Soren the Alicorn Part 3: A True Hero?

by KingNyroc15

Apologies

The sun was high in the sky as Rainbow Dash stood on top of Town Hall, looking any which way for a sign of Soren. It has been three days since his disappearance, and everyone was starting to worry. Ever since Soren disappeared, the dark stallions have been warding the entire town. Going into her third day of searching, Rainbow Dash has yet to give up looking for Soren. She even quit taking naps during the day. Deciding to take a break from her perch upon Town Hall, Rainbow chose to fly to the Ponyville Library to talk to her friends. If the pegasus would have stayed on top of Town Hall for a little longer, she would have seen the flash of green light appear nearby.

"Why does that always give me a headache?" Soren groaned as he rubbed his head yet again.

"It's the two magics colliding with one another," Terra explained. "Unicorn and earth pony magic don't mix well."

"Oh well. The headache is pretty much gone by now. Let's just go see Twilight in the library then we can sort everything out."

"Right." The mare and the alicorn started running through town to quickly get to the library. Soren noticed that it was daytime now, and not only that, it was around noon.

"By the way, have you heard of the Doctor?" he asked Terra.

"Is he that time traveler that angered the Elementals?"

"Yes but he had help. I'm asking because your spells seem to cause us time travel." Terra laughed.

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"What?! You girls can't be serious!" Rainbow Dash was beyond shocked at what her friends told her. All six of them were present in the library to discuss the situation at hoof.

"I'm truly sorry, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said. "We all want to find him almost as much as you do, but we must face facts: he's gone and we cannot find him. I'm sure he will show up eventually." Rainbow Dash's frown didn't go away.

"You all are just going to give up looking for him? Just like that?!" The five mares looked down. They knew they shouldn't stop looking for their, but what choice did they have? He's been gone for three whole days and they have yet to see him. "I'm not quitting on him, and I'm surprised the rest of you are." The mares looked up guiltily, but their expressions quickly changed to shock.

"Why do you all look so surprised?" Rainbow asked, confused. "Are you surprised that I'm not giving up on Soren, even after three days? Friends shouldn't abandon other friends, so why do you girls want to quit?" They started to point behind her, but before Rainbow could turn around, a voice spoke up.

"Wow, remind me to never go away for more than a day. You get pretty irritated when I'm gone too long." Rainbow Dash turned around and saw Soren standing in the doorway...and standing next to him was Terra. Rainbow Dash growled and was about to charge at her, but Soren intervened. He stood in front of Terra and pointed a hoof at Rainbow.

"Easy there, Rainbow. No need to hurt her. She hasn't done anything wrong. I'm back aren't I? Just calm down."

"Calm down? She hasn't done anything wrong? Did you forget about what happened a few days ago?! She attacked Ponyville!" Rainbow was flying by now, staring down at Soren.

"She did attack Ponyville, but let me explain her side of the story." Soren proceeded to tell everyone about Terra's childhood, her power-crazy mother, and why she wanted to help Ponyville.

"That's awful," Fluttershy commented when Soren finished the story. "What kind of mother would do that?"

"One that deserved what was comin' to her," Applejack added.

"Terra, we had no idea..." Twilight Sparkle started.

"It's alright," Terra interrupted. "I was completely wrong in my actions. I should have simply offered my protection instead of trying to force it upon all of you. It's just that I didn't believe you all would accept my shadow ponies as protection. They do look frightening. Can you all find it in your hearts to forgive me?" The six mares exchanged glances then nodded to Terra. Terra smiled and thanked them.

"Now that that's taken care of," Soren said, "what will you do next, Terra?" She sighed.

"I know exactly what I must do. I have to leave Ponyville...forever." Everypony but Soren seemed confused.

"If that's what you feel you must do, then we won't stop you." Terra turned towards the front door and started leaving. She stopped at the doorway to look back at Soren.

"Thanks again, Soren, for everything." Soren nodded at her. Terra started leaving again while softly singing to herself. "This ain't no place for no hero. This ain't no place for no better colt. This aint no place for no hero to call home."

As Terra sang the bridge of his song, Soren's eyes widened. He quickly trotted out of the library to hear her for a little longer. Rainbow Dash walked up to Soren as Terra vanished from their sight.

"You ok?" she asked. "You looked surprised that she was singing."

"That one part of my song...I-I never paid that much attention to it."

"I'm guessing you sang that to her when you were captured? What part didn't you pay attention to?"

"This ain't no place for a hero."

"Why is that so special?" Then it clicked for her. "Soren...what are you thinking?" she asked slowly, praying that her theory was wrong. Soren turned around and walked back inside the library. Rainbow joined Soren as everyone else gathered near.

"Soren, what are you thinking?" Rainbow Dash said a little louder to get his attention. Their friends noticed her tone of voice.

"Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked. "Soren, what is she talking about?"

Soren sighed. "I sang a song to Terra to comfort her, and as she sang a certain part of the song as she left, it spoke to me. It says, 'This ain't no place for a hero.'"

"Y'all better not be sayin' what I think yer sayin'," Applejack warned. Soren nodded to her.

"I am. Girls, I've decided to leave Ponyville."

"WHAT?!" all six exclaimed in unison.

"Why would you want to leave Ponyville?" Twilight asked.

"I've put you girls and this town in so much danger. Evil ponies threatening royalty, dark halves harming ponies, a renegade Time Lord. Everything I have fought has caught you girls and this town in the crossfire. I think it's best that I leave." Pinkie Pie started tearing up.

"Please say you're joking," she said weakly. "Say it's a joke, Soren." Soren walked up to Pinkie Pie and hugged her. He whispered 'I'm sorry' in her ear, and she started crying waterfalls of tears. Soren hugged tighter as he heard his friend sob. As he hugged Pinkie, Soren looked at all of the sad faces on the rest of his friends, except Rainbow. Rainbow Dash was simply looking at the floor, and Soren couldn't see her face at all. He patted Pinkie on the back and walked over to his marefriend.

"Even though I'm leaving my closest friends, there's one pony I could never hope to leave." This made Rainbow look up at him. As she held a sad expression, Rainbow punched Soren's shoulder hard. He tried not to flinch. "I'm sorry Rainbow, but I feel like this has to be done in order to keep everypony here safe from harm. Yet at the same time, I need to ask... will you come with me? I can't imagine being separated from you." Rainbow Dash just looked at him with a frown, but it slowly turned into neutral expression.

"You're awful for leaving your friends, you know that right?" Soren nodded sadly. "I guess I should tag along so you don't get yourself killed. I'll go with you." Rainbow was reluctant at first, but she still wanted to be close to Soren. The two shared a hug and turned towards their friends.

"I'm sorry I have to go, but you all understand my reasons, right?" Soren asked. Half of his friends nodded while the other half shook their heads, all mares with tears in their eyes. "I think we should leave now. What do you think, Rainbow?"

"One last thing." Rainbow nodded towards her friends, and they nodded back.

"Wha-" Soren was tackled by all of his friends as they gave him a giant group hug. Now it was Soren's turn to cry. "You have no idea how much I'm going to miss you girls. If Octavia asks about me, tell her...tell her that I went on a vacation. I don't think I have the heart to tell her the truth."

"We will," Twilight said. "There's no changing your mind is there?"

"Twilight, you and I both know that I don't want to leave, but we both know that it has to be done." Soren and Rainbow Dash went to the library's front door and looked back to their friends. Soren looked straight at Twilight Sparkle and said "Onwards and Upwards."

After waving goodbye to their friends one last time, Soren and Rainbow flew into the afternoon sky and across Equestria so Soren could try to escape all of the evils that lurks within the shadows of the land.

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“If it’s time to go, remember what you’re leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me.”

-The Eleventh Doctor

(End of arc. Next arc: The Crystal Empire)