Caverns & Cutie Marks: Our House Now

by TheColtTrio

Chapter 56: So Long and Thanks For All the Fish (Say Goodnight, Gracie) [Exit Stage Left] {And Once Again, the World is Spinning in Greased Grooves}

“I don’t suppose you’ve given this any thought, have you?” Purple Heart asked as they walked into their designated conference chamber. He quirked his brow at the gold plaque on the door, nearly missing Twilight’s response in favor of glaring at ‘A113’ engraved in the plate. Twilight rolled her eyes and cuffed the back of his head. The purple earth pony looked at her.

“Huh?”

“Given what any thought?” she repeated.

“What to do about Bael,” replied Purple. He slid one of the chairs placed at the long conference table out and sprawled into it, tucking his forelegs behind his head. “Honestly, I haven’t really given him much thought since you managed to separate us. I was too busy worrying about outsmarting these so that I didn’t get curb stomped by EvilAU!Celestia.” He waved his forehooves airily, eyeing the cuffs with obvious disgust. Twilight ignored the small display of drama and calmly slid into a seat of her own across from him.

“I hardly consider Sol Eater to be the evil version of Celestia,” Twilight said. “Daybreaker is a better portrayal of a Celestia with inverse motives.”

Purple Heart blinked. “Who?”

Twilight blinked. “You don’t know who Daybreaker is?”

“Besides her being your fanon evil Celestia, no,” he answered.

Twilight scowled. “Daybreaker isn’t ‘fanon’, whatever that means. She was a manifested fear of Starlight’s when she went to help Princess Celestia and Princess Luna with a Friendship Trial. The ‘Dark’ version of Celestia, if you will, if Celestia and Luna’s roles were reversed.”

Purple Heart hummed as he leaned back in his seat. “Getting real Dark Soulsian Berserk vibes from that. Not often the ‘Light’ is evil, so to speak.”

Shaking her head in irritation, Twilight glared at the purple earth pony. “Considering we exist as a broadcasted show in your world, how can you not know about Daybreaker?” she demanded. “It happened before you accessed the Equestria Girls World. Surely you must have caught up to that point?”

“Nope.” Purple Heart shrugged. “Or if I did, can’t remember.”

The purple alicorn ground her teeth and swivelled her seat to face away from the irksome colt. Hopefully, Sunset would arrive shortly.

Purple Heart was examining the cuffs on his forehooves when he felt a slight electrical charge flit through the air, setting his mane stiff with static electricity. With a fizz of magic, Sunset and Bael appeared on the colt’s side of the table. Sunset promptly leapt over the table to where Twilight sat, her expression clearly one of distaste as she looked back at Bael. The being in question was warping almost constantly between his pony appearance that was reminiscent of a palette swapped Purple Heart and his original bipedal, two-legged grey form.

“Bael,” Twilight said, “please pick a form. It’s sickening watching you constantly switch.”

The being blinked once and stopped. Right in between transformations.

“That,” Sunset grimaced, “is painful to look at.”

“Bael,” Twilight sighed, rubbing her temple, “one or the other. You can’t be both.”

Bael folded his arms over his chest and stuck out his tongue. “I happen to like this,” he groused.

“I’m pretty sure Twilight will blast you if you don’t finish one way or the other,” Purple drawled, eyeing the drama with a bemused smirk. “The last time someone came at Twilight like that, she Friendship Laser’d him.”

“Bollocks,” Bael swore, shifting completely to his humanoid form. “You’re no fun.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow and cleared her throat as Bael pulled out a chair and sat. “So, do you know why you’re here?”

“‘Cos you don’t know what you’re gonna do with me and you three are gonna talk about it without asking my input?” Bael offered.

“Just about,” Sunset growled. Twilight placed a restraining hoof on the unicorn and shook her head.

“I’m hoping we can find something for you to do that will keep you occupied and allow you to use your abilities to help Equestria or Roania,” she said.

Bael arched an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest again. “Community service, huh? Sounds reasonable...”

Silence settled on the table as Bael and Purple Heart nodded repeatedly. Twilight and Sunset stared at the pair for a good few seconds and their confusion just grew.

“Well?” Twilight prompted, trying to contain her exasperation. “What do you want to do?”

Bael just shrugged. “I unno. Never really gave it much thought. Remember, I was supposed to be his rival.” He jerked his head at Purple Heart. “Once that was over with, I just floated around that other world enjoying peace and quiet. Until I got bored.”

“Which led you to possessing Heart Burn,” Sunset said.

“Eeyup.”

“Well, possessing ponies is obviously off the table,” Twilight said.

“Ya think?” muttered Purple.

“What about hobbies?” Twilight suggested, ignoring Purple again. Bael snorted.

“You think I had time for hobbies?” he chortled. “That’s cute. Besides, using a hobby as an occupation? Best way to get sick of that hobby.”

“What about acting?” Twilight offered.

Both Bael and Purple looked at her silently, faces deadpan.

“Iiiiis that a no?” Sunset asked.

“You do remember the last time we were allowed near a theater, right?” Bael asked the alicorn.

“You can disguise yourself,” Twilight pointed out.

Bael’s eyes widened in faux surprise. “I can?! Since when?!” He turned to Purple Heart. “Did you know I could disguise myself?!”

Purple Heart’s eyes were wide as he went along with the bit and shook his head. “I didn’t!” he cried, quickly cycling through his series of personas; Purple Patches, Baelhart, then Beekler before ending on his original form. “Incredible! How did Twilight know that about you and you didn’t?!”

“I unno!” replied Bael. “Lemme try!” He stood from his seat, ignoring Twilight and Sunset looking at him with clear disapproval, and promptly flexed his muscles, grunting with exertion. A moment passed and he relaxed, shrugging at the two mares. “Pretty sure if I tried any harder, I’d pull something.”

“How come you can’t disguise yourself?” Twilight growled.

Purple Heart raised a hoof. “I’m the one who brought the actor skillset in the magical mixup,” he answered. “He didn’t.” He nodded at Bael. “Next question.”

Sunset and Twilight shared a look. “Uhhhh-”

“Wait, dumb idea,” Purple Heart interuptted. He looked at Bael. “What about pulling a Discord?”

Bael arched an eyebrow. “In what context? Discord does a lot of things and most of them can be called ‘pulling a Discord’.”

“You want peace and quiet, right?” Purple asked. Bael nodded slowly. “So why don’t they just have you on ‘On Call’ for the next time some young heroes need a BBEG to ease them into the world-saving business?”

“BBEG?” Sunset asked.

“Big Bad Evil Git,” the colt supplied promptly. “Make it seem like an ‘oh no, the world ending evil Bael is coming to destroy Roania stroke Equestria! Save us, chibi Mane Six’ or whatever they’re called. Then, you hit them with the Aizawa Gambit. ‘It was a logical ruse to force you into giving your best’. Then you go back to some place warm with a beach to sip drinks with little umbrellas in them!”

He looked at the blank expressions on the faces of his audience and winced. “Okay, maybe not the best of ideas,” he admitted.

“But funny,” Bael allowed, his face thoughtful as he tapped the table with a finger. “I have to admit, I don’t altogether hate the idea. I might even go so far as to say that I’d be happy to take on such a role, but for a few caveats in my favour.”

“I don’t see why with all the trouble you’ve caused,” Twilight grumbled. Purple Heart’s eyes flashed and he stood abruptly, his chair crashing violently against the stone wall behind him. Twilight, Sunset, and Bael stared at him in surprise and no small amount of wariness as several strings undulated hypnotically behind the purple colt’s shoulders.

“You consider yourself a learned pony, don’t you, Twilight?” Purple Heart rumbled.

The purple alicorn nodded slowly.

“How did you find yourself to possess such knowledge amongst your fellow ponies?”

“...I read books.”

“And?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed slightly. “And what?”

“And if you didn’t understand a subject, what would you do?”

“I’d find another book to explain it to me.”

Purple Heart’s eyes narrowed to minute chips of cobalt. “And if that failed you?” he asked.

Twilight’s frown deepened. “I’d ask Celestia.”

“Exactly.”

Twilight and Sunset blinked. “Exactly?” they chorused.

“Ooooh, I get it,” Bael mused, smirking lazily. The two mares looked at the reclined biped.

“Get what?” Sunset inquired.

“Considering your background, I’d have figured you’d understand the line of questioning from Our Resident Bruise,” Bael replied, dodging the question glibly.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Purple Heart uttered, “I’m about to reaffirm your distaste with my perspective on things.” Twilight blinked confusedly.

“Huh?”

“If you had it your way,” Purple Heart continued. “how would life in Equestria be?”

“Peaceful and safe for all ponies to pursue their dreams,” the Alicorn Princess responded immediately.

“For all time?”

“Yes.”

“What happens when you and your friends are no longer there to ensure such a lifestyle?”

Twilight stared. Sunset looked worriedly between the two ponies as the colt’s question hung in the air. It was clear that Twilight wasn’t going to speak immediately, so Purple Heart continued.

“Like it or not, Princess, but eventually, the Elements of Harmony won’t be around to keep the peace and fight off the latest BBEG to save Equestria. Given your status as an Alicorn, I wouldn’t be surprised if you linger far longer than your friends ever could. What happens then? If you are the sole ruler of Equestria one day, will you have the time to go out and protect your country from the latest danger seeking to wreck the balance?”

“I don’t appreciate you applying your rationale to my world!” Twilight hissed.

“Just because you don’t like my thinking doesn’t mean I can’t think it,” retorted Purple Heart. “I have a distressing habit of following a line of thought that isn’t always wholly optimistic. Light or Wits can certainly vouch for that. Besides, you have to admit the likelihood of some ill-intentioned being biding their time until only you linger in a world where all your magic and beliefs are utterly spent to make a bid for power.

“So think hard when you consider denying a teacher proper benefits and remuneration when they consider the idea of mentoring the next guardians of your Peace.”

* * *

“Are you sure you wanna be here for this?” Wits stood at the doorway to an abandoned part of the castle. “Might bring back some bad memories?”

Amber Glitter rolled her eyes. “I’m a queen now, Wits End. Not some princess who needs saving.”

“It’s not about saving,” Wits replied. “It’s about not putting my friends in situations that hurt them.”

After a moment, Amber’s expression softened. “You still see us as friends?”

“You don’t?”

“...I do. I can handle this, Wits.”

Wits shot her a smirk. “As you say, your highness.” The stallion pushed the door open, revealing the old dusty quarters of Roania’s former chancellor.

“Took you two long enough,” Discord huffed, looking over his claws. “I could’ve been inventing new ways of getting in trouble.”

“Then it’s a good thing we interrupted you.” Wits replied.

Discord paused. “Hmm. Maybe you’re right. What do you even want in this… filthy place?”

“Something I thought on the long flight back from the Frozen North.” Wits shot a glance back at Amber. When he got a nod from her, he turned back to Discord. “You know that Sunset brought those three here, right?”

“Of course,” Discord snorted. “I was there when Twilight gave the whole ‘own up to your actions’ speech.”

Wits smirked. “Yeah, it was nice seeing someone else get that one for once.”

“Somepony,” Amber corrected.

Wits and Discord stared at her for a few seconds.

The Queen of Roania coughed lightly. “Sorry. I forgot.”

“Saaright,” Wits said. He turned back to Discord. “I’m assuming you know which one I want you to bring here.”

“Is it the paladin?” Discord gave a wince at the look Wits the stallion shot his way. “Fine, fine.” The Draconequus snapped his talons.

With a small popping noise of displaced air, Holdfast appeared. “Hm,” he mused, looking around the room at everything except the assembled beings. “I would say that it’s good to be back, but it seems my quarters have been left untouched for long enough to develop…” he ran a hoof along his old desk and sniffed, “let’s be charitable and call it ‘personality’.”

“You’re lucky I brought you here with your physical body,” Discord grumbled. “I could’ve just summoned your little orb and stuck you in a bottle again.”

“Ah ah!” Holdfast shook a hoof at the mismatched creature. “Reformed. Both you and I, as I recall.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re not a pain in my-”

“Ahem.” Wits tapped a bare piece of floor with his hoof. “You’re jumping to the end.”

Holdfast looked back, his gaze skipping over Wits entirely to land on Amber Glitter. “Ah, princess.” He paused, then smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “My apologies, your majesty.”

“Chancellor.” Amber’s tone was icy. She did not smile back. “My apologies, ex-chancellor.”

Any further comments from the Queen were held back by a hoof on her shoulder. “Amber already knows the story,” Wits said. “She’s here as a witness.”

“As a witness, hmm?” Holdfast finally looked at all three entities in turn. “So,” he said eventually, “it’s to be judge, jury, and executioner, is it?”

A wide smile spread over Wits’ face, “I missed pulling things over on you, Holdfast.”

Holdfast frowned. “And I miss when we were in Twilight’s castle and I beat you with a dictionary.”

“First of all, it was an encyclopedia. Secondly, this isn’t a trial.” Wits dusted off a chair and took a seat, offering another one to Amber. “It’s counseling.”

Holdfast stared at Wits in silence for a good, long time. “Counseling,” he eventually said flatly. “For whom?”

“Well, I worked through my issues by trying to conquer the world.” Wits dusted off his hooves and held them out, as if that were proof of his self-improvement. “But there’s still some issues to be resolved. See, we’ve got everything we need here for a good old-fashioned redemption finisher.”

“Weren’t you paying attention?” Holdfast sneered. “I said I’m reformed.”

“No no no no no.” Wits shook his head. “You’re just on the good guys’ side. I did a lot of thinking about the difference. See, redemption means that you’ve completed part of your character arc. You just got re-balanced to the other team.”

Discord raised an eyebrow so high it raised off of his face. “What’re you recommending?”

Wits pointed to the three other members in the room. “Y'all figure your Sugar Honey Iced Tea out. In this room. And no-one leaves until you’re copacetic.”

The unicorn wasn’t sure which of the three entities were louder in their objections, but their voices together managed to blow the dust off of the tables.

“You never mentioned this part!” Amber shouted. “What are you trying here, Wits?”

“Yeah, what’re you trying to pull?” Discord’s neck was stretched far enough to get right in Wits’ face. “I oughta turn you into a squirrel and leave you with the Hydra!”

“I absolutely refuse,” Holdfast intoned, his voice hard. “I have nothing to say to either of these two, and I have no interest in listening to their drivel.”

“Drivel?” Amber turned on the former chancellor. “I am your Queen! My ‘drivel’ determines the fate of Roania!”

“Your ‘drivel’ is just that,” Holdfast bit out. “You’re a child playing at being Queen, and the greatest challenge you ever faced was when I conquered your little capital.”

“You conquered it?” Discord scoffed loudly. “You and your little tin cans got lucky that I didn’t bump the difficulty back up before you got going! Those things never would’ve gotten off the ground if I hadn’t been-”

“Hadn’t been utterly defeated by the three problems you caused? Hah!” Holdfast leveled his glare at Discord. “You lost to your own creations. Some god you are.”

“I brought you into this world,” Discord shot back, “and I swear to me, I will take you out of it!”

“And I wonder why you haven’t yet,” Holdfast hissed. “You took my body from me and forced me to inhabit that… two-legged mockery of myself. You took my autonomy away and made me act only on your whims. By all the dead and incompitent gods, you took my very past away from me!” The snow-white stallion was silent for a moment, then continued. “You made me who I am, you pathetic excuse for a deity, and then you took that and twisted it when it no longer served you. Why?”

Discord didn’t respond. He just looked down at the pony in front of him. “I don’t have an answer for that,” he said eventually.

“Because I don’t deserve one?” Holdfast growled.

“Because there isn’t one that doesn’t make me seem like a totally insensitive jerk,” Discord snapped back. “It was a dumb decision, and I shouldn’t have done it. But despite everything else I can do, I can’t undo that. Alright?”

Silence settled over the room like the dust had. After a few seconds, Wits End shot a glance at Amber. “I mean, you can get pretty close.”

Both Holdfast and Discord turned towards him. “What do you mean?” Holdfast asked.

“Well… You existed in this world before, and you had good intentions back then.” Wits folded one hindleg over the other. “All Discord did was twist some knobs in your head and stick some of my knowledge of storytelling and villainy in there. Why not just reset that?”

“You mean wipe my memory,” Holdfast said flatly.

“What, like some sort of droid? No, I mean Discord picks up his mess. Set your alignment back to Lawful Neutral and pull out all the extra gunk.”

Discord shook his head. “Look, even if I could do that-”

“Oh, don’t give me that.” Wits shot a glare at the Draconequus. “Are you telling me you can’t do the same thing you did, but in reverse?”

“The knowledge I took from you has to go somewhere,” Discord finished. “Someone’s gotta have the knowledge of how to destroy a nation, and live with that.”

Wits stared at Discord for a good long beat. “At some point,” he said, “you’ll put it together.”

Discord blinked. Then he blinked again. “I got it from you.”

“You got it from me.”

“I can just put that knowledge back in your brain.”

“And all that’ll happen is I’ll know it twice.”

“And what about me?” Holdfast said. “I go back to plotting to dethrone an unjust king?”

“We don’t have any of those,” Amber said softly. “But… There is a queen who could use an advisor on how not to make the mistakes her family made.”

Both Holdfast and Discord slowly turned to Amber Glitter, then back to Wits. “You planned this.” Discord’s voice wasn’t so much a question as an awed statement.

“I also already tried to destabilize and destroy a nation,” Wits said plainly. “So if anything, Holdfast’s information is outdated.”

“Why the argument, then?” Holdfast asked.

“Like I said.” Wits shrugged. “Get it out in the open. Plus, I knew Discord would need a little coaxing to figure it out. Special thanks to my guest star Amber for setting the stage.”

Amber flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I’ve wanted to scream at somepony like that ever since I took the throne.”

“Hold on.” Holdfast held up a hoof. “So, I stop being villainous, and I just get accepted back into the castle? Just like that?”

“That’s friendship.” Wits leaned back in the chair, tipping it up on two legs. “And also magic. I’ve heard there’s a children’s show about that.”

Holdfast was silent. “Perhaps I was… too harsh on you, Wits End.”

“I also did this specifically to irritate you one last time, and not give you the chance to retaliate.”

“I take it back, I was exactly as harsh on you as I should have been.” The barest hint of a genuine smile played at the corners of Holdfast’s mouth. “So, if I may channel you for one moment… How do we do this thing?”

* * *

Light Patch quietly kicked the door close behind him as he carried the bag into the room. He set it down with the clink of glass knocking into others of similar make. He sat down at the open spot at the table. He looked between the three older stallions, similar but distinct in subtle ways. Slight differences in weight and muscle tone, mane and tail lengths, and even different color wise. A small smile formed on Light Patch’s face as he realized it was like having three toys, one original and two knock offs, but all three came in the same bland boxes.

Three sets of eyes turned to the newly returned arrival, and then at the bag he’d sat on the table. “You three don’t want to know how many favors I now owe Pinkie Pie to get that booze. Rarity was nice enough to only require getting to kick me once for old time’s sake.”

“I know enough about my world’s Pinkie Pie to know how terrifying that statement is,” one of the stallions replied as he reached across the table to pull out the two bottles as Light Patch pulled the glasses out.

“I believe the saying is ‘no good deed goes unpunished’,” Officer Duty replied by filling his glass with an amber liquid.

“I’ve always been fond of the saying ‘the road to tartarus is paved with good intentions’,” said Paladin Just.

“In the monastery, the saying would be ‘switching the coin’s face’,” Just Duty said, filling his glass before dropping a coin in. As it sank, it revolved around. One side showed scales whereas the other showed a fire framed by horns.

Light Patch poured barely a taste of one of the bottles into his glass. “I can’t think of any from my home that haven’t already been said,” he admitted. He blinked thoughtfully. “Actually… best I can think of is ‘stealing the sin’.”

Just Duty gave a short laugh. “Oddly fitting that is what you can remember, considering what I’ve heard of your recent exploits, hero.” He punctuated his statement with a sip of his drink, his eyes on the shifting pegasus across from him.

“How did you learn of that?”

“I had a chance to talk to the princesses of the world you rampaged across.”

“It was hardly a rampage,” Light Patch countered. He drank, having worked up the courage to taste what he’d poured for himself. “More of a mosh pit really.” His words were muffled due to speaking into his glass.

“It was fairly localised,” Paladin Just added in with a sip of his own drink before looking directly at the pegasus. “Though it did draw in quite a large chunk of bandits from across the continent. Several of Equestria’s neighbours thought it was actually a Royal Guard operation. Holdfast, our Holdfast, has been playing you up as the military genius behind it. At least two countries wish to give you a parade should you ever visit.” The three Just Duty’s smiles grew as the pegasus worked his way through his emotions.

“Well... I suppose I should welcome you to the club officially then.” Just Duty said, raising his glass.

“What club?” Officer Duty asked.

“Those traveling a road paved with good intentions.”

“Ah, yeah... In that case, I guess I’m there too. Possessed by a hydra because I was investigating some strange circumstances,” Officer Duty realized. He raised his glass to join the one with Just Duty which was joined shortly after by Paladin Just’s glass as well. The three looked at him.

“Dumb decision born of youth. I sealed an evil being in me. I went to sleep one night and woke up three months later in the hospital with an irate princess waiting for me,” Paladin Just explained, a sardonic smile gracing his face.

Light Patch looked between the three and, after tipping a little of the other bottle into his glass, he reluctantly raised his as well. The four downed their drinks. Only the grey pegasus reacted to the taste of his.

The four sat in the silence of their respective thoughts. Just Duty looked at the grey pegasus directly across from him. “You can hardly be blamed for every one of your actions.”

“Knowing that and actually applying that to my guilt is...” Light Patch trailed off looking for the right words.

“Two separate things?” Officer Duty supplied. “I had some time sitting in Miss Twilight’s castle thinking about what happened to me during the whole thing with the hydra. It was hard to separate what were actually my choices and which were ones the hydra drove me towards.”

“At least you had outside driving forces. All of my actions were mine and mine alone,” Just Duty added. “I made the choice to go down the wrong path.”

“You also learned that your entire world and existence might have been the creation of some being of chaos for some game of Cavern’s and Cutie Marks,” Light Patch pointed out.

“Yes. That wouldn’t do my decision making any favors,” Officer Duty said.

“At least you three remember what happened. All I have is what I was told after the fact, sitting in the hospital with injuries I just suddenly had,” Paladin Just groused. The four sat in silence, stewing in their own thoughts again about their own experiences and what they’d learned of the others.

“At least we were trying to do the right thing,” Light Patch muttered.

“Rather what we thought was the right thing,” Officer Duty added.

“Guess we need to put more thought into how it would all end,” Paladin Just commented.

“I hope I can figure out what the right lesson in all of this is to pass on to the whelps I’ll be training,” Just Duty sighed.

“I thought you were going to be a paladin until the very end. Like your mentor who didn’t get to?” Light Patch asked.

“That was my plan but... Recent events and actually having time to think about things have caused me to re-evaluate that position. I’ve learned a lot and I’m not getting younger. But I’m still young enough to give the new paladin initiates a run for their money,” Just Duty explained flexing his forelegs.

“Loftier goals than my retirement. I’m not going to train the next generation. Already done plenty of that myself over the years. I’m going to take it easy and catch up on the hobbies I’ve been putting off,” Officer Duty decided with a smile. “Do some fishing, maybe start that garden railroad I’ve always wanted... Finally paint up the Boarz army I’ve got.”

“Thanks to Senator Holdfast, it looks like I might be replacing Blueblood as the temporary regent of Equestria. I’ll be more than happy to retire from that when the time comes and get back to the field. Then again, at my age I’ve been stuck in the office more than the field,” Paladin Just said thoughtfully.

“I’m too young to consider retiring. Though, it’d be nice to not get caught up in another world ending disaster or something,” Light Patch chuckled ruefully, looking at the cheeky grins the other three were shooting at him. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Fat chance.”

“From what I’ve observed, you three are the world ending disaster,” Just Duty snorted.

“I shudder to think there is another whole world of people like you three,” Officer Duty chimed in, giving an over exaggerated shudder.

“The royalty checks from the comic book sales would be nice. Oh, don’t look at me like that! My job has been to find and deal with those kinds of threats secretly. They’d be the diplomats’ problem,” Paladin Just scoffed, gulping the last of his drink.

“I think this room just became a bar,” Light Patch said after the laughter had settled. “Think about it, we’ve been served drinks, gone through the full gamut of emotions, and teased about some great lessons to learn.”

“Sometimes, you just want to go to a place where everybody knows your name~” Officer Duty began to sing.

“And everybody’s glad you came~” Light Patch continued. Paladin Just and Just Duty looked between each other.

“What are they doing?” Paladin Just finally asked.

“It’s some kind of reference to some play or something. He does this alot. Though I’m surprised it appears to be shared between their worlds.”

“Should we be trying to hum or sing along?” Paladin Just asked with an unsure look.

“Probably,” Just Duty said, watching the two sing as he refilled his drink quietly.

* * *

Six sets of eyes peered over the valley and the view afforded by the high cave they called home. Thanks to the altitude, they were able to easily pick out several landmarks. The town of Roads Crossed nestled against the forest. The castle of the Kingdom able to lay claim to the valley. The main entrance to the Deep Caverns.

But not the only entrance, one of the six thought with a smile, it’s eyes flicking towards the cave.

“Our cave,” added the head with pink scales.

“Our home,” corrected the head with red eyes.

“It is nice we were able to return here.”

“Agreed. Even should our plan have succeeded, it would not have been home. Not this one at any rate.”

“I am sure, given enough time, we could have made it so.”

“But not all of the way,” agreed another of the heads, it’s blue tusks standing out against the sky.

“Still... our plan for the other world does spark some interesting ideas for here,” spoke the head with lavender horns.

“Do not let those ideas spark too much. They might set your brain on fire. In fact, I think I can smell the smoke already,” teased the head with violet fins.

“Tend to those ideas and let them grow,” stated the head with a slight shake, causing a ripple to spread through it’s orange spines, “but do not worry about harvesting them today. I feel like enjoying being home for a bit longer.” There were six simultaneous nods of agreement. With six smiles, the hydra stood up from its perch and strode back into its cave, content for once in a long time.

Comments

[Mix-up]

Well it seems like it's the end for good despite the teaser for a sequel. I wished it had been more of a close call on saving Equestria.