Side Story: Rebuilding
It's been a few hours since the Shadow Galaxy incident and the citizens of Ponyville were working hard to rebuild their home. Despite the fact that the skies were back to normal and once again, no casualties reported, due to yet another successful evacuation by the Mane 6, the General and his group, the ponies and non-ponies were still mentally reeling from the aftermath. One pony, who's been really feeling gloomy and down lately is Cherry Swirl. After all, the drama mentally tore her up and she lost her best friend in the process. Since then, even though she helped the ponies on the rebuilding, she became reclusive and distant.
"Uhm...Cherry? Are you okay?" Ocean asked her friend, but the green mare didn't respond at all, as she kept rebuilding the house. The blue mare sighed, knowing that today's events took a toll on her.
"Man...this was all my fault...If only I haven't been such a stuck up, hot headed bitch, perhaps things could've been different." The red mare felt guilty about the whole situation, since she felt responsible for the whole fallout.
"We all are, sister. If only we've been a bit more transparent about it..." Ocean went to her sister and comforted the fiery pony.
"She's right...But a combination between paranoia, secrecy and pride eventually lead to a tragic domino effect, leading to this...Especially from me." Snow lowered her ears, before doing a little speech. "But....at least we told them everything in full detail, which lead to us being Twilight's new students. However...I know for a fact, that healing and redemption takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention with some of the ponies being angry at us, after our drama lead to so much destruction In Canterlot and Ponyville. The best option for us is to just focus on ourselves and the present, learn from our mistakes and push forward to live life to the fullest. After all, we never know, if today would be our last."
"You're right, Snow. Which is why we're doing this...to wipe our slates clean and start anew." Ocean nodded and the ponies proceeded to continue rebuilding the little town and helping ponies along the way.
After a few hours, the elemental ponies were still rebuilding the houses, while Mayor Mare watched the process. At the same time, Applejack went to the elemental mares to check on them. She had mixed feelings towards them. On one hoof, the dragon incident in Canterlot and the Shadow Galaxy attack in Ponyville, which were results of their petty fallout, caused damage to their reputation in Equestria. Especially Fire and Ocean. But on the flipside, they didn't mean to hurt anyone. In fact, they've been helping her and her friends out on several occasions, like saving Spring Gale from his abusive parents, giving pep talk to Johnny and Dukey and helping them out to stop evil. Recently, she had softened a bit towards the mares, but the southern pony knew, that it takes a lot of time for them to make up for their mistakes and change.
"So...how y'all doin'?" Applejack asked to the mares.
"Well...a bit rough, but other than that, we're fine..." Snow breathed out, while doing her job. "Well...except for....you know.." She looked at Cherry.
"To be fair....the whole situation was our fault. It all stemmed to misunderstandings, poor reactions and jumping conclusions too early. It wasn't until it culminated to a messy break up and the destruction of our friendship and reputation, all because of our emotions getting the better of us, rather focusing on logic." Ocean sighed.
"Exactly...didn't help, that my bitchy behaviour and burning ego made things even worse...It's so hard to forgive myself for all of that shit going on." Fire looked down.
"Healing takes lots of time and patience, sugarcube. And even though you won't be fully forgiven by everypony in Equestria, your story gives them a whole different side of the story to understand. I advice y'all to cool down, take small steps and work hard on 'em." The orange earth pony gave the sisters some words of advice and a hug.
"Thank you, Applejack..." Ocean mumbled.
At the same time, they heard Johnny, Dukey, Gil, Rainbow, Cosmic and Breeze, coming back from their break laughing with each other and sharing stories.
"And there was the time, my friends and I went against an army of cyborg and trolls, lead by a space pirate and we were kicking their asses and releasing people from their clutches. Man, being a galactic guardian has its cool sides." Breeze told them abour her life. The elemental mares, minus Cherry, looked at their pegasus friend being happy and in high spirits. Tropic, Snow, Fire and Ocean lightly smiled, knowing that even when situations are dire, she would joke a few things or two, but over all, she's pretty optimistic, even when things do not go in their way or getting hopeless.
"Wow, you are actually much cooler, than I thought." Rainbow was amazed.
"And I thought, Johnny and I always had those crazy adventures involving aliens, robots, crazy people and everything in between." Dukey commented about their past experiences with enemies like these.
"Kind of think of it, after settling into a world of ponies, where stuff like these happens, I wouldn't be surprised, if aliens decided to visit here. It would be quite awesome." Gil chuckled.
"Well, that depends on the aliens and their motives, bro. Not to mention, if they know this place and such." Breeze scratched her head.
"Yo, Breeze! We could've use your help right now!" Fire was carrying some wooden borders, when she shouted from afar.
"No problem, Fire! Check this out!" In a flash, the dark blue pegasus grabbed the borders and rebuilt a few houses in just a few seconds. Coming back, she smirked and said: "See? In just a few seconds!"
"Whoa! Did you guys see that?" Cosmic was stunned.
"Looks like, you've got some competition, Rainbow." Johnny commented to the prismatic mare.
"Uhm..Breeze, we really appreciate your help, but..." Tropic thanked her friend at first....before pointing at the houses, being hastily built. "...they look really rushed and messy. Like, they could collapse at any minute now..." And as to be expected, the houses collapsed, pretty much proving Tropic's concern.
"Oops..." The dark blue mare scratched her head with a nervous smile, while everyone looked at her with slight annoyance and embarrassment.
"I can help you, if your want." Rainbow offered Breeze and her friends for help.
"That would be great, Rainbow." Breeze was thankful of the offer and the prismatic mare began helping her and her friends on the rebuilding of some houses by actually securing them and taking time on the borders. However, the guys have noticed, that Cherry wasn't doing anything to help them and that she was looking down with her ears lowered.
"Uhm...Are you okay??" The hybrid shouted and tried to get the green mate's attention, but she ignored it.
"Hey, what's the deal??" Johnny tried any method to make Cherry notice them. Shouting, poking her a bit, even a bit of shaking, but she wouldn't budge. "Man...what's up with her?" Those words caught Breeze's attention and she rushed to them.
"Oh, shit! I forgot to tell your about what happened! Man, I was too carried away with the tricks and playing with y'all." She nervously smiled.
"Uhm, what's going on?" The aqua stallion was confused and so did Cosmic. The black pegasus and the hybrid were concerned of them, since they couldn't understand the whole story of drama and so on. Especially Cosmic, since he's still a young colt. They want to make him good influences as big brothers. So, they held the dark mare off from explaining.
"Uhm, guys. Why don't you help the others out?" Johnny asked the two of them to leave.
"Especially you, Cosmic. I mean, I'm pretty sure, mom and dad are concerned." The hybrid added.
"I could need some help now!" They heard Pinkie shouting from afar and Gil left there with a shrug. Meanwhile, Cosmic was still confused, but regardless, he knew, that his parents were needing some help, so he flew off.
"Okay, what's the story behind it?" The hybrid was curious.
"Well, since that shit is complicated as fuck, I'm gonna give you an abridged verison of the whole deal. So...remember our first encounter and the whole dragon incident and such, which came from our drama?" Breeze proceeded to explain as simple as possible. The whole thing is just a mess. So much so, that the blue mare had to repeat some moments for clarification.
"Basically someone, named Shadow Galaxy tried to conquer the galaxy and destroy anyone, who dared to defy her, Fire and Ocean coming back, along with Snow and you eventually stopped her. Is that right?" The hybrid is slowly catching up.
"Basically the whole thing in a nutshell." Breeze shrugged. The guys knew about the situation in some ways, as they dealt with aliens, evil robots, robot aliens and so on, trying to conquer or even destroy Earth several times. In other words, it wasn't new to them. However, they haven't experienced something, like Shadow Galaxy before, at least not in that magnitude. Something, that their former villains and even those, like Whacko and Dark Vegan will never match.
"Dude, the whole thing gives me a headache..." Johnny groaned.
"Same here, man. The whole drama is a fucking mess. I've been trying to cope through this with jokes and such, just to lighten up the mood a bit. I mean, someone has to do it, huh?? Not everything has to be all doom and gloom!!" The dark blue mare was getting more and more frustrated, but suddenly calmed herself down and sighed. "Sorry. It's so hard living with that pain. It's so fucking hard for all of us...But hey...at least, Fire and Ocean are back and they had learnt their lesson, so there's something. Right, Cherry?" She looked at the green mare, who still wasn't responding.
"Hey, Breeze. We need your help again and..." Ocean came back, along with Fire, Snow and Tropic, when all of a sudden, Cherry started walking away.
"Cherry, where are you going?" Tropic asked, in which the green mare finally broke her silence.
"I'm going back to the ship..." Cherry mumbled, while walking away from her own friends and although her friends tried to convince her to stay, she ignored their words due to her depression and left Ponyville, leaving everyone worried, including Applejack, who just came back. Looking at the mares, who looked defeated and down, especially Fire and Ocean, a decision was suddenly made.
"Not on my watch!" Applejack proceeded to follow the direction, Cherry went.
"Where are you going?" Dukey asked.
"Helpin' a fellow pony in dire need!" Applejack answered, while running off.
After that, Dukey proceeded to comfort Tropic and the elemental sisters apologising to Johnny on their actions with dignity and maturity. But there was one pony, who had something else in her mind: Snow Emerald. Ever since the mole incident and finding the note, the snow white pegasus mare has been thinking about the mole people, their origins, how the mole women went to Equestria and possible ways on ending the conflict. But there's also some questions, that needed to be answered, like "Why did two of the mole women leave a note behind?" Needless to say, she's determined to help Roy and Amber and end the conflict between the two sexes once and for all. But for now, she had to help her friends on rebuilding Ponyville.
As the sun had settled, the ponies decided to take a break and go to sleep, but some of them decided to continue their work on the rebuilding process.
Meanwhile, the elemental girls were tired of the whole day and were about to return to their ship for some sleep. Tomorrow is another big day, so they have to be prepared for it. As they arrived, the doors opened and Applejack came out with Cherry.
"How did it go?" Ocean asked.
"Don't worry, fella. I've been comfortin' and helpin' her the whole time, as soon, as I've arrived at that ship. Thankfully, she didn't plan on takin' her own life, but I have to make sure, she won't." Applejack explained that while everyone has been in the rebuilding process, she managed to comfort the green earth pony for hours.
"Thank you, Applejack." Tropic was grateful, that the southern pony helped her friend.
"This ain't over though, Tropic. She needs a lot of help right now. So, I'm gonna take her to Sweet Apple Acres for some R&R." Applejack proceeded to tell them, that Cherry needs some therapeutic help and her plan.
"Are you sure about that?" Snow asked.
"I swear to my honesty, I'm doin' my best." The southern mare tipped her hat a bit in confidence, before leaving with Cherry, while the others entered the ship to sleep. However, little did they know, Applejack actually had plans to cheer the elemental ponies up, including Cherry.
Several hours later into midnight...
Everyone was fully asleep in Equestria....Everyone...except for Snow Emerald, who's in the ship. She slowly got up and sneakily snuck around the others, without making any noises and silently left the ship, while holding a block of paper, a pencil and the note block.
"Here goes nothing." Snow took a deep breath and flew up and away to several fields far away, where Talia and Aurianna are probably waiting.
Speaking of who, the two mole women were currently waiting in a field, standing near a tree.
"Uhm...You sure, this is gonna work?" Auriana was concerned.
"I hope, someone has responded to our message and decided to come here. All we have to do is wait, Auriana." Taila was confident on someone coming for a talk.
"But...what about the others?" The other mole girl asked.
"Don't worry. They're currently asleep." Taila assured her friend, that they're safe.
They waited for a while, in which the two ladies looked at the stars and their constellations. They are currently worried about a certain incident, involving their clan and Amber. They kept on waiting and waiting, until they saw a figure flying through the skies and landing to the ground, revealing to be Snow herself.
"Stay back!" Talia pulled out her spear at Snow in self defense, but this was due to them meeting her for the first time.
"Relax, girls. I'm the one, who found your note and decided to go here to meet you." The pegasus mare eased their worries by showing them the note and has her note and pencil ready. After which, Talia put her spear away. "In fact, I'm really curious about your species and the history, along with the whole incident involving Amber, whom I know thanks to a close friend of mine, named Breeze. But enough of the fluff, what do you want to talk about?" The two mole women looked at each other and silently discussed about what topic, they want to talk about. After a few minutes, they made up their mind.
"Alright. You know about our clan and that we escaped to this planet here. But our clan in Equestria is actually a fraction of the original amount of mole people in our original home planet Primaia, where it used to be bigger and more prestigious and strong." Taila noted, before proceeding to explain Snow the entire history of their clan:
"A long time ago, Primaia used to be full of life and prestige, filled with luscious nature, brave legends and a thriving community, ruled by the original queen, Calypso. Known for her wisdom, maturity and kindness, she ruled our clan, while also teaching us the importance of loyalty and peace. Some of them decided to live their lives in peace, while others strive to be like her, with one of them being Iris herself. Given that she had a rough upbringing, she strived to be strong and wise, just like her. She worked hard on her training, just to get in the army, even though she was poor. Eventually, it paid off and she transformed herself into a confident and happy woman, ready to make the world a better place. Many soldiers in training admired her for her kindness and wisdom and being a respectful sparring partner. One of her sparring partners was Evelynn. She used to be bright and full of energy, while also being on the same level as Iris. In fact, they were the strongest warriors and their experience were put to the test, when they fought in a duel for the role as the queen's commander. After a long and arduous battle, in the end, Iris won the battle and earned the role as commander. However, she had a condition, that Evelynn would be her right hand lady. A few years have passed and everything was great, with Iris working for Queen Calypso with respect and maturity. That was....until that fateful day....where our lives were permanently changed..."
Auriana then continued the story with: "An army of shadow ponies had invaded our planet, lead by a cunning and menacing being, named Shadow Nebula as a part of a intergalactic conquest. Many of our species either got captured, escaped the planet or even worse, lost their lives during the invasion....we were one of those mole people, who managed to escape, including Evelynn, several more of our clan, Iris and a little mole girl, she's been holding. The little girl was none other than Amber. After waiting in space, we arrived at a planet and on the land, named Equestria. The first thing, we saw, when our clan set foot on the place, was the moon with a mysterious symbol of a pony, made out of the moon craters, before finding a place to dig underground and building our own civilisation. Since then, we've been more secluded and aware than before."
"Hmmm...A moon with a face...." Snow was thinking about the moon, before realizing what they meant. "You know, I've spent time researching about Equestria's history from the day, I made friends with Twilight and from what I've read, that face on the moon was the symbol of Nightmare Moon's imprisonment over there. Given that Princess Luna is reformed now and that Amber is grown, I assume you went to Equestria presumably many moons ago, during Luna's imprisonment."
"Seems like it." Talia confirmed.
"I feel sorry for you girls...Having to escape your home from a maniacal megalomaniac, thirsty for power and darkness, really messed you up. I know the feeling, since many people from different planets had the same experience before. Hell, even me and my friends went through that same shit before." Snow showed lots of sympathy to the mole women.
"Except that Evelynn became even more aggressive and secluded these days.... and the worst part is, we don't know the real reason why, given that she never told us about anything." Talia sighed, but the mention of Evelynn's secrecy and aggression perked the snowy pegasus, especially that she went through a similar phase before several times. One time, when she first met her future friends, the second one was when she was with Jenny during the first mission and the recent one was after the whole drama. In fact, she started theorizing about the possibility, that Evelynn might went through a traumatic experience or even several of them before. Maybe those could explain about her behaviour, but she has yet to confront the commander about the secret.
"At this point...maybe Amber was right after all and we need to change....but Evelynn refused to see it that way and Iris refused to comment about it..." Auriana looked down, after she told the pony about her feelings. "Oh god....I feel really sorry about her....I can't believe, we just stood there, not helping her...." During those words, she started to tear up and Talia had to comfort her friend, all while Snow listened more about their problem. The situation is clear: Amber's emancipation from the clan caused a secret divide and the two sexes were at tension against each other. She had to do something.
"I made up my mind. I'm going to unite the two civilisations into one and bring Evelynn back to her senses." Snow had a serious expression in her face, as she made her decision, much to the girls' shock.
"What!? You can't be serious right now! Evelynn is known to be the strongest and the most ruthless one and she would not hesitate on putting your head on her spear!" Auriana tried to convince Snow, not to follow her plan. "I mean, at one point, she threatened the males and your friend with immediate execution during their captivity!"
"You'd be surprised, on how capable I am. Plus, I had my experience facing against ruthless criminals, a few dictators and even Shadow Nebula herself, with my friends on my side, so I have the necessary resources and smarts available. Not to mention, I have the elemental orb of ice. I could just freeze her and her followers no problem." Snow was confident.
"I know, that you're trying to help us and we really appreciate it...but couldn't risk our lives to defy our commander. Anyway....thank you for letting us talking about our problems..." Taila was about to depart with her friend.
"You're welcome and remember. Never underestimate the power of the elements and the magic of friendship." Snow smiled, as the two women departed. During the time, she finished up noting everything, what they said and making ideas for her plan. The mare packed up everything and left the forest, but on her way back, she bumped into someone.
"Hey! Who just bumped into me?" The pegasus mare rubbed her head and opened her eyes and despite being in the middle of the night and in a forest, she can recognize the mysterious individual due to the moonlight glimmering on the mane and tail. There can only be one pony, whose mane and tail glimmer at the light from both the sun and the moon and having the shape of an iceberg. And sure enough, the individual turned out to be Brain Freezer.
"Brain Freezer? What are you doing there in the middle of the night?" She was confused on why he was in the forest. Especially after midnight.
"I was about to ask the same thing." The icy blue unicorn rubbed his frozen head, when he saw the note block. "Is that a note block, you're carrying?" He grabbed it up and although Snow tried to intervene, he read all of it in detail.
"It seems like, they too felt remorse." The icy unicorn commented, which threw Snow off.
"What?! What are you talking about?" She was perplexed by what he said. The blue stallion proceeded to explain her about that peculiar detail:
"You see, I was honing my unicorn magic that night in a secluded area, because I felt it was the safest time. Not sure, why I decided to do that in the middle on the night though. Suddenly, two mole men appeared out of nowhere and they scared the shit out of me. Like I almost froze them, but the beam was inches off from them and hit a random boulder. Naturally, I was pissed at them, but then...something unbelievable happened: The mole men, named Lance and Brandon, also felt guilty for ignoring Roy and that they couldn'do anything out of fear as well! Why? Well, it's due to the divide amongst the men! And it seems like, Zizrar refuses to talk about it! He just...looked away in silence that day."
"What? If that's the case...then it's clear, there's a huge divide between the two clans and another one amongst each of them! The worst part is, my friends and I haven't experenced something similar! So, this is all new!" Snow realized the problem, which got even more complicated than ever, especially with the lack of experience.
"Take it easy, Snow. We'll think about something tomorrow. For now though, we need some sleep." Brain Freezer slowed things down.
"You're right. Perhaps some sleep would clear my mind." Snow nodded and the two of them left the forest. During the time, the icy unicorn looked at her and blushed, thinking about an appropriate time to confess his feelings to her and what he would say, but also dealing with the constant anxiety and focusing on his redemption journey. However, he has to push those feelings aside for now, in order to help her and bringing Zizrar back to reality.
The next morning, Twilight and Spike were staying in the castle, doing their usual duties, with Twilight overseeing the Cutie Map and Spike writing the letters and receiving them. Some of them were from Princess Celestia and Luna, telling them that they have made up and they're overseeing the rebuilding of Ponyville and the upcoming Friendship Festival. Other letters were about finding the trio of stallions, named the "Try Guys" . At least, Star Time Rush agreed to attend and perform at the festival, but the other group was sort of hard to get. Recently though, a name popped up in one of those letters, that could be helpful of finding at least one of them: Jolly Goodie. So, Spike decided to write a letter to Princess Celestia on finding Jolly Goodie and if he and the others would be able to be part of the festival.
At the same time, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy, arrived to the main room to meet with Twilight and continuing their duties.
"Good morning, Twilight!" Pinkie greeted her friend with her usual joy. However, they noticed, that their Alicorn friend looked....stressed. "What's the matter? You look quite under the weather today."
"I know, Pinkie..." Twilight sighed and looked at the map. "You know....just when I thought, we could just relax and rest, after the defeat of Cozy Glow and the return of magic, we got caught in two separate main incidents, that are connnected in some aspects. One being about Radiant Thunder and his constant battle against his mental demons and the other being a group of friends in shambles. What's more, both of them caused a bigger impact to Equestria as a whole, both good and bad. Mostly good, since the subject of abuse has been become more and more aware and that our elemental friends have redeemed themselves in the end....it's just...Everything is getting more and more complicated..."
"I know that feeling, darling. Sometimes, things are getting rougher and more complicated. But rest assured, those problems are slowly going away." Rarity assured Twilight with a smile.
"Yeah, Twilight. Like I met Johnny and Dukey this morning and they're doing well. We talked about some awesome stuff, we're gonna do today and heck, Sissy is getting better with her flying. As for them an Missy, yeah, it's kind of a mess, but hey. They're getting better." Rainbow commented.
"I talked with Jillian and she said, she's improving and started finding new friends. Although she told me, that she kinda missed her people." Fluttershy told her about what Jillian, AKA Natural Spark has been doing.
"I'm actually glad, that they're doing just fine. The issue may be fully over with....if it wasn't for what Sunset and Starlight said about.....the sisters. At first, I haven't thought anything of it, but after the whole debacle with Fire Jewel, her sister and their friends being somewhat resolved, there was this lingering thought, that perhaps....the story might been a a lot more complicated than we thought and that the two had a point." Twilight said something, regarding to Sunset, Starlight and the Test twins, before clapping her cheeks. "But that's just me. We don't know for sure, since it's been months after the last sighting. As for Fire and the others...I'm glad, they're slowly improving, but there are some unknowns, namely about the Alicorn named Jenny. It's a shame, that she's basically missing."
"The one, who basically started that mess? Jeez, she should've been punished by this point for starting all of this, along with those....nightmare sisters!" Rainbow responded negativity about the mares, much to everyone's annoyance. The most notable thing about the prismatic mare, aside from her impressive speed and being the heroine of loyalty, is her enormous ego and pride.
"Rainbow! There are some things, we can't blame Jenny for! Namely due to her being through so much pain and heartache! Plus, those ponies from outside of our galaxy, which means, some things are different than here. And as for those girls, the whole thing is too complicated and unless we get confirmation from them or even from Sunset and Starlight, it'll be left completely open for conspiracies and theories!" Twilight responded in a stressful manner.
"Take it easy, sugarcube. We have to do those things only one at a time, starting with those elemental ponies. Recently, Cherry has been stayin' at the Sweet Apple Acres with my family, who are watching over her." Applejack suggested the ponies to do things one at a time.
"How about talking to those ponies and give them company? Like for example, Applejack could talk and comfort to Cherry, while I could spend time with Fire Jewel, Fluttershy with Tropic Bloom and so on? And also give them some advice for them to learn!" The peppy party mare suggested, that the Mane Six spend time with the six elemental ponies, while teaching them valuable lessons.
"That's actually a really good idea. What do you think, girls?" Fluttershy asked to her friends, in which they agreed. "Wonderful! I planned to invite Tropic into the tea party with me and Discord."
"I'd like to help out one of them, but recently, I had to finish up decorations for the festival and making dress requests. One pony wanted a beautiful dress and the other an elegant, black dress." Rarity pointed out, that she had to work for the festival, which has been postponed to a week.
"Now that you mentioned it, Spike! Can you write a letter to Princess Celestia, asking her to find someone, named Jolly Goodie and if the group can participate the festival? So far, we got Colortaura, Star Time Rush and PostCrush as musicians and we got some entertainers, but there is still one spot left." Twilight asked her dragon assistant to write a letter, in which the purple dragon is in the progress of doing so. She then returned her attention to her friends and asked, if there are objections. After nothing came, the purple mare responded with: "Okay. With the current objective settled, the meeting is adjourned."
Twilight and Spike stayed, while the others left to do their jobs. After that, Twilight continued her duties as the princess of friendship, while also dealing with the Friendship School, while Spike finished the letter and sent it to Celestia with his magical dragon breath. However, a few moments later, Spike was standing in front of the main door, when he heard a knock from the other side. Upon opening it, he saw Snow Emerald.
"Hello, Spike. Is Twilight here?" The snowy mare asked.
"Uhm, she's currently at the Friendship School. What do you want from her?" Spike was confused.
"I just want to talk with her about something. It is about...a particular event yesterday, related to mole people and such." Snow answered.
"Hang on, I'll talk to her. In the meantime, wait here, okay?" Spike went off, while the pegasus mare went to a nearby room to wait. While waiting, Snow kept on thinking about what the mole women said and what to do to stop the conflict. It went on for at least 15 minutes, until Spike returned with Twilight. After which, they went to a separate room, with a table and seats. After sitting down, the purple duo wanted the reason, why Snow decided to talk with them.
"I've heard, that you had a lot of experience on solving friendship problems with your friends, as well as uniting different kinds of species together, is it true?" Snow asked a simple question.
"As a matter of fact, we do." Twilight answered, but is unsure, what Snow wants with this information.
"Well...there is that...issue from yesterday, relating to the mole people. I am aware of the existence of mole women, thanks to Breeze, since she was held there, but ever since Amber and Roy had left their people, most of them were opposed, but there were a few, who felt sorry about the whole instance. Two of them, are two women, named Talia and Auriana. I went to the meeting spot in the middle of the night, since they want to tell their clan's tale and expressed guilt over what happened." Snow explained and proceeded to tell Twilight and Spike about the history of the mole women and why they decided to flee to Equestria, which took place during Nightmare Moon's imprisonment and WAY before she and her friends have arrived, as it turned out, they landed in that planet after Twilight's castle was built. During the wave of explanations, Twilight carefully listened and Spike took notes of the whole ordeal.
"But it turns out, that the same thing happened for the men, when Brain Freezer told me about him being told by Lance and Brandon, that they're feeling sorry for Roy and that Zizrar has been awfully quiet about it. So, yeah. Both clans are currently dealing with constant tension amongst them, all because of Roy and Amber leaving their people behind. I'm saying this, because I want to help them and end the conflicts once and for all." Snow concluded her thoughts, all while Twilight and Spike carefully observed. For Twilight, it wasn't new. Applejack and Fluttershy told them about their quest to solve a friendship problem in the village of kirins and helping out Autumn Blaze to break the silence and return the emotions of the other kirins, all because of their philosophy of drinking the River of Silence would prevent any arguments. Despite several hiccups, including the two mares arguing and getting captured and almost dropped to the river by the community, thanks to Autumn Blaze, they managed to talk with the kirins out and bringing back their voices and emotions. So, hearing Snow's tale about the mole people and the conflicts made the Alicorn mare think about possible ideas.
"Hmm...from what I've heard, the mole people have been completely split and in shambles. However, unlike the kirins, it's clear that a few of them don't share the same view as the others, when it comes to Amber and Roy. I think, the best way for this plan to work is to talk with Roy and Amber directly. Then, you have to go to the mole people and attempt to reason with them. If all of those steps work, then teach them the importance of friendship and slowly bringing them together." Twilight explained the first steps of a plan.
"To be fair, isn't it a bit too early to ask them about what happened yesterday? Pretty sure, they're still reeling from it." Spike was concerned about Roy and Amber, given with the fresh wounds.
"Perhaps give them some time to heal. Like wait for a few days or even weeks." The princess of friendship suggested to leave them alone for a while.
"I guess, you're right....I honestly don't want to overwhelm them even further, after...well....that.. It's just, I've been invested about it, simply because of Evelynn. I have a feeling, that she is hiding a secret and...perhaps, feeling constant paranoia and distrust, after multiple betrayals, like I did." Snow reconsidered her options.
"I appreciate your concern, Snow, but sometimes, it's best to take things slow and focus on other things, like rebuilding your friendship with the others and being more open with yourself." Twilight gave the snowy mare some advice. After thinking about it for a while and taking the princess' advice to heart, Snow nodded and left the castle, leaving Twilight and Spike to do their usual work.
As Snow went to the centre of Ponyville, Brain Freezer was waiting there.
"So, how's the meeting with Twilight?" he asked.
"Well, here is the thing. Although she gave me some basic steps about the plan, Spike pointed out, that it's too early to take action. Especially, if the two mole people are still reeling from what happened yesterday and the others being apprehensive about it." Snow explained her meeting with Twilight and how it turned out.
"I tried talking with Zizrar about that event, but he basically refused to comment further and even gave me the meanest glare, when I persisted. Man, whatever is happening to the guys, it wasn't pretty. I even talked with Lance and Brandon about it, but they didn't say much else, other than their guilty looks on their faces." He sighed.
"Damn....But it's best to leave them alone for a while and focus on other things, like me focusing on my friendship studies, reconnecting myself again and also with my friends. I mean, the very last thing, we want, is further conflict and the possibility with neither of them speaking with anyone again. I mean, do you really want that happen to your best friend?" Snow reiterated Twilight's point in a serious tone and that last question made the icy unicorn reconsider about doing the plan. He'd been best friends with Zizrar ever since Johnny's disappearance and it would be foolish for him to ruin it all, especially with the messy breakup and the end of his alliance with the other villains, due to constant tension. All of those factors made him to what he is today.
"I guess, you're right. It's not worth to pressure him and the others any longer. Plus, it happened just YESTERDAY." He now realised it, that pressuring the mole people about an event, that happened yesterday, is not a good idea after all. Not to mention, there's also the fact, that he has feelings for Snow Emerald, so he wanted to be on her good side. After all, prior to their meeting today, he had visited Rarity in the morning for some advice and she told him, that clear communication and mutual understanding are key for a good relationship. Then, he decided to switch topics. "Hey...uhm...If you have nothing to do today...then maybe we could-" Before he could finish his question, a pony was asking anyone for help on rebuilding the shop.
"Hey! I can help you! Sorry, I had to go now." She left the dumbfounded unicorn to help the pony in need. After a few minutes of awkward silence and lots of processing, he yelled "Man, I blew it!!!", which lead to draw attention from some slighty peeved ponies, which made the situation even more awkward and embarrassing. So much so, that Brain Freezer was feeling, he was about to shut down, but luckily, he went somewhere else to attend to.
In the skies, Rainbow Dash was practicing her skills by flying through the clouds, performing impressive tricks and overall flying really fast. All of this was partially done to prepare herself for the Friendship Festival, as the Wonderbolts will be scheduled to perform an air show later on. And since she is part of them, she had to practice harder, in order to achieve perfection...or at least close to perfection that is. Not to mention, she will perform her iconic Sonic Rainboom to wow the crowd. After a while of flying around, the prismatic mare stopped to take a break.
"Phew. That was cool and all. It's really crazy, that I haven't practiced my skills for the festival for a while. Oh well, there's lots of thing to catch up!" She wiped the sweat off from her forehead, before resuming her training of improving her tricks. However, during her training, she flew into a particular cloud, when she hit something hard. So much so, that she lost balance and fell down to a nearby cloud below.
"Ow...What that that?..." Rainbow rubbed her head, groaning in pain, when she started looking at the source of the impact...which revealed to a particular, dark blue mare with violet mane, also groaning in pain on another cloud, which was facing Rainbow.
"Dude....you could've killed me..." The dark blue mare was not happy.
"Oh! Sorry, Breeze! Didn't really see you in that cloud. I was practicing my skills and overall being fast, when I didn't pay attention." The prismatic mare apologised for that sudden crash.
"To be fair, this wasn't the first time, someone bumped to me, while was was inside of the cloud. And yeah, I often prefer to relax and nap inside of clouds, rather than on top of it. Sometimes, I relax on top of them, but being inside of a cloud is quieter. I love the thrill of action and adventure, but sometimes, I like to just relax and bask in." Breeze rubbed her head, explaining that the crash wasn't her first rodeo, before proceeding to feel the breeze. "Man, it's nice to have a break, after all of that shit happened in the last few months."
"I feel ya. Things are getting better with Johnny and the others. Everyone's learning and redeeming themselves and you and your friends are doing the same thing, ever since Twilight got you under her wing." Rainbow smiled, but Breeze suddenly became serious and showed her a different side underneath her free-spirited and cocky shell.
"Hey...can I talk to you about something?" The blue mare asked, like something's troubling her.
"Sure, I'm open." Rainbow nodded, ready to listen. After which, the dark blue mare took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her everything:
"Well...Remember, when I told you a bit about my backstory about me being neglected by my parents, in favour of my brother? There are more ramifications to me than you think. When I was a little kid, everything was quite normal with my parents loving me, but that changed, when my little brother was born. They focus on him way more than me. I tried ho get their attention and love, but I got ignored and even if I DID get their attention, they half-heartedly acknowledged me. Don't get me wrong, my little brother loved me and hell, he still does and I often hang out with him, playing games and going outside and such. I mean, before I went to Equestria, I visited of him, being really proud of him graduating. At the same time, I had to focus on school and while I was excelling with sports, i was terrible with math. Not to mention, i was a quiet pony back then, with only having a few friends to hang out with. But here's the thing. While I was neglected by my parents, when we visited my relatives, namely my uncle and aunt, they gave me something, I didn't get: love. They cared for me, they supported my decisions, which my parents do, just....you know...being occupied with my brother and hell, my uncle was the reason, why I became so confident and free-spirited, since they often take me to beautiful fields for me to fly around. Plus, he made me laugh with jokes and such, which would be my thing later on. Anyway, all of this would eventually boil up to one moment. I was doing my flight classes and I got an achievement for the fastest time in a course. I was so excited to tell my family about it and while my brother was proud of me...my parents were...okay with it. Keep that in mind, I was a kid at the time and well, they were busy with their jobs as well....and looking back at it....it's very complicated...I was completely fed up and that lead to an argument between with me and my parents, before screaming that, they're not my parents anymore and locking myself in my room. Later at night, I flew away from home and tried to find my uncle and aunt, but that night, it was seriously foggy as fuck, so I got lost easily somewhere. Didn't help, that there was a heavy hunderstorm going on. I tried going back, but that made things worse by getting myself even more lost. Suddenly, lightning struck down the ground and I was scared. But then before I was hit by one, a blue orb struck me In the chest and when I was hit by one of the lightning bolts, a sudden surge of energy made me shot out bright bolts in the sky and strong winds. That caught the attention of someone, after those surges stopped and lead me back to my home, in which my uncle and aunt welcomed me back and after telling them my story, they basically gave my parents a much needed wake up call and they've been trying their best, even though, as I got older, I became...distant and ran away again, this time to another planet, to make my own decisions, where I would meet Fire and Tropic and...well...the rest is history."
"Jeez...This story kinda reminds me of Scootaloo, given with how busy her parents are and such." Rainbow was sympathetic towards Breeze.
"Yeah....In some aspects, but completely different. Thank God, they learned from their mistakes and are trying to improve our relationship, although again, they did it a bit too late, but hey. Better late than never, I guess...But the most important thing is....I can be quite anxious in secret, but I masked it with my attitude and jokes. I was slowly learning to be more genuine during my adventures with my friends...however the recent drama made me completely relapse myself." Breeze sighed. "I was just afraid."
"Let me tell you something, Breeze. It's okay to not be okay. Nopony's perfect. We're basically unique in our own way and if we mess up, we can make things right again. Plus, there's no need to be afraid, as long as you have awesome friends, like me, Johnny, Pinkie and many many more! And if you fall back, there's always a chance to get right back up and try again! We're all here for you and that's, what really matters at the end." The prismatic mare gave the dark pegasus a motivational speech to liften up her spirits and energy.
"You know...I never thought of that...I mean, it's been AGES, since I got up again from a fuck-up. " Breeze slightly smiled, before getting up, now being more confident. "You're right! I've been through so much before, but I'm gonna stand tall and fight them like those Shadow Ponies! And if I don't succeed, I'll fucking do it again!"
"Yeah, that's the spirit, Breeze!" Rainbow cheered on. "Hey! If you're free, are you up for a race? I could use a partner right now."
"Hell yeah, I'm in!" Breeze prepared herself and the two pegasi started their race in the skies.
Meanwhile in the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was working on some dresses and decorations for the second Friendship Festival. Thanks to the crystals and gems, Johnny and Dukey brought, she was able to make beautiful looks, ribbons and so on. She was marvelling of her finished products, when the doorbell rang. Immediately, the unicorn mare answered the door, only for the pony to be revealed to be Ocean Spark.
"Oh hello, Ocean! Come in!" Rarity was happy to see Ocean and the two unicorns went inside the boutique. She noticed, that the blue mare was wandering around a bit. "What brings you here?"
"I'm just...wandering around." Ocean quietly responded in a tone, that was not quite happy and Rarity was suspicious about it. "I've heard, you're really a good designer and since I love fashion, I though I could check this place out.
"You don't sound so enthusiatsic today. What's wrong, darling?" Rarity asked.
"It's nothing." Ocean sighed, but Rarity didn't believe it a bit. It didn't take long, precisely just a few seconds, she cracked and immediately blured out the truth. "Forget it....The whole drama made me feel guilty and scared, just like what happened, when I lost my parents as a filly. I blamed at someone at Jenny for our downfall, even though I was also responsible for that. What this reminds me of in some ways, is the time, I falsely blame Fire for murdering my parents, when I had no idea, that she is my sister and that Shadow Nebula was the true culprit. I'm such a foolish pony, who would blindly pick sides for selfish reasons..."
"Darling, let me tell you something. You are not a horrible pony. You are just flawed, like everypony in Equestria and beyond. And I know for a fact, that you've been through so much, that no words describe on how tragic they were. But there is always some form of beauty in the rain, you're standing, if you believe in yourself and look at the bright side at the end of the tunnel. In other words, if you set those things aside, holding you back, be more generous and considerate and believing in yourself, you can shine brighter than any beautiful gem out there! That is true inner beauty!" The heroine of generosity gave the water pony some words of advice. "Plus, it's best to practice by looking at the mirror and convince yourself, that you can do it."
"You mean, that there is some form beauty and I have to start looking at the bright side?" Ocean asked.
"Of course! Even when there are doubts, just keep doing, what you love and continue walking your path of redemption." Rarity smiled, which made Ocean consider. "Since you love fashion, maybe you can help me with the dresses."
"Well, I'm not really a fashion designer..I just like to dress in trendy and beautiful looks, but I can at least try." Ocean nodded.
"Actually, I need a model, who can give me some constructive criticism for my projects, so I can improve them." Rarity scratched her head.
"Sure!" Ocean agreed and decided to help out the white mare.
In the Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was preparing some cake dough for delicious deserts, while also preparing some party stuff for the Friendship Festival at the same time, without any setbacks, because she can do literally ANYTHING. Since Cheese Sandwich will attend there for decorations and entertainment and Pinkie being his collaborator, more work had to be done, all while being joyful about it. Suddenly, she heard the door opening and immediately dashed towards the entrance, in order to welcome the customer. "Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner!" She grinned and the customer was revealed to be Fire Jewel. "Oh hi, Fire Jewel!"
"Uhm...hi. Wow, you seems to be extremely chipper today." Fire entered the store.
"Of course, I do! The Friendship Festival is coming soon and while the last one was rudely interrupted by the Storm King and his party poopers and that new forms of friendships are made, like new ponies from a different dimension and even our of space, it deserves a second comeback! I'm so excited to meet new friends, hanging out with my best friends, while also giving everything, I got and having a fun time!" Pinkie explained.
"That's cool! Where will it take place?" Fire warmly smiled.
"In Canterlot, duh! Just like last time!" Pinkie smiled. Unfortunately the mention of Canterlot soured Fire's mood.
"Oh...Canterlot...woo.. Look, I just to get some cakes, since I'm starving." The red unicorn sarcastically responded, before ordering something.
"Which one do you want? Red Velvet? Vanilla Cake? Oh! How about a Rainbow Cake?" The peppy earth pony asked.
"Uhm...Just surprise me, okay?" Fire sighed.
"Okey dokey!" Pinkie Pie rushed back to the kitchen, while Fire sat down. During her wait, the mention of the name "Canterlot" brought so many unpleasant memories there. After a while, Pinkie came back with some slices of cakes.
"Here you go!" She smiled, while handing down the plates.
"Thanks." Fire slightly smiled.
"Hey, do you want to come to the festival?" Pinkie asked.
"On second thought....I'm just fine by staying in Ponyville and y'know...just chilling." Fire responded in a tone, that made Pinkie feel suspicious immediately.
"But why though?" The pink mare demanded an answer.
"Nothing really...it's just, I don't want to go there." Fire was about to leave, when Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Whoa! You just scared the shit out of me! How do you do that?!" Fire was suddenly scared by Pinkie's instant reappearance.
"Is there something, you haven't told me? Is there some sort of....a grudge??" Pinkie suspiciously stared at the red mare, with one of her eyebrows raised, which deserves a certain sound effect.
"Leave me alone..." The red mare growled, as she was about to leave, but Pinkie kept on reappearing in front of her, as if she was teleporting in an instant pace.
"Is it because of....oh, I don't know....A CERTAIN INCIDENT, INVOLVING A BURNING DRAGON?" Pinkie got closer and closer, bringing up the dragon incident, which brought even more unpleasant memories for Fire.
"Do not bring that up!!" She yelled, but Pinkie was persistent and unphased
"Why though? Is it still etched in your head, because of what happened there and as a result, doing your punishment, while enduring so much hatred from everyone in Canterlot, which results in you almost getting killed by a crazy individual, until your sister had to step in and later being taken by Luna and Tempest for some therapy? Because I have a feeling, that you don't want go there, because you're afraid of being abused again??" The pink pony suspected of Fire not wanting to go there, due to the dragon incident and its aftermath, which pissed Fire off.
"SHUT UP!!!" She blasted off a fire beam at Pinkie, only for the mare to throw water from a bucket, causing the fire to evaporate and the room being covered by mist. Where did the bucket of water come from? No idea. Anyway, Fire looked around in the mist, searching for Pinkie Pie. It went on for a while. During which, she raised her defenses up, when all of a sudden, she was "ambushed" by Pinkie Pie. And by "ambushed", I mean the peppy mare immediately pulling Fire into a tight hug out of nowhere, causing her to pause. All of this in the mist, which was slowly fading away.
"It's okay, not to be okay. I'm here now and you can talk to me about your problems." Pinkie smiled, which caused the red mare to become emotional.
"Fine...you got me....I still haven't forgotten the fact, that Canterlot hates my guts....So much so, that even it's been months, I still can't step a fucking hoof there, without getting harassed by everyone there. It's a living reminder of my biggest fuck-up, I've ever done, just because I was such an emotional bitch, who refused to let go from the past!!" Fire screamed, letting her frustrations out.
"Hmm..." Pinkie was using her head to think about a solution, before coming up with one almost immediately. "You know, when I was a little filly and the sun was going down, the darkness and shadows always made me frown and hide in my pillow. But Granny Pie taught me, not to be afraid at those shadows and that I have to face my fears, stand tall, realizing that those shadows aren't gonna hurt me and in order to make te disappear, I have to just laugh! Soooooo...giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly, crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy, chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky and tell those big dumb scary faces and nightmares to take a hike and leave you alone and if they think, they can scare you then they got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna laugh! In other words, if things are tough, be brave and just laugh and smile through it! That's the importance of laughter!"
"I...uhm....I actually have no idea, what you're talking about..." Fire was at a loss of words, being seriously confused at what Pinkie just said. "What do you mean by just laughing through the pain?"
"I'll gladly show you!" The peppy party pony grabbed and pulled Fire away somewhere with so much joy.
Outside of the cottage, Fluttershy was taking care of her animals of their needs, only this time, Tropic Bloom was helping her out, using her nature magic and her motherly instincts. Notable examples include Tropic taking care of the bear and rabbits and using her nature magic to make some grass grow for the animals to eat. After they finished their work, they went inside for a tea talk.
"It's nice, that you decide to help me taking care of the animals, Tropic." Fluttershy smiled.
"You're welcome, Fluttershy. I had the experience from taking care of my garden with all of the exotic flowers and other forms of fauna. Plus, I had to take the role as the mother of my team. Like for example, I had to break up a fight between Snow and Breeze, due to their differences and slowly talking things out or I had to take care of the others, when they got injured. In exchange, they helped me overcome my fears and protect me anytime against terrible foes." Tropic explained her experience.
"I really appreciate your kindness and compassion to your friends ans loved ones. I would do the same to my friends and family as well." Fluttershy smiled, but noticed that Tropic has been a bit down lately. "What's wrong, Tropic?" She asked.
"You know, I'm scared, that through my sheer amount of kindness, people will assume, that I'm a weak pony. And even though I proved them wrong on multiple occasions, I couldn't shake off my anxiety from my system. This would result in me not having a stronger connection to nature in some occasions, which is linked to my emotional state. Another problem is, when I get too angry, my magic woulf go out of control. That's something, not even the best sorcerers and masters can figure it out." Tropic explained her feelings.
"Oh my. It could be, because you have so much unrest and doubt in you. I suggest to take things slow and find your inner voice. Believe me, I was in the same situatuon as you. I was cowardly and anxious in the beginning, not being able to help my friends in some situations and even fell under Discord's spell once. But my friends helped me find my inner voice and it took a long time for me to truly come out of my shell and be more confident with myself. What I'm saying is, kindness is not a weakness and you should not be afraid of doubts. Be more confident and proud." Fluttershy gave the yellow earth pony mare some impactful advice.
"I actually never thought about finding my inner voice and make peace with myself. Thank you so much, mi amiga." The nature pony thanked the heroine of kindness.
"That's what friends are always for." Fluttershy hugged Tropic in a warm hug.
In the Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Big Macintosh were working on their orchard, while Granny Smith watched the progress. Apple Bloom wasn't here, since she went with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo earlier. Of course, she did help out before going with her best friends to help out ponies to find out their destinies. It was all part of their usual routine, but there were two exceptions today. For one, the Apple Family were slowly connecting with the Pears, ever since they found out the family truth and the other one was Cherry Swirl helping the siblings out. It was actually part of Applejack's idea, to make the green mare focus on something else other than her own sorrow and while it did work a bit, she and her family kept a watchful eye on her, since Applejack told them about Cherry's story.
She was carrying some baskets of freshly bucked apples, when she thought back about her friendship with Jenny and the good times, they had. That made her so emotionally numb, that she didn't pay attention to her surroundings, until she tripped and dropped the basket. Immediately, she picked them up at a breakneck speed, put them back in the basket and continued moving, only for the pink-haired mare to trip again.
"Y'all good?" Applejack asked.
"Y'all seem to be off your game lately." Granny Smith came to her.
"Sorry. I'm not much of a farmer myself...Although some of my relatives own a cherry farm. But I'm trying my best! Failure is not an option!" Cherry got up and kept going.
"Whoa there, nelly! You soundin' not too enthusiastic today." Applejack held her back, being suspicious lately.
"I'm just....a bit tired lately." Cherry answered and left, but the apple family were suspicious, so Applejack and her brother decided to follow her in secret.
Cherry went to the farm and sat down on the hay. She kept thinking back of the good times with her friends. Hanging out, going on festivals, amusement parks, malls, concerts and other fun areas on their day out. Feeling emotional again, she laid down and buried herself in the hay.
"Jenny....girls...." Cherry missed her friends dearly, especially her best friend, who's been there for her and vice versa, during the hard times. In fact, during the later missions, they took a best friend test and got the highest score out of anyone. Sure, best friends come in different shapes. In fact, the were all like a family of victims of different circumstances all sharing big dreams and aspirations. But it was Jenny, who Cherry understood the most. She was the one, who helped the green mare stand up to her demons and moving on from the past. In exchange, Cherry helped her friend on her own personal demons, like dealing with her dark side and finding ways to combat it. That dark side, known as Shadow Galaxy, was and still is a big issue, that hasn't been resolved to this day. But from that fateful day onward, nothing has been the same anymore and she has been down on her spirits since. She was about to close her eyes and just take a nap, in an attempt to sleep it off, when she was uncovered by Applejack, causing the green mare to jump.
"What in the hay are you doing there?" Applejack asked a simple question, but instead of simply answering, Cherry jumped above her and ran off.
"Oh no, you won't!" Applejack grabbed her trusty lasso and chased after her. Big Mac was outside of the farm, when he saw his younger sister exiting it and decided to go after her. Together, the southern ponies looked around for any signs of the green pony, when they found something peculiar....a small cube, made out of rocks.
"Pretty sure, she's in there." Applejack assumed.
"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded and the two went to the box, which Applejack kicked the rocks down with her hindlegs, causing a hole. But when Applejack went inside, Cherry wasn't there.
"What's going on here?" Granny Smith wondered about the commotion, while Big Mac investigated the place.
"Cherry has been actin' seriously strange lately and now she hid somewhere.." Applejack sighed, slowly getting frustrated.
"Gee, she's quite a tough one..." Granny scratched her head.
"Down here!" Big Mac pointed at the ground beneath the cube, hinting that Cherry might be underground. The mares went inside and the strong stallion demonstrated by putting his ear on the ground, which Applejack and Granny did the same thing, confirming his theory. The orange mare dug a hole on the ground and it didn't take long, till the ground gave away automatically, revealing Cherry Swirl underneath. Not taking chances, Applejack used her lasso to lift her back to the surface.
"Seriously, Cherry! You're making this harder for all of us! We tried to help you, but you just refused to tell you and lied to us! I think, you're just prefer to be alone by then! In fact, your friends did more harm than good with your drama, the dragon and now Shadow Galaxy almost destroyed Equestria and kept on lying, just to make you and your "friends" look better! I actually don't care about your past as a guardian or something, you and the others are a bunch of liars!!!" The southern mare snapped and yelled at the pink-haired mare with all of her frustrations. Predictably, Cherry felt severely hurt by what she said.
"If that's the case...then nobody deserves my life!!!" Cherry broke free and ran away crying in full shame. Big Mac and Granny looked at Applejack, not happy about breaking her heart driving her away. Immediately, Applejack felt really bad about it for being too honest about the situation and overall, being too negative about her and the others.
"Sweet Celestia....what have I done?" Applejack felt guilty about it, before looking at her grandmother and brother. "I know...I know, that I'm responsible...Don't worry...I'll take care of it myself." She immediately took responsibility, grabbed her lasso again and took off.
"Big Macintosh, follow your little sister, just in case." Granny spoke to the stallion.
"Eeyup." The red pony nodded and went after the direction, his sister left to chase Cherry.
Belle's Cottage, Somewhere in Equestria...
Mr. Mittens has been recovering from his injuries from his fight against Dark Vegan and recently, he became a bit better. Now, he's sitting on the table, along with Belle's grandma, waiting for the tea and cookies.
"So...what exactly happened to you guys?" The magenta feline became curious.
"Well..we lived with our people for a very long time, with our family being together for various events and occasions. Everything was fine...until the day, where the Storm King and his army invaded our home...Everything went into total pandemonium, as our people escaped. Some of them got captured by his army, while others escaped to secluded locations. Belle and I were one of the lucky ones, who managed to escape. But her parents on the other hand....they're currently missing to this very day and we have no idea, where they are. Anyway, we've been hiding since, until Belle found you in the quarry." The elderly gray feline explained the truth.
"Man...That's awful...." Mr. Mittens was appalled, even though he had done bad stuff before, but not like this.
"I know...But the worst part is, we have no idea, what happened afterwards. I assume, the Storm King is still out there, conquering land after land. Hence the reason, why we hid in a secluded area." The gray cat sighed.
"The tea and cookies are done!" Belle happily shouted and brought a tablet of tea and cookies to her grandma and Mittens.
"She's trying her best to be optimistic, even during the dark times. Although she is not good with socialising." The grandma giggled.
"Good for her." Mr. Mittens thought in his head. Plus, he can't blame her, given with the past. And honestly, given with his own past and that he had to feel the consequences in form of Johnny's disappearance, Albert's death and him being used as an agent for the government to fight Dark Vegan, only to be betrayed later, of course, he's trying to be a bit more positive. Even when the wounds are still fresh from the aftermath.
While they're having the tea and cookies, Mittens couldn't help, but to look at Belle. At the same time, he felt something....warm inside of his otherwise cold heart. As if something is thawing the ice out. Could it be, that he....actually fell for the tuxedo feline?
"Say, we haven't heard about you, Mr. Mittens. Tell me, what happened there?" Belle was curious, but the question snapped him back to reality....and not in a good way for obvious reasons. Like how the hell was he gonna explain this, without upsetting her? After all, his villainous past would definitely scare her away. Eventually, the amount of stress caused him to have a migraine and eventually him fainting.
"Oh my god!!" Belle rushed to the magenta feline. "Nana, what are we gonna do!??"
"Take it easy, sweetie. We'll figure it out." The granny calmly responded and the two head off to the bedroom, where Belle put him there.
"What is happening?" Belle was concerned about Mittens, being unaware of his past.
Back to Applejack...
The orange mare has been running through the woods and fields, in order to stop Cherry and rectifying her mistake. There was no time to spare, especially with the possibility of Cherry ending her own life at any time.
"Cherry?! Cherry, where are you!?" She looked around for any sign for the green mare, while she kept on running. It went on for a while, with the mare looking around at every corner and running in a fast pace, until she saw a green glint far away from a cliffside. Alarmed, Applejack went to the cliffside as fast, as she could, with her lasso on her.
After a while, she arrived at the cliffside, where she saw Cherry standing at the edge with a blank expression on her face, like she had given up on life.
"Cherry, don't do it!!" The orange mare shouted, trying her best to convince her, not to jump off, but unfortunately it fell on deaf ears, as Cherry proceeded to jump off.
"NOOO!!!!" Immediately, Applejack acted fast, jumped down and threw her lasso, in order to catch the green mare. After she successfully caught Cherry, she grabbed on a branch.
"Let me go, Applejack! I don't deserve to live!" Cherry struggled.
"No, I'm not gonna allow that! Not even once!" Applejack refused to let her go, even when they were literally hanging on a branch. Cherry tried to swing around, but the southern mare tighten her grip on the lasso and she pulled her up.
"Why?....our arrival caused nothing, but trouble...And it seens like, you and the other want us to be gone forever...." Cherry was completely depressed.
"That's not true! I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier!" Applejack attempted to apologise, but Cherry refused to listen.
"You're just saying this, just to make yourself feel better!" Cherry kept on swinging, in an attempt to break free and continue falling to her doom, but Applejack tightened her grip even more. Unfortunately, both heard a crack and realizing, that the branch is gonna give way and both of the mares plummeting to their deaths, the southern mare had to do something.
"You're wrong! I actually didn't mean to yell at you! It's just the entire story has caused so much chaos and division soured my perspective! It wasn't until, I heard your stories about your past, where I finally saw the whole picture! But my stubborn pride and brutal honesty were hindering the progress..." The orange pony explained her apology even further, but hearing another crack, she took a deep breath. "Cherry, listen....I know, things are seriously tough now and that you dearly missed the good times, including your best friend, Jenny... and I can understand that, losin' someone, who's been there for you. And that you had a very tough life, with all of the bullying and the wars...But, not everything is all full of darkness and sorrow and you and your friends are not full bad apples. You and your pals did more good than ever before. Remember the time, where you helped us out against the dragon and later Shadow Galaxy, combining the power of the elements and the magic of friendship, saving Spring Gale, helping Johnny and Dukey out and some small deeds, you've done before? Tell me, are you willing to just throw all of your progress away, just because you have a bad day? Do you really want that?!"
That made Cherry stop resisting and think about the consequences, if she decides to go through with it. However, there is not much time left, because more cracks can be heard, as the branch was about to give away. The green mare had to make a quick decision. Either perish in the fall, all because of a temporary problem, than can be fixed with enough help or take Applejack's words into consideration and take action? After all, it reminds her of the same situation, where she tried to jump off from a cliff, only for Breeze to stop her and later the others supporting her through the dark times.
And the decision was finally made, when the branch eventually broke and the two mares were sent falling....but only for....10 seconds, as they suddenly land on a platform, made out of of the rocks.
"Cherry..." Applejack was surprised and the green mare stood up and approached her in silence. But before she could respond, a long rope fell down from the cliffside to them. Instinctively, the two mares grabbed the rope and got themselves pulled up. It took a while for them to reach back to the cliffside, but they eventually got there and the mysterious individual, who threw the rope, turned out to be Big Macintosh.
"Big Mac!" Applejack rushed to hug her big brother. "Thank Celestia, you came here for the save." Afterwhich, she released the green mare from the lasso.
"You...saved me..." Cherry finally broke her silence.
"Like I said, I'm honestly sorry for what happened earlier." The southern mare tipped her hat down. "But I promise, I'll make up for it by actually helping you. That is, if you're willing to take my hoof and accept the change." She reached her hoof to the green mare.
"Actually....I'm the one, who should apologise... my mind wasn't clear on that day, especially with the reeling aftermath. Plus....I admit, I'm just scared of failures, thanks to my upbringing. As in, my parents taught me, that failures aren't an option and that they were strict in some ways. Not to mention, the bullying and the wars...." Cherry apologized for her behaviour and admitted other aspects of her past, like her upbringing. "The worst part it, it's something, that sticks to me to this day."
"Gee, didn't realize about that part of your childhood...Sorry for the amount of pain." Applejack was sympathetic.
"I appreciate your transparency and honesty. However, if you still have the issues of the past, it's best to let go, accept and learn from your mistakes. You can look back at the past sometimes, but don't overthink too much, pal." Big Mac gave the mare some advice.
"He has a point." Applejack agreed, while still holding her hoof out. After some consideration and some thinking of the past, Cherry finally took Applejack's offer and grabbed her hoof.
"Come on. Let's go back. There's some work to do." Applejack smiled and thearth ponies were on their way back.
[What follows, is a montage of Cherry, Breeze, Fire, Tropic and Ocean hanging out with the Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity respectively, while this song starts playing:]
Up in the skies, we see Rainbow and Breeze flying as fast, as they can, all while performing some impressive tricks, like aileron rolls, loops, etc.
"Heh. Impressive, Breeze! But can you keep up with the fastest pegasus alive?" Rainbow complimented, as she started to fly even faster.
"Oh, it's on, man!" Breeze smirked and also increased her speed.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was doing some entertainment for the citizens in Ponyville, to cheer them up, with Fire helping out. At first, she wasn't good with the accordion, all while standing on her back legs. Needless to say, she fell over with the accordion on her face. The red mare was humiliated, but Pinkie brightly smiled, signaling her to keep going with a smile.
Fluttershy was helping out some animals, in short of food, when Tropic used her nature magic to grow some fruits and grass for them to eat. One time, there was an argument between Angel and another rabbit and Tropic used her aromatherapy magic to soothe them. The yellow mares giggled each other.
In the Carousel Boutique, Ocean was wearing the dresses, Rarity made for some feedback. And while she liked some of them, when she wore the sexy, black dress, she was quite confused.
"Don't worry. Someone, named Fine Pride, requested this kind of dress! She liked it dark and elegant." Rarity gave her some context.
"I mean, fine by her and I'm not gonna question anyone's fashion choices. It's just...a few embellishments could not hurt. I don't know." Ocean critiqued.
"Noted." Rarity took notes.
In the Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple Family working hard and preparing their products, all while Cherry inspected and made a few suggestions.
"Have you guys tried to combine apples and cherries into one recipe? I can think of a good one." Cherry suggested.
"You sure about that?" Granny asked.
"I'll write down the recipe for you and a sketch on how it looks like." Cherry ran off to the house to write down a recipe and draw a sketch. After a while, she returned with the recipe and the sketch.
"It's an apple and Cherry crumble crisp recipe! We can try this out and make the others test it. Just in case!" Cherry smiled. "I can get the cherries for you!"
After a while, the apples agreed to try the recipe out and went straight to work.
In the skies, the pegasi flew faster and faster, all while dodging clouds. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash had an idea and flew down extremely fast, in order to perform the Sonic Rainboom.
"Ooh! I can do this too!" Breeze proceeded to do the same.
All while they two pegasi flew down and having the air form around them, they kept increasing the speed. At the same time, in separate locations, Tropic learned more to embrace herself, Cherry and Applejack preparing the recipe, Fire becoming more and more confident and performing her acrobatic fire tricks to wow the crowd, Ocean modeling and having fun with Rarity.
As the two got faster and faster, Breeze's body started to charge and being surrounded by electricity, like Johnny, but the difference here, is that her electricity is more controlled. Then the most incredible moment occured: Rainbow successfully pulling off her Sonic Rainboom, while Breeze...pulled off something similar. She broke the sound barrier, but the effect is similar to a Sonic Rainboom, but the colors are more violet and cyan, reflecting the colours of her mane. Another difference is, Breeze's trail is also electrically charged and the Sonic Boom self caused high winds in the skies. Enough to push the clouds away.
In Ponyville, everyone has seen the colourful, double Sonic Boom in the skies and the trails, swirling around each other and creating impressive shapes with them, like arches, stars, sharp curves, flowers, hearts and more. Needless to saw, everyone was amazed by the spectacle, as Rainbow and Breeze rushed their way to Ponyville. That included Johnny, Dukey, their friends and the elemental ponies. And yes, that included Cherry, who was with Applejack with the apple-cherry crisps for testing. Eventually, the elemental ponies went after the trails and even went as far, as to join in by creating magical rings for them to fly through and creating an elemental spectacle on their own. Breeze saw the spectacle and joined in by creating electric spheres and shooting them in the skies for her friends to shoot to create beautiful fireworks. Finally, Rainbow and Breeze landed to admire the spectacle.
"That was awesome, Breeze!" Rainbow was excited.
"Hehe. Thanks, Rainbow." Breeze blushed and smiled, while everyone applauded for their performance. As they cheered, the elemental friends felt even more appreciated than ever before.
"That was soooooo cool!" Fire expressed her happiness and excitement.
"It was really memorable!" Tropic smiled.
"Yeah. I know right? Speaking of which, Applejack and I have some crisps for anyone to test. If anyone wants that, go on!" Cherry has some crisps in her hoof and anyone, who are interested, tried it out with positive reactions.
"That was delicious!" Pinkie was amazed.
"Never thought, apples and cherries would go well with that." Sissy smiled.
The elemental friends were so touched by the positivity, they hugged their friends and each other as a sign of gratitude. Twilight couldn't help, but to be proud of their first accomplishment.
Suddenly, Spike spewed a flame, which took form of a letter. "Twilight! I got a response!" He gave it to the violet mare to read. It went on as followed:
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I'm so proud of taking the elemental ponies under your wing and teaching the ways of freindship. However, as for Jenny, the pink alicorn, we just got the word, that she was last seen on her way to Ponyville last night, but she teleported away to parts unknown. It's implied that she was on her way to your castle. If only we can find her and also teach her about friendship and redemption. But in the end, it is what it is.
On a positive note, not only that Luna and I reconsiled our sibling relationship, but progress was made for the Friendship Festival, when we not only found Jolly Goodie, but he also responded, confirming himself as part of that group! Although, one group of entertainers stepped out at the last minute and we need a replacement. Anyway, I'm sending his response to you.
I wish you the best of luck.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia.
"Oh my..." Twilight was surprised at the new information, before Spike spewed another flame, which took form of another letter, in which she immediately took and read it fully:
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
we are quite surpised, but also humbled by your request. However, we are aware, that you're having questions about us. Well, allow us to give some info on what we're doing.
The Try Guys are all about trying out the unknown, stepping out the comfort zones, embracing improvements and overall positivity towards Equestria's generations, whatever it's celebrating all things LBGTQ+, mental health acceptance and so on. And also overall making everyone laugh.
After so much discussion and consideration, we agree to perform at the Friendship Festival.
Sincerely,
Jolly Goodie, Lively Tea and Fine Pride
AKA
The Try Guys
"It's the Try Guys! They responded and agreed to perform!" The princess of friendship was excited about the news. Everypony had no idea, who they are, but at the same time they were also curious and excited to see them. Now with Star Time Rush and the Try Guys being part of the festival, there was that one space, that had to be filled. But looking at the elemental mares, Twilight had an idea. But she had to inspect her castle, because Jenny might be there. But she has yet to confirm the theory.
"Wait. Where's Snow?" Fire asked.
"She and Brain Freezer went out to take a walk to the fields. Just to admire nature and hanging out." Twilight answered.
"Oh my. I wonder, what they're doing." Tropic was a bit curious.
Somewhere in the fields...
We see Brain Freezer and Snow Emerald just chilling in the fields, while feeling the slight breeze.
"What a beautiful day today, huh?" Snow smiled.
"Yeah. It's nice to just get away from the stress and just relax." Brain Freezer smiled back. "Feeling better, Snow?"
"Yeah. You know, being under Twilight's wing is actually quite a godsend. A blessing, considering that our mentors didn't know much about friendships, let alone specialising in it. I mean, there was that one sorceress, who sort of knew, but her ways were....quite outdated. After travelling through different galaxies and stars, fighting evil, while also doing small deeds of kindness, being open towards minorities and so on, it's nice, when we have a break and go out to either have some fun or just relax." Snow explained more stuff about her life as a guardian, all while the icy unicorn watched and smiled. At the same time, he was thinking of doing his move. As in...confessing his feelings to her.
"Okay, Brain Freezer...You've been in love with her for months and I was held back by many inconveniences. But now it's time. I'm not gonna fuck this up and let that chance slip away! This is the moment, I've been waiting for!" He thought, while hearing his heartbeat increase and his face becoming flushed. He's been waiting for this moment and now, he's gonna take it. He cleared his throat, stood up and asked: "Hey, Snow. I need to tell you something...."
"What is it?" Snow was confused, but proceeded to listen.
He took a deep breath and proceeded to explain with: "Well....where do I even begin? Remember the time, when we first met in Ponyville, where you've been shopping for groceries? During that time, I was reeling from the amount of pain of heartbreak and loss, back in Porkbelly. I've been happy during a short time, when I was with a girl, when Radiant Thunder helped me out on my loneliness, until she saw my true face and since then, I wasn't in the mood of finding love...until I met...a particular pony, who's been there for me and being a very charming, funny, smart and loyal individual, I've ever met...And you may ask, who that pony is....Well, the pony, I've been looking for, was none other than....was none other than..."
But before he could finish his confession, a yell from Zizrar can be heard from afar, calling his name. Once again, it was rudely interrupted.
"Ugh!!! Excuse me for a moment..." Brain Freezer was visibly frustrated, but kindly excused Snow and left to the direction.
Meanwhile, Zizrar and his mole men were looking around, when the icy unicorn arrived, looking pissed.
"Seriously, guys!!! I'm in the middle of my biggest moment and I'm tired of being rudely interrupted all the time!" He snapped.
"Actually, we could've used your help. We found a spot for our new home and we need new furniture and stuff. It's unfortunate, that we have one member less thanks to those ladies, but we can try our best to move on." Zizrar explained his reason. The last part irked Brain Freezer, as he was fully aware of the while tension between the sexes and he and Snow have plans to end the conflict. He looked at Lance and Brandon for a bit, knowing full aware of their concerns, but given with the whole drama, he wanted to keep it a secret.
"Actually, what is your biggest moment?" One of the men asked.
"It's none of your damn business." The blue stallion looked away, like it's clear, that they basically ruined his opportunity. In fact, he's beyond frustrated.
"What? Why do you keep it from your friends?" Zizrar asked, but the icy stallion ain't having it.
"Because, this is something, I've been working so hard for that moment! I've been trying to confess my feelings, since I've been in love with her for a long time and I can't just let that opportunity get away! But, nope! I got interrupted at least 4 fucking times in two days and that REALLY PISSES ME OFF!!!!" He screamed all of his frustrations out.
"Is it because you have a crush on that Snow pony?" One of them asked.
"YES!!! BUT I'M SO FUCKING ANXIOUS AND PISSED RIGHT NOW!!!" Brain Freezer just couldn't calm down. Suddenly, before anyone can answer though, a female scream can be heard from afar.
"Snow!!" Immediately, the icy pony ran off as fast, as he could, thinking that someone is trying to harm her. The mole men immediately followed shortly after.
He ran as fast to the meeting spot, only to find, that Snow is not there. Assuming the worst, he ran around the area, hoping for any sign of the white mare. During his search, he heard a loud commotion and ran to the source of it, which came out of a wooden cabin. At the same time, he heard the windows being smashed, so he busted the door down, only to find Snow fighting against a crazed and feral Evelynn and Amber, grabbing her throat and gasping for air.
"What the?!? Amber, what the hell is going on?!" Brain Freezer demanded answers.
"It's Evelynn! She tried to kill me..." The braided mole girl still gasped.
"When I got inside, she was strangling her, so I had to take action!" Snow explained, while fighting the crazed woman. The fight was pretty messy to begin with with screams and so many kicks and bites, as well as attempted slashes and blasts. Unfortunately, the deranged strength was just too much for the mare and next thing she knew, she was on the ground, with Evelynn trying to stab her with her spear, with the mare trying to hold her off. Seeing Amber being so scared of her own life, because of the attempted murder and Snow being in danger, caused something inside of his body to snap and his horn glowing intensely.
"ENOUGH!!!!!!" With the maximum rage, he blasted a powerful ice beam at Evelynn, instantly freezing her and freeing Snow in the progress.
"You...you saved me..." Snow took a breather, but the expression of his face started to worry her. Before she knew, he broke through the wall out of rage. Immediately knowing the condition, Snow ran after him, leaving Amber completely stunned. But it wasn't over, as the mole men have arrived and seeing a mole woman and having flashbacks of their imprisonment and treatment, they surround the sky girl, intending to capture her.
"Please....no more..." Amber curled up into a ball in fear. But before anyone can do something, Roy came back and immediately defended her.
"Stop!!! She's harmless!!" He screamed.
"How so? She's one of those ruthless people! I mean, you and our king were taken to the execution for crying out loud!!" One of the mole men hasn't forgotten about it. Before Roy would say anything about it, he heard a familiar voice.
"They're not! They's just trying to defend themselves!" That came from Brandon. He and Lance are ready to explain.
'This morning, two mole girls, named Talia and Auriana, visited us and explained the true reason of their behavior. Originally from a planet, named Terraria, they escaped here, after an invasion, that lead to some of them either killed or captured. Hell, there were a few, who sided with the bad guys, just to save themselves! Worst part of all, their original queen, named Calypso, is still missing to this day! In other words, they've been through so much! They also told us, that they want to set things straight and talk to their current queen, Iris about the situation, hoping that the conflict would end. They feel sorry for not helping Amber, just as we failed to help Roy..." Lance explained everything, shocking everyone.
"Wait....They came from a different planet and that they've been through so much pain?" Roy was genuinely surprised by the revelation.
"Yes...But seriously though, we can't live with yet another mistake, just like with Johnny Test and his disappearance, right? Is this, what we really want??" Brandon reminded everyone about the consequences. Hearing Johnny's name froze Zizrar, since his disappearance and the subsequent reason shocked everyone to the core. He may be a Villain in the past, but he had and still has his own standards and despite some minor setbacks, actually cares for his people. After a while of the silent realisation of what happened.
"Gentlemen....It's time to make up for the mistakes." The king became serious. He looked at Amber for a while, before taking off. The other men followed shortly after, with the exception of Roy, who picked her up.
"It seems like, they learnt their lesson. Unlike Evelynn..." Roy looked at the frozen mole women in shame, before taking off with Amber.
The group have arrived at the hole, where the women are and went inside. There was no time to spare. As soon as they arrived at the centre, Brain Freezer was attacking several mole women and even freezing them out of anger, while Snow tried to stop him.
"Help me!" Snow asked for help, in which Lance and Brandon complied.
"What is happening here??" Zizrar asked.
"Let's just say, a lot has happened. Due to the event yesterday about Amber, Evelynn went insane and we had to lock her up. But she had escaped and attacked some of us out of blind fury. And now, the ice pony is attacking us!" One of the mole women answered.
"Say what?" The mole men were surprised.
"If only I know, why Evelynn's like this..." Gia sighed.
"Where's the Queen?" Zizrar asked.
"She's in the other room....But she's not in the mood for talking right now.... But why do you want to talk with her?" Gia answered.
"This madness needs to end.." Zizrar answered, before going to the room. At the same time, the mole men assisted Snow on stopping the icy unicorn and the women had no other option, but to help them out too.
Meanwhile, Zizrar went inside and looked around for a while, before seeing Iris' silhouette in the shadows and got closer. He noticed, that she was completely silent and that she was sitting in a corner with her head on her knees and facing the walls.
"Uhm...hey...Can I talk to you for a moment?" The mole king awkwardly asked, but there was no response. There was a sorrowful aura radiating from the queen and Zizrar felt it. Suddenly, he realised the fact, that Iris kept on questioning him out of genuine curiosity, not out of paranoia. With that in mind along with the backstory, he sat next to her.
"Look....I had no idea, that you and your people existed and sure, the imprisonment was not really the most welcoming or even comfortable, which lead to that negative stigma towards your kind....but...my men and I also had no idea about the circumstances behind it, until Roy split from us and Lance and Brandon telling us about it. And...man....the invasion, seeing your people getting killed, imprisoned or hell, changing sides, just to save themselves and having no choice, but to escape to another planet? That sounds like the worst kind of pain imaginable, no wonder, why your kind has been defensive until now..." He sighed.
"You don't understand the pain, I'm feeling....I broke Calypso's promise and indirectly hurt Amber....I can't believe, that I'm a terrible queen..." Iris doubted herself.
"What kind of promise?" Zizrar was confused about the promise part.
"Two days before the invasion, Queen Calypso called me to the nursery room, where she had her baby in her arms. She made a promise, that if anything happens to her, I'll take care of her as her godmother. Looking at her innocent eyes, I accepted it and held her in my arms. She was indeed, the sweetest little girl. I couldn't imagine it happening even sooner than I thought. She also made a secret, not to tell them about her heritage, until she's 18. This was made, so that there wouldn't be any conflicts among us." Iris explained.
"But what does this have to do with Amber?" Zizrar asked, unsure if the story has any relevance to Amber.
"It turns out, everything has to do with her! Because....Amber is in fact....the daughter of Queen Calypso, which makes her a princess! But I had forgotten about the promise, due to the constant paranoia and constant training, ensuring that none of this would ever happen, until she defected herself from the clan, where all of a sudden, all of the memories came back and I feel awful about myself...So much so, that I hid myself from my own people in shame....The worst part of this is...I don't know, if I'll be able to forgive myself after this!! I doubt, Amber would forgive me, due to my actions and inactions, like treating her the same as the others, because of the secret and outdated beliefs! It's all my fault and I deserve to be punished in whatever shape it be!!" At this point, Iris was in tears, feeling guilty of what she's done. Hearing this gave Zizrar a whole new perspective, which has some shades of familiarity to it, considering his own mistakes. With all of the information in mind, he grabbed Iris' shoulder, since she is taller than Zizrar, but she is on the ground.
"Hey, I also make mistakes all the time and even though some made me doubt about my position, I got the right amount of help to bounce back up and learn something from them along the way. Back then, I had a rivalry with a particular black, flame haired pony, who used to be human in original world, that went back and forth. Then came the day, where he disappeared and the videos from the Shadow made me wake up and realize the truth....Feeling awful about myself, my mole people, a couple of friends and I went to the place, he went, also known as Equestria, in order to set things straight. What I'm saying is, everybody makes mistakes, but we can learn from them to become better. I know that from Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, as well as from my own friends. There are of course moments of doubts then and there, but I know for a fact, that you're are better than that. Plus, being perfect is overrated." The mole king gave her a motivational advice to the Queen. "I may not be the right person, who can teach friendship, since I'm still learning. But I know someone, who can. And you can get the help, if you can trust me and take my hand." He reached out to Iris, but instead of taking his hand, she pulled him in for a hug.
"Please help me..." Iris responded with a shaky voice, before letting him go.
"You'll get it." He nodded, until both heard a bang from another side. "But first, we have to go back to our mole people and stop my friend from causing havoc. He has lost it, by the way."
With those words, the king and queen exited the room and went to their people, only to see Snow using her magic against Brain Freezer in a cold fight.
"Stop it, Brain Freezer! The mole people have stopped fighting!!" Snow screamed, but it fell on deaf ears. In the heat of the moment, she tackled him to the ground, just as he finished charging an ice beam. But that caused him to misfire the beam and bounced around the room, which caused everyone to take cover. At one point, Zizrar had to push Iris out of the way. But the beam was about to hit Taila and Lance, as they couldn't find cover.
"Lance, watch out!!" Roy ran as fast as he could.
"Talia, no!!" So did Amber and in the nick of time, they pushed the two out of the way to save their lives, but that would result in the two taking the hit and when the mist had settled, they were frozen in ice.
"AMBER!!!!" Iris screamed in horror, as she saw her godchild frozen and rushed there. Everyone was shocked so hard at the sight, everything fell into silence, like the flow of time itself had stopped.
"No..." Brandon was in disbelief at his friend encased in ice and when the ice ponies came to, the unicorn saw the damage, he had caused.
"What have I done..?" He was shaken of what just happened and when Snow was about to say something, he backed away. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" He screamed and ran off in guilt and shame.
"Wait!!" Snow was about to after him, but Zizrar stopped her.
"Snow, let me handle it. He's my best friend after all." He looked at the trail and went after it, leaving the pegasus mare with the mole people and witnessing Iris being completely shattered at the frozen tragedy.
"THIS WAS ALL MY FAULT!!" Iris banged on the ice with a broken heart. "IF I'D BEEN MORE CONSIDERATE AND TOLD HER ABOUT THE TRUTH SOONER, THEN NONE OF THIS WOULD EVER HAPPEN!!" Hearing this perked Snow's ears up.
"Hey..." Snow approached the broken queen.
"What...do you want?" Iris was slowly becoming bitter, when she looked at the ice mare.
"I'm just curious on what truth, you're talking about." Snow answered.
"Wait...what truth? Your majesty? Is there something, we don't know of?" Auriana looked at the Queen and soon, all eyes are on Iris. With Zizrar's advice in mind, she sighed and proceeded to tell them the truth about Amber.
"You see...Amber is...was...I'm sorry..." Iris apologised, being so close to her breaking point, before gathering enough strength to continue. "She's the daughter of Queen Calypso..."
"That means, she's actually...a princess!?" Taila was shocked, like everyone else.
"Why didn't you tell your people about that earlier?" Snow asked.
"Because....I was afraid of causing more unrest amongst my people....and i was just afraid of someone betraying us, just like what happened in Primaia or using this info for their worst plans..." Iris explained her reason. Much like there are shades of familiarity to Zizrar, there are like those for Snow as well, given that she made a similar mistake to her own friends.
"I understand your paranoia, given that I was in a similar situation to my own friends before...After the drama relating two of my friends, which then escalated to a full on fallout for all of us, I was left disillusioned by the betrayal, that I kept things to myself and became more and more cold and hostile...It wasn't the first time though, given that I was betrayed and hurt by a few of my close friends in the past, that shaped my paranoia and distrust to ponies and non-ponies in general, until my friends came along. But I was so afraid of telling them my story, out of fear of history repeating itself. It wasn't until, when Brain Freezer made me realize my own mistakes, that I shouldn't hang on to my fears and I have to let the past go and be more honest to them. It is debatable, if the reason may be valid, but the point is...You should let go from the past and move on. Our mistakes have may been written in ink already, but there are a lot of open pages for our stories to continue. There's always a chance for improvement for a happy ending. In short...if you have something in your mind, my door is always open and it's okay to show weakness in front of your own people, because they care about you." Snow hugged the Queen, which after bottling up for so long, she broke down in the pegasus' arms. Witnessing the bittersweet moment caused Lance and Brandon offering Talia and Auriana their shoulders to cry on, which they did, some mole people letting their sadness out, while others fight back their tears and lowered their heads in a moment of silence. Needless to say, the air was filled with grief and sadness at the loss of their friends, when all of a sudden, Snow's wings emitted a warm glow and created a mist of magic around the ice. The magic itself slowly melt the ice down, freeing Roy and Amber from the cold prison and witnessing the moment.
"Queen Iris?" Amber softly spoke, getting everyone's attention.
"Amber!" Iris immediately hugged the young mole."I thought, I lost you from the ice..."
"Go on. Tell her." Snow encouraged the Queen to tell her the truth.
"Amber, there is something, I need to tell you." Iris then proceeded to tell Amber the truth about her heritage and being the daughter of the former Queen, Calypso.
"I didn't know, I'm actually a princess and I had a mother...I thought, you're my mother." Amber was surpised.
"You were a baby at the time and your mom promised me to take care of you, if something happened to her." Iris looked down. "I'm sorry for not telling you about the past...there are so many factors, preventing me to do so."
"It's...very complicated to say the least..." Snow added.
"It's okay, if you don't forgive me. I just wanted to get it out of my chest. I was trying to protect you..." Iris felt ashamed, but to her surprise, Amber hugged her godmother back.
"You really forgive me? After everything, what I've done?..." The queen was surprised.
"Of course! You are my mom after all and it's clear, that you love me." Amber smiled. "And as for all of you, I forgive you."
"What do you say, Amber? Can we start everything over with a clean slate?" Iris asked and Amber nodded, which everybody cheered.
"A hurra for the queen and the princess!" Auriana cheered.
At the same time, Zizrar came back with Brain Freezer.
"We're baaaaaaaaacck! Jokes aside, he's okay now. All it takes is a lot of counseling." Zizrar reported about the situation.
"I'm sorry for the damage, I caused...I relapsed back to my insanity for a minute..." The unicorn apologised.
"It's okay, but next time, you should get your emotions checked and find way to calm down." Snow responded, in which she was pulled into a hug by the blue stallion.
"Thank you! I thought, I have ruined our bond with that stupid stunt!" He was emotional about it, which caused Snow's cheeks becoming quite rosy.
"Roy...we're really sorry about not listening to you. We literally have no idea about what's going on behind the scenes. But realizing, that the women were not as mean, as we thought and that you are clearly happy with Amber, it's clear that we need to change." Zizrar apologised to Roy and the others looked at him, sharing their guilt.
"You mean..." Roy was slowly realizing, what they're on about.
"Of course, silly! We're uniting two kinds of mole people into one! That is, if Queen Iris is actually okay with it..." He looked at the Queen.
"I accept your offer." Iris nodded, wiped her tears away and shook hands with Zizrar, making history at the same time.
"Well, would you look at that. Everything is concluding quite nicely." Snow smiled.
"Yeah, I agree." Brain Freezer agreed, but looking good at Iris again, reminded him of something. "But what about Evelynn?"
"I wish, I have the answer on what's going on inside of her brain..." Snow sighed, which caused Zizrar to overhear and consider about Evelynn and the possibility of helping her overcome, whatever demons she has in her brain.
"Let's go back to the surface. We could use a nice break after all." Zizrar answered and put on his sunglasses.
"By the way, I want to thank to Roy for providing us with those sunglasses, which were quite a massive blessing for us." Iris smiled.
"What can I say, he has quite a gold heart." The mole king chuckled and everyone went to the tunnel back to the surface.
As everyone got out of the hole, everyone admired the beauty of nature, especially the women, who haven't seen the surface world, ever since they left Primaia. They enjoyed the beautiful sunset and felt the gentle breeze of the wind.
"It's...so beautiful out here.." Gia was amazed.
"I know, right?" Talia smiled.
"Snow? Snow!"
A voice can be heard, which the icy mare immediately recognised as those from her friends.
"I'm here, girls!" She waved and saw her friends running towards her.
"Man, where have you been? We've been looking for you for hours!" Breeze asked.
"I'm okay, girls. I just had to resolve some conflict with the mole people and it worked. They're slowly getting along." Snow explained.
"That's excelente, mi amiga! I'm actually glad, that they get along after so much tension." Tropic was proud.
"Yeah. It was as messy one, believe me." Breeze remembered about the imprisonment.
"Girls, it's best to just move on from all of this, okay?" Snow was exhausted.
"Got it!" Her friends agreed.
"Hey, Snow! The Friendship Festival is in a week and we could use your help right now." Cherry noted.
"Sure! What do you think, guys?" Snow asked the others.
"Eh, what the heck. We're in!" Zizrar joined and everyone were now on their way to Canterlot, even though Fire and Ocean were feeling quite nervous about it. At the same time, Zizrar was thinking about Evelynn and how he can help her.
Human World, Canterlot Hospital
"When we were at the amusement Park, I was quite squeamish at first, when we went to the roller coaster, but Sunset assured me that everything will be okay. And guess what, it was awesome! We had a good time hanging out, while also playing lots of games, eating delicious foods and taking photos. I wish, you were there to see all of this." Starlight was telling the comatose twins a story about her at the amusement Park with Sunset and her friends. She was laughing at first, until it faded away, since they still weren't responding.
"I wish, I could just see in your head and find out, what happened in your perspectives..." She sighed and looked at the sisters in sorrow. It seems like, there was like no progress was made, even though they were in stable condition. Suddenly, a nurse entered the room.
"I know, I know. Visitation time is over and I have to head home. It's okay." Starlight knew, what the nurse was about to say, got up and left the room, but not before looking back at the sisters with a sad look. "Take care, girls...take care." Little did she know, that one of the sisters started slightly twitching their fingers.
As she exited the hospital, she looked at the sunset for a while, before going her way back to Sunset, when all of a sudden, she was bumped by a blur.
"Ow!" The lavender girl rubbed her head as she opened her eyes, she saw a purple-pink, heart shaped necklace on the ground. As she picked it up, she was about to give it to the individual, but they ran off so quickly, she didn't have a chance to approach them. The only thing she saw about the individual was, that he or she has long, blue hair.
"Oh, man...I should better hold on to this necklace, until I return it to its rightful owner." She put the necklace into her bag, before continuing her journey. At the same time, she had some guilt in her about what happened in Equestria.
"Man, I actually miss Equestria and my friends....But it is what it is and i have to live with the consequences..." Small tears form in her eyes, as she thought about Equestria and how she felt homesick. But since her decision was to help Sunset on finding answers, she felt like she burned down the bridge and had to live with it. As she kept walking through the city to Sunset's apartment, she could feel the breeze and the few rays of the sun, as it was slowly setting.
Sunset's apartment
"Aaannd...done!" Sunset clicked on the upload button, since she finished making a video for her channel. It was about her announcement about her future, involving about the upcoming graduation. She just had to study for the final exams and she would be done for the school. However, there were some thoughts about where she truly belongs to, as well as with the sisters. All unanswered questions, that she has yet to answer. Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ringing and as she opened the door, Starlight came in.
"Hey, Starlight. How's the visit?" Sunset asked.
"I actually don't know. I shared my story about what happened today, but as usual, they didn't respond. I wish, they could just wake up from their coma..." Starlight sighed and sat down on the couch.
"I feel you, Starlight...I'm starting to get worried about them and the possibility of them never waking up and thus, making this mystery completely unsolved..." Sunset sat down with her friend. It was at this time, where Starlight pulled out the necklace and put it on the table
"Where did you get the necklace?" The fiery haired girl asked.
"Someone must have dropped it, when he or she bumped into me at like light speed. But they went off as soon, as they got up. I'm currently keeping it, until I can return it to the owner." Starlight explained.
"Oh...The necklace looks quite beautiful, if I say so myself. But I understand, that it clearly belongs to someone." Sunset looked at the necklace.
"Yeah." The lavender girl agreed and yawned, as she was exhausted. They prepare themselves for some rest, while also having those thoughts about those currently unresolved situations.
To be continued...
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