The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido

VOLUME FINALE - Chapter 15 - The Reunion

Arc looks around the room.

“Here we are again.”

He rises from the bed and walks over to the balcony railing. The air is silent and calm. Arc sighs to himself sadly as he looks over them empty streets of the city below.

“I guess the experiment was a failure.”

A moment later Arc hears a small voice behind him.

“H-hello? Is anypony there?”

He turns around and calls out.

“I'm on the balcony, Silver Hammer.”

Silver Hammer cautiously walks out the door to join Arc.

“Is this... real?”

Arc thinks for a moment. “Yes and no. Yes it's real inasmuch that we both made it here. We can see this world, touch it, smell it even! But the city below isn't Canterlot.”

“But it's not real to the extent that just our consciousnesses were transferred here?”

“Right.”

Silver Hammer looks around. “And Twilight?”

Arc shakes his head. “It's just you and me. On the positive side, she's sleeping peacefully as all of us are. I was really hoping to bring you both here though!”

As if on cue a voice can be heard coming from the interior of the room!

“Arc?! Silver Hammer?! Where are you?!”

The pair rush back to the room! Twilight is still under the covers but her eyes dart around the room fearfully! As soon as she sees Arc, she throws off the covers and jumps into his arms! Twilight wraps her hooves around Arc’s neck, trembling and breathing heavily!

“This... this place... are we really okay here?!”

Arc nods. “Yes Twilight. There's nothing to be afraid of here. Princess Luna is fully in control of this realm.”

“I know that, but... this place is really creepy! I'm sorry for being such a filly about this!”

Silver Hammer walks forward. “It's okay Twilight. We all have things that frighten us.”

Arc strokes Twilight's mane as he continues to hold her. “Right. Now how about I carry you to see Princess Cadance? And don't worry. I won't tell anyone else about this.”

“Th-thank you.”

“So, where do you think the princesses are?”

“They're next door in Princess Luna's room, Silver Hammer. Follow me.”

Arc leads them out to the corridor. The air is silent as Arc knocks on the door before turning back to the pair.

“Ready?”

Silver Hammer smiles happily. “Yes!”

Arc opens the door to Princess Luna's room. She is lying on the floor along with Cadance. Both are clearly depressed.

“Princess Luna... Princess Cadance...? I brought you some company.”

Twilight looks over at Cadance on the floor as she jumps out of Arc's arms! “CADANCE!!!”

Cadance excitedly gets to her hooves and rushes over to her childhood friend! “TWILIGHT!!!”

The pair nuzzle each other affectionately as Silver Hammer walks quickly over to Luna.

“I'm so glad to see you again old friend! How are you doing?!”

Luna closes her eyes and smiles as a tear makes its way down her cheek. “I'm... doing much better after seeing you, my friend!”

She looks over to Arc happily.

“I don't know how you did this Arc, but thank you very much!”

Arc nods. “It was my pleasure!”

The five walk out to the balcony and sit down in a circle.

“So... what have the two been up to in here Cadance?”

Cadance sighs. “A lot of thinking about the past. Old memories of you and I mostly Twilight.

Luna nods. “The silence and peace here are maddening at times! Fortunately for us, Arc ordered some of the castle support staff to keep us company.”

Twilight looks confused. “He did what now?”

Cadance looks to Twilight. “A lot of what our bodies hear makes it to us here. They play records, read books aloud, tell us the latest news from around Canterlot... things like that!”

Luna looks to Arc. “That reminds me. Arc, would you please tell whomever is telling us jokes to stop with the puns! They're terrible!”

Cadance frowns. “Awww... I rather enjoyed that!”

Arc grins. “I can do that. But are you sure? I mean, with you two in comas, do you really think you could DREAM up something better?!”

Twilight smiles. “I don't know... maybe you should SLEEP on that decision Princess Luna!”

Silver Hammer nods to her oldest friend. “What's the problem my friend? At least you don't need to worry about DOZING off!”

Cadance nods happily! “Oh come on you three! Give it a REST!”

Everyone enjoys a good laugh except Luna who can only roll her eyes.

“I'm glad somepony is enjoying our predicament.”

Arc finishes chuckling at their punning. “On the up side, the two of you are already in a better mood than when we got here! How about some more good news? Twilight, why don't you tell them about what you and Silver Hammer learned about their condition?”

“Yes! We're finally making some progress!”

Twilight and Silver Hammer together tell the princesses about their journey into the Everfree Forest to learn about Sanguine Azolla.

Luna nods. “So you believe this plant, this Sanguine Azolla, is what caused all of this?”

“Yes! Steel Hammer and I remember its scent from... that day in the Everfree Forest so long ago.”

“Are you absolutely certain?!”

Silver Hammer nods fervently! “Yes. Neither of us could forget that smell!”

Cadance thinks for a moment. “I thought Aunt Celestia had that flower eradicated years ago. How exactly did somepony come across it?!”

Arc shrugs. “Not a clue.”

Luna nods soberly. “Better yet, how did they administer it?”

Twilight sighs. “Equally puzzling. According to the book we received from Zecora the pollen of the plant causes skin irritation and, in larger doses, confusion.”

Cadance turns to Twilight. “Could we have eaten it? Perhaps in a salad?”

Twilight shakes her head. “Very unlikely. Apparently, it tastes TERRIBLE! If what the book says is to be believed, you would have known immediately if you had put it in your mouth!”

Luna nods. “Now that I think about it, the last few days before our illness the food did taste a bit... off. Are you sure we couldn't have eaten it?”

“Even if you had, the effects would only have lasted a day at most! That and it doesn't put you into a coma! The only thing that makes sense is if this plant was somehow combined with another substance to mask the taste, increase its potency and alter its properties.”

Silver Hammer frowns. “That's quite a bit of trouble somepony went through to put the princesses in bed. Any ideas what this other mystery substance might have been, Twilight?”

“Not at this time, no. I'm hoping that seed Ember found was indeed from those flowers. If I can grow some of those Sanguine Azollas I can run some tests on them!”

Cadance smiles at them. “Well then, any leads on who is behind this?”

Silver Hammer looks uncomfortable. Um... kinda.

Luna appears to be losing her patience. “Kinda?! Either you do or you don't! Which is it?!”

Arc sighs. “I know of someone who had these flowers in their possession quite some time back.”

Cadance looks surprised! “How long ago are we talking?”

“The night before the Alicorn Amulet incident.”

Luna frowns. “Why didn't you say something?!”

“I had no idea what they were! It wasn't exactly relevant to my investigation at the time!”

Luna sighs. “Would that by any chance be your investigation into Captain Decimus?”

Arc draws back, surprised! “What?! You knew about that? How?!”

“Listen Arc. We... I, didn't exactly trust you completely back then. When the list of soldiers being transferred to your base was being written up, I saw to it a spy was planted.”

Twilight looks angrily to Princess Luna! “WHAT?! Hasn't Arc done enough to prove his Loyalty at this point?!”

Cadance nods. “Yes indeed Twilight! We told the spy to cease the operation some time ago!”

“Indeed. The last report he made to me was the night I stayed in your guest room, Arc. Now I'm really sorry about this, but I felt it was important to keep tabs on your movements at the time.”

Cadance looks to Arc, sheepishly. “Just to be fair Arc, you didn't tell us anything about your investigation into one of our oldest friends.”

Silver Hammer looks angrily at Cadance! “The Hero of Light doesn't HAVE to report to ANYPONY! Not even to the princesses! If he chose to do so, it would have been simply as a courtesy!”

Arc puts a hand on Silver Hammer's fetlock. “Easy there Silver Hammer. Thank you for the support, but I'll handle this.”

He looks at both princesses soberly.

“I'm sorry I couldn't tell you two about my suspicions. However, that's all they were at the time! Circumstantial at best! My plan was to build an airtight case against him before presenting my findings to you.”

Luna frowns. “Why didn't you come to us earlier?! We trust you Arc, really we do! I would have listened to whatever you had to say!”

“I was afraid that without real evidence you would have lost all confidence in me and my abilities to safeguard this land!”

Cadance smiles warmly. “Please Arc. You've done so much for this land... for US! We trust you enough to take much of what you say on faith alone if need be. Now I know the four of us need to talk about this matter more thoroughly after Luna and I wake up.”

Twilight looks to her friend, confused. “The four of you?”

Luna nods. “Cadance, myself, Arc and Captain Decimus. Just like Arc, we trust Captain Decimus and his motives. We'll get to the bottom of this.”

Cadance sighs. “Well Arc, it appears we're getting off topic again. Now I believe you were telling us that you know of somepony who had this plant. Who was it?”

Arc sighs. “I found the plant along with a plethora of botanical books and research notes in... Captain Decimus' personal quarters.”

Luna shakes her head. “I'm sorry, what?!”

“My squad and I broke into the captain's office and personal quarters to gather evidence against him. We also were on the lookout for a bogus confession that he forced Trixie to sign after beating her savagely!”

“Is that what she claims happened?”

Arc shakes his head. “No. That's what I SAW happen! That mental projector you gave me, remember?”

He puts a hand to his forehead and sighs.

“Sometimes I still see it in my dreams. Trixie being horribly... BRUTALLY beaten! Her battered and bruised hooves were barely able to hold her up long enough to sign the paper that would have sent her to Tartarus!”

Cadance shakes her head. “Arc, that's awful! Why would he DO that?!”

“I was never able to figure that out for sure. Now I know this may sound crass, but I believe he was doing it for FUN! The look on his face... it was, joyful! I stole the confession and replaced it with the one he presented to you that day.”

Luna looks to Arc angrily! “He will answer for these charges Arc! Of this I promise you! As soon as you return to the waking world, I want you to lock him up until I can give him a trial!”

Cadance looks to Luna. “I hate to say it, but I don't believe you and I would be impartial to his case. Somepony else should preside over this matter.”

Luna nods. “Very well. We'll send him to Baltimare to stand trial before High Justice Hawthorne.”

Arc looks back to the princesses. “That... could be a bit of a problem.”

Luna appears confused. “Why is that?”

“Judge Hawthorne is currently in Canterlot Dungeon. When I was in Baltimare recently I found that he was perverting justice by taking bribes and giving out bogus sentences!”

Silver Hammer appears surprised! “That's... very unlike him, Arc! Can I assume you have proof of this!”

Arc nods. “I have personal testimony along with several pieces of physical evidence. There was a LOT more of it until the Baltimare Courthouse burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances. I'll have Hard Hat and Plumb Bob look into it tomorrow. By then the coals should have cooled.”

Cadance shakes her head. “My goodness! How long has this been going on?!”

“From the sheer number of cases I would say quite some time. Although most of the files went up in smoke.”

“Anypony hurt?!”

Fortunately no, Princess Luna. Although the building is a total loss. The mayor is setting up a room in the Town Hall to act as a temporary courthouse. He also recommended a candidate to replace Judge Hawthorne. I believe Kibitz said she has an audience with me tomorrow morning.”

Cadance nods. “I'm glad to hear you're taking care of this for us Arc. Although Aunt Celestia usually handles appointments of such importance.”

“I understand that. However, the citizens of Baltimare need someone to hear their cases! They can't wait for us to bring Princess Celestia home!”

Luna nods. “Understandable. Please choose wisely though Arc. Once installed an official is very hard to remove!”

“I'll do my best. Now, going back to what you said earlier princess, about locking up Captain Decimus.”

“Yes. What about it?”

“I... um... can't really do that.”

“Why not?”

Arc sighs. “When I took over as Lord Regent, I ordered him to go on vacation! It was supposed to be a convenient way to get him out of Canterlot without making the guards hate me. I was concerned that if I had acted on my impulse to lock him up, it would have been seen as me trying to consolidate power!”

Twilight nods. “That argument is sound. Doing so would have made you look like a tyrant!”

Arc nods! “Right! I have Captain Shining Armor and Lieutenant Trixie searching for him now. With the current evidence against him I have all the probable cause I need to lock him up!”

“Thank you for being so vigilant in your duties Arc!”

Luna nods happily. “Indeed! We couldn't ask for more!”

Arc sighs. “I just wish I had taken him down earlier. Right now he could be ANYWHERE!”

Twilight looks up to Arc. “Don't beat yourself up over this Arc. None of us knew Captain Decimus was capable of such atrocities!”

“My brain knows that. But my heart tells me it's my job to know! An impossible task, I know. I will not be happy about this until Captain Decimus faces justice!”

Silver Hammer nods with conviction! “And he will Arc! We just have to be patient and give your captain a chance to do his job.”

Arc sighs. “Thanks Silver Hammer. And I'm sorry for not having better news for you two.”

Cadance nods. “It's fine Arc. We prefer the truth of the matter over sugarcoated lies any day!”

Luna sighs. “I'm sure you're doing the best you can! Please keep up the good work!”

The group is silent for a time. Cadance notices Twilight looking around nervously.

“Twilight? Is everything okay?”

“Sorry! I just find this place really... creepy.”

Luna sighs. “This is to be expected.”

“What do you mean, old friend?”

“I am the Princess of the Night. Twilight is the personal protege of my sister the Princess of the Day. We are two sides of the same coin. Night and day... Darkness and Light.”

Luna looks over to Twilight.

“If it's any consolation, my little pony, I too feel rather... unsettled in the Celestial Realm, as it is my polar opposite.”

Silver Hammer considers this for a moment. “So you could say that Twilight is a “Student of the Light” then?”

Cadance considers this. “While I never gave the matter of Twilight's alignment much though before, I guess that makes sense.”

Arc turns to her. “So... where do you fit in Cadance.”

“I'm not truly aligned with Light or Darkness myself. But being the Princess of Love does put me closer to the Light end of the spectrum.”

“That explains your feelings of this place when last we spoke.”

Silver Hammer looks over to her friend. “Princess Luna. Could you not... temporarily change your realm to be a bit more... balanced?”

Luna shakes her head. “I cannot change who I am, and what I embody. Long ago I made my peace with this matter. The Lunar Realm is, for better or worse, a reflection of my heart.”

She gestures toward the star filled sky.

“This is the closest to ‘neutral’ I can make my realm. I'm sorry if it frightens you all. But this is how the world looks like to me. Dark... foreboding... depressing... glass half empty if you will.”

Silver Hammer puts a hoof on Luna's fetlock. “I'm sorry my friend. I had no idea!”

“This is my life, and I live it as best I can. Although, I've always wondered...”

Luna's voice trails off as she contemplates something.

“I've always wondered if my sister is equally… saddened by her lot in life. Always in the spotlight, loved by all, having to constantly smile... being eternally positive. The thought of such things... sicken me.”

Luna turns her gaze to Arc

“Tell me. How do YOU feel in my realm?”

“It originally was a bit disconcerting. But now I see the beauty in the darkness... in this night sky.”

Cadance nods. “That's a bit surprising! As the Hero of Light, I had assumed you would feel... out of place here.”

Twilight looks to them. “I may have a theory on that.”

Arc smiles at her. “Really? Let's hear it!”

“Now this is only my personal opinion, but... could it be due to your race Arc?”

“I'm sorry, but I don't understand.”

“Let me put it this way. If you were aligned with the Light you would be constantly cheerful, desiring harmony above all, doing whatever it took to maintain the peace, and wanting only to bring happiness to others.”

Cadance appears confused. “But that's what he is! Are you saying there is more to it than that?”

Luna nods. “There is. If Arc were to be aligned with the Darkness he would be constantly nagged by negativity, desiring chaos and death, not above using violence to get what he wants and not caring who gets hurt in the process.”

Silver Hammer: looks up to her friend, confused. “I don't understand. How do you know all of this Princess Luna?”

“Because... those things I just listed... I struggle with them myself on a daily basis! A thousand years ago I gave in to the Darkness and became Nightmare Moon! Believe me... the struggle, even today, is very real! But I'm sorry for interrupting you Twilight. Please continue.”

“Now I might very well be completely wrong on this, but could it be that you embody both Darkness AND Light?”

Cadance shakes her head. “That's not possible! Nopony could embody polar opposites!”

Silver Hammer nods respectfully. “You might be right about that Princess Cadance. But please remember... Arc is not a pony.”

Twilight nods. “Exactly! Let's look at this from the Light side. Arc is Kind, compassionate, brave, Loyal, and trustworthy!”

“That is most certainly true. Nopony can deny that.”

“I agree Cadance! But now let's look at it from the side of Darkness. On numerous occasions Arc has used violence to get what he wants!”

Silver Hammer frowns! “WHAT?! But...”

“It's true Silver Hammer.”

“It is?”

Arc nods. “Yes. The Ursa Minor, Ember, the Marquis, Buffalo Bull, Tempest, Trixie... and that's just off the top of my head! I met ALL of them with a high degree of violence!”

“I… I'm sure they left you no choice Arc!”

Arc nods. “I suppose but...”

Twilight interrupts. “Agreed. Now if your personality was nothing but Light you might refuse to raise a weapon even to protect others!”

Cadance nods. “Possibly.”

“But if Arc's personality was of Darkness, he would have left a bloody trail through Equestria to get what he wanted!”

Luna frowns. “To what end, Twilight?”

“I guess what I'm trying to say is that by keeping his Light and Dark sides in balance, he is able to accomplish things neither could alone!”

Twilight looks to Luna.

“Princess Luna, you must have at least SOME Light in you! If not, you would have no reason to fight against your darker impulses! Similarly, Princess Celestia must also have at least SOME Darkness in her to be willing to banish you to the moon for 1,000 years!

“Maybe you're right Twilight. When Aunt Celestia comes back I would like to hear her thoughts on these matters.”

Silver Hammer looks to Arc and smiles. “I guess were really lucky you're so good and keeping yourself in check, huh Arc?”

Arc sighs and looks down.

“Everyone... I have a confession to make.”

Luna appears confused. “Oh?”

“This is really hard for me to say, but...”

Arc looks up at all assembled.

“...I'm not the perfect defender of justice you think I am.”

Silver Hammer shakes her head is disagreement. “But, over and over again we've seen you fight for what's right!”

“I... I have, but... I felt it during my battle with Tempest at the New Beginnings Orphanage.”

Cadance smiles at him. “You forget Arc, we saw the whole thing through your eyes... literally!”

“That you did. But not through my mind! At that moment... when I saw Derpy and Dinky lying on the ground motionless... something inside me snapped!”

Arc looks back down at his hands in his lap.

“For the first time in my life I was truly enraged! I honestly wanted to kill Tempest after everything she had done! To the orphans, to Coco Pommel, to Dinky, and lastly to Derpy! I... at that point... all I could think of was how I wanted to cut her up into little pieces... and watch her die painfully as Derpy just had!”

He sighs and looks at Silver Hammer>

“Silver Hammer... I'm sorry for not being the person you thought I was when you asked me to... you know...”

Silver Hammer puts a hoof on Arc's hand. “Listen to me Arc. Do you think you're the first to want to kill somepony? My husband and I aren't exactly proud of everything we did in the past. Yes, we have regrets. Yes, we made mistakes. And yes... we caused others... pain.”

Cadance nods. “The fact that you now feel sadness and shame for your mistakes isn't a sign of weakness, Arc. It's a sign that there's still good in your heart! Remember your mistakes! Learn from them! But never... ever... allow yourself to be consumed by them!”

Luna hangs her head. “Cadance is right. I did that once. It ended... very badly.”

Silver Hammer puts her other hoof on Luna's fetlock. “None of us are perfect, my friend.”

Twilight smiles. “That's something we ponies share with humans. The ability to make mistakes... and to learn from them.”

Arc nods. “Thanks Twilight. I'll remember that.”

The group is silent for a time. Suddenly Arc holds his head as if in pain! Twilight looks over at her friend, fearfully!

“Arc! What's wrong?!”

Luna turns to Arc. “It's okay Twilight! Arc, you know what to do!”

A few moments later Arc vanishes from sight. Silver Hammer looks to Princess Luna

“What happened?!”

Cadance smiles. “Not to worry. Something just woke him up. He'll be back when he falls asleep again.”

Twilight sighs. “That's a relief!”

Meanwhile, back in Arc's room, Sandstorm Mirage is gently nudging Arc in an effort to rouse him without waking Twilight or Silver Hammer. Arc opens his eyes.

“Huh? What?”

Sandstorm Mirage blushes as he looks at the two mares in bed with Arc. “S-sorry to interrupt you while your... um... busy sir.”

“This is part of an experiment, sergeant! Okay, now that I think about it, that statement actually makes this look worse. You know what, forget you saw anything and just tell me what's wrong.”

“Yes sir. Captain Shining Armor has discovered that Judge Hawthorne has escaped from the dungeon!”

“What?!”

“That's all we know sir. The captain wanted me to inform you of this development. I'm sorry I had to wake you.”

Arc sighs. “It’s fine. Tell him that I want Judge Hawthorne back in his cell as soon as possible! But don't take any of our forces away from their task of locating Captain Decimus. He's the real priority here.”

Sandstorm Mirage backs away a bit uncomfortably at the sight before him. “Y-yes sir! I'll do as you say and let you get back to your... uh... experiment.”

He leaves the room quickly and Arc lies back down. Arc looks at the mares lying in his bed.

“I guess this does look a bit... wrong. Oh well... what's done is done.”

Arc closes his eyes and in a few minutes is fast asleep, meanwhile...

“Well, on a more positive note, I've some news on that item you sent me Cadance.”

Cadance looks to her friend, confused. “Item?”

Twilight nods. “Yes. The Delivery Stallion said it was lost in the mail for about a week though.”

Cadance shakes her head. “I'm sorry Twilight, but I have no memory of sending you anything.”

“I understand. You weren't exactly yourself back then. Your note just told me to study it while keeping it secret and keeping it safe. I'm sorry for telling them, but Spike and Auriel were there when I opened the package.”

Luna frowns. “What exactly was it?”

Twilight looks over at Cadance. She nods.

“It was a strange piece of fruit that some explorers found in a faraway land. I've been too busy researching your case to study it personally mind you. However, Auriel has found that it has some rather interesting magical facets to it.”

“I… I sent you a magical fruit?”

“Yes. Her early experiments show that the fruit contains magical essence of what she's tentatively calling... Love Magic.”

Cadance’s eyes grow wide! “Fascinating! I wish I could remember where this fruit came from!”

“We're trying to grow one in my lab. Hopefully it's a shrub or vine of some kind, and not a huge tree!”

Luna chuckles at the thought. “A tree within a tree. Quite the concept.”

Cadance nods. “Well, tell her to keep at it then. If I felt it this important at the time there must have been a good reason.”

“I will!”

Arc re-enters the room. He quickly walks over to the group and again sits down.

“Sorry about that. My sergeant woke me up to tell me that Judge Hawthorne has escaped from Canterlot Dungeon.”

Luna’s eyes grow wide! “What?! How?”

“No idea. Captain Shining Armor is investigating the matter. Hopefully by morning we'll know more.”

He sighs.

“This is just great. I already have a full day ahead of me without escaped prisoners.”

Cadance smiles at Arc. “Want to talk about it?”

“First I have a meeting with a potential replacement for Judge Hawthorne. That's the easy part. Next I was planning on flying to Yakyakistan to see Prince Rutherford. With any luck I can talk him out of going to war with Equestria!”

Luna nods. “Quite the lofty goal. He is quite stubborn.”

“So I've been told. I'm planning on spending the rest of the day there if need be. Really don't have time to deal with the judge's flight.”

“I'm sure my brother will find him for you Arc! He's quite clever!”

Silver Hammer turns to him. “Arc, you need to have faith in those around you. As capable as you are, you cannot hope to accomplish everything by yourself!”

Luna nods. “Delegation of duties is key for any leader.”

“I'll try to keep that in mind.”

“Any luck on locating Aunt Celestia?”

Arc sighs. “I haven't had time to speak to Sunburst about that lately as we've both been so busy.”

Twilight looks to Princess Luna. “Even if we did locate her, how do we get there to rescue her?”

Luna looks up. “After my return to Equestria, my sister asked for my help in opening the Royal Armory, as she had an old tome to deposit.”

Silver Hammer looks confused. “Books can be dangerous?”

Cadance nods. “Not so much the book itself, but the knowledge inside can be.”

“Indeed. She put the book on a shelf and we left. I remember her sighing with relief as the door again closed. When I asked what she was so worried about, she informed me that the book in question was actually about how to accomplish inter-dimensional travel.”

Twilight smiles! “Really?!”

Luna nods. “Yes. The knowledge contained within should allow somepony to open a portal to Earth.”

“Aunt Celestia once told me her former teacher and friend Star-swirl the Bearded wrote the book himself! Apparently, he created the Portal Mirror with that knowledge. Although its original purpose has been lost to the sands of time.”

Twilight nods. “I was wondering where that mirror came from! It appeared positively ancient!”

Luna looks to Twilight. “Is it still in your basement?

“Yes. I've completed my research on the plant samples collected from Earth. After I accidentally pulled Arc through, I was too afraid to use it again! I just hope my notes are enough to please Princess Celestia!”

Cadance sighs. “Twilight. I have to tell you something.”

“Cadance? What is it?”

“My aunt didn't send you that assignment... Luna and I did.”

“I thought the hoof-writing looked a bit off. But why?”

Luna looks to Twilight, soberly. “My sister was missing, and I knew it was only a matter of time before you figured out what really happened. The assignment was an effort to... keep you occupied.”

Twilight looks to her angrily! “WHAT?! I should...!”

As Twilight moves to stand Arc quickly puts a hand on her shoulder! She looks at him as he slowly shakes his head. Remembering his earlier talk with her Twilight slowly sits back down and composes herself.

“I... understand.”

Luna nods. “I am truly sorry for deceiving you, my little pony. This was not something we did on a whim mind you!”

Twilight gives them a small smile. “It was an... interesting project to say the least.”

“Princess Luna. Is there any way for us to reverse the flow to create a portal BACK to Earth? Twilight tried to send me back to Earth with the Crystal Mirror as you call it. But it appears the magic only allows one-way travel.”

“It may be possible to do so, but only the knowledge contained in that tome will tell us for sure. As soon as we are able, Cadance and I will open the Royal Armory and give you the book Arc.”

“Thank you. If we all put our heads together, I'm sure we'll find a way!”

Luna nods. "I certainly hope so Arc. My sister's life hangs in the balance!”

“Don't worry. As soon as we get that book, I'll use the knowledge contained within to go back to Earth along with my squad.”

Silver Hammer looks to Arc. “Hopefully your home is still in one piece.”

Arc shrugs. “Don't worry, I'll fix it up. From there I'm planning to use it as our base of operations for rescuing Princess Celestia. This will be, without a doubt, the most carefully planned and executed mission in the history of Equestria!”

Cadance nods. “Thank you for taking this so seriously Arc. We know you won't let us down.”

“I'll do my best not to disappoint. Well, we should probably be going now. I need to check in with Shining Armor and see if he's learned anything.”

Silver Hammer stands up. “That and it should be time to raise the sun soon Arc.”

Twilight looks over to Arc pleadingly! “Can't we stay just a little longer?!”

Cadance sighs. “I wish you could stay as well Twilight. But Arc is right. It's probably time for all of you to go.”

Twilight jumps up to Cadance and gives her a hug. “Cadance... I... I don't want to leave you here!”

“Nor do I want you to leave, Twilight. But don't you worry about me! I'll be okay here with Luna! You just focus on figuring out this enigma!”

Twilight nods sadly as Luna opens an exit portal for them. “I will Cadance! You can count on me!”

Silver Hammer gives Luna a hug. “It was good to see you again old friend. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will. Don't worry about me. Arc and the others will figure this out. I'm sure of it.”

Silver Hammer and Twilight enter the portal together as Arc turns to follow them.

“Arc?”

He turns back to Cadance. “Yes?”

No matter what happens to us… please… take care of Twilight for me, will you?”

“I will. See you both soon!”

Arc enters the portal and it closes behind him. Cadance and Luna are again alone. Luna looks to Cadance.

“I'm sure Twilight will be fine without Arc watching her.”

Cadance sighs. “I know. It's just... in my mind I still see her as the little filly I used to foalsit.”

“Time waits for no pony, Cadance.”

“I know. But do you really think he can find a way to get us out of here?”

Luna nods. “If anypony can, he will! But even if he doesn't, I'm sure Equestria will flourish under his leadership!”

Cadance sighs and nods. “I guess it's like you said before Luna. Arc really is Equestria's best hope right now.”

“...and ours...”

Comments

[Wilddog88]

Not bad. I think I have figured out a way you can get Sunset Shimmer in on the action. I’ll pm it to you.

[Kamahido]

9767472
Thanks. I have a plot for her somewhat figured out. Just need to do some more brainstorming before I'm able to write it up.

On a related note, my artist freelancer is working on a drawing of Auriel, Templar Derpy and Special Forces Tempest.

[Kamahido]

9768892
Derpy is a very understanding mare. She saw that what Twilight did was a mistake, as the circumstantial evidence present at the time was overwhelming. To say nothing for Twilight's remorse along with her efforts to rectify her own actions.

[KiTarn]

Luna nods. I” certainly hope so Arc. My sister's life hangs in the balance!”

The I jumped ahead of the " :3

[Kamahido]

10984585
Thank you. I've fixed it now.