian flag, backed by a pair of wings, as well as a horseshoe-shaped baton used for relay races. "Rainbow," she read aloud, "I may have forgotten to tell you that over the years, I helped coach some of Equestria’s most promising fliers, including a relay team that went on to place third in the Equestrian Games. This was the baton they used. As for the badge…well, let’s just say even the Wonderbolts have a history, a history I hope you will learn and inherit someday. Fly fast, and fly safe." Rainbow picked up the two objects with a strange reverence, holding them out for everypony to see.

"Oh, I hope Alpenglow didn’t go through too much trouble finding whatever this is," Fluttershy said, opening her box. Inside was a record labeled ‘Nat King Colt Classics: Nature Mare, Starsoot, and Smile,’ the last of which drew Pinkie’s attention as she peered over Fluttershy’s shoulder.

"Nat King Colt?" Rainbow shrugged. "Never heard of him."

"Fluttershy," she read aloud, "I guess I’ll have to take a rain check on those voice lessons. Here are just a few I think you’d like, thanks again to Miss Singer. Never forget your intuition, Fluttershy. When you know the music, singing is easy."

"Ooo, it’s my turn now!" shrieked Pinkie, as she haphazardly threw the lid of her box off, but froze when she saw that inside, wrapped in tissue paper, was a flute, wooden with crystal highlights, and the initials TT carved onto the mouthpiece.

"Whoa…" muttered Rainbow.

Pinkie gingerly picked it up, simply staring at it, until Twilight used her horn to pick up the note and read it aloud: "Pinkie, Twilight told me what a musician you are. The princesses managed to retrieve this when they went to the griffin kingdom. It was Tawny’s favorite, and it would mean a lot to me to know that you have it."

Applejack shook her head in awe. "Whew, you’d best guard that fiercely, Pinkie. That thing’s gotta be older than all of us put together."

"Uh-huh…" was all Pinkie Pie could manage to say.

"What about you, Spike?" asked Applejack. "I doubt Alpenglow woulda forgot about you."

"Oh, he didn’t," said Spike coyly, holding up his compass. Everypony turned to Rarity, who quickly averted her gaze upward, her face sporting a couple more tints of red.

"So what’s in it, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, pointing to the scroll.

"One way to find out," Twilight answered. She opened it, and instantly felt a strange bit of pride, and tears, as she began to read these new, yet strangely familiar words:

Dear Princess Twilight,

Over the past few weeks, I learned from you and your friends some very important lessons on friendship, lessons I had let myself forget. You all taught me that a pony’s past doesn’t have to control them, and that the first step to stopping it is to let go of your anger, whether it’s at somepony else, or yourself. I hope you can understand why I made the choices I did, and that you’ll forgive me for not helping you understand sooner.

I came into your world as a stranger. I lost everything that day in the cave. Everything I had, everything I was. I knew I would never be the same after that, and accepted the fate of never having anything besides my mission and the blind desire to complete it. But what I couldn’t know is that I would come to care for others again, that I would come to care for all of you. I spent the last thousand years with my hate for Blight as my only companion. I didn’t want that for any of you. That’s why I did it, why I’d do it again if I had to.

Goodbye, everypony. Many challenges lie ahead, none of them easy. Never forget that together, there's nothing you all can't do. Keep fighting for what's right, and I will, too.

Your faithful student, guard, and friend,

Alpenglow

Everypony gathered around Twilight as she laid the bundle of flowers on Alpenglow’s pedestal. For a moment, the ponies all stood there silently, as if waiting for a reaction from him. Nothing happened. Alpenglow didn’t move. His eyes stayed fixed on the horizon. His face kept that small, simple smile, but it didn’t move all the same.

Princess Celestia draped her wing over Twilight. "He’s right, Twilight. You’ve all done far more than anypony could be expected to do. You saved Equestria from Blight, and you taught Alpenglow something even Luna and I couldn’t."

"Indeed," said Luna, "that letter was meant for all of you. He was proud to be your friend, as we are proud of him."

"You’re going to miss him, though, right?" asked Spike.

Princess Celestia gaze remained on Alpenglow. "Very much, Spike, and someday, we will find a way to free him from his burden. For now, it’s important we realize how lucky we were to see Alpenglow- the real Alpenglow- before he left us again."

Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. "I know we didn't know 'im that long, but..." Everypony nodded.

Princess Celestia looked at Applejack approvingly. "Maybe, but since when is it necessary to know somepony for long before you can care about them, or be their friend?"

"What do we do now?" asked Rarity.

"Alpenglow asked that we seal this place away again," answered Luna. "I’m afraid that will make visiting somewhat…difficult."

Twilight looked at Alpenglow, realizing their time was quickly running out. "I don’t understand…why did he ask me to choose when he knew it would be him?"

"How to deal with losing a friend is one of the hardest lessons a pony can learn, Twilight," explained the Princess, her words echoing Alpenglow’s. "I think he wanted you to learn it in a way that didn't mean hurting all of you."

Twilight lowered her head. "I’m not sure it worked."

"I know, Twilight. I know."

"What Alpenglow said in the letter is not all he taught you," Luna pointed out. "Though he is gone, the best of him lives on in all of you: his courage…"

"His determination…," said Twilight.

"His integrity…," said Applejack.

"His chivalry…"

"His intuition…"

"His athleticism..!"

"And his puns!"

"Guess you could say he was a real…knight in shining armor!" laughed Spike.

Everypony smiled, shaking their heads as they walked from the room. As they crossed the bridge leading to the tunnel up, Twilight turned her head back at Alpenglow, his body but a gray silhouette inside the cage now.

"Yes…he is."

At this point, past and present began to swirl together for the princess of friendship, and with a slight reluctance, she stopped telling herself this story, feeling proud of where she and her friends had taken themselves. As she left her cave of knowledge and memories in the reading room and opened the front doors to the castle, she noticed it was looking to be a beautiful day, just as it had been when she, her friends, and the princesses had emerged from the tunnel the day they left behind Alpenglow. The newly-risen sun glinted through the old, cracked windows, casting rainbow shards onto the old stone floor, just as it had that day. Crossing the bridge back towards the Everfree Forest, Twilight stopped to look at the castle once more, just as she did before, vowing to always remember what she had learned from her new, old friend: the stallion who stood like a mountain, with the sunrise in his eyes.