Part 4 - Chapter 4 (16): Faith's Gift to the World
In the sky, the Windigos had left, the thunderous snow clouds in the red sky were cleared away, but there were still no rays of sunlight. On the ground, the blanket of snow remained, and in all directions were ponies and other creatures laying down on their bellies, none seriously injured, but each one sore and exhausted from the fighting.
Twilight, her friends, the students, the Pillars and the unified army behind them were beside themselves with shock and demoralization when the rainbow friendship beam, something that never failed to defeat an enemy before - this one even being the largest in history - was blocked and caught like a butterfly in a net. Grogar, holding the blast in his Bewitching Bell, addressed everybody.
"This Harmony you attacked with was forged from the growth of your tree of idealism and zealous need for a fellowship." he professed. "It's not the primordial force that combats my Malice."
"You... lie!" Twilight growled, struggling against the pain of the poison again to get back up.
Everyone up on the hill who hadn't gone into battle snapped themselves out of their trances of horror to start charging down. If that blast wasn't going to do the trick, they were going to finish this instead. Unfortunately, Grogar thought fast and, with a pastern motion, lifted up a fiery magical barrier between them and the area where he, his allies and the heroes stood.
"Was a placebo worth undoing our work?" Grogar questioned.
"You cheated!" Twilight snarled. Her friends, the students and the Pillars glared at the ram sorcerer and walked in the direction of the diseased alicorn. "That stupid Bell!"
"Without the Windigos here, the erasure spell will be useless." Grogar stated.
"You got lucky, but not for long!" Twilight yelled, a deranged smile crossed her face.
"But if that wasn't enough... you..." Grogar growled. His tone, which was more composed just a moment ago, was starting to get more hateful sounding. "How dare you."
"Try and catch two lasers!" Twilight dared, gritting her teeth rather wildly. Spike and the others went "Yeah!" in vehement agreement.
Chrysalis transformed into a flock of bats to drive off and carry away the Pillars from the group. Cozy Glow snatched the students in her shadow wing, lifted them up high and squeezed, giving them no room or energy to retaliate.
Grogar looked onward, raising a trembling fore hoof. He snarled, quietly but furiously, "The nerve. The gall. The audacity, to brainwash my children and pit them against me." He levitated himself into the air, as if to assert authority, as he spoke.
"Our bonds change the world! We are stronger together!" Twilight declared, desperately trying to mimic the sentiment of the big speech from the heart she gave earlier. She didn't care what Grogar was saying, and neither did her close comrades.
Eclipse used her magic to suck Spike and Rainbow into the ground and pluck them out in a spot far away. Tirek used his telekinesis to push Applejack and Fluttershy back with force that would break a brick wall.
"You buried your way into my children's heads and planted germs of insanity." said Grogar, calm, but seething.
"Our lessons will live on! The light beats the darkness!" Twilight called out, her voice strained. She was expecting that glow to be generated again, but nothing was happening.
Grogar stretched a fore hoof out to Pinkie, the last friend standing next to Twilight, and cast a Malice spell. Pinkie's mind received an electrical blow that made her entire body shudder, like how it did when her Pinkie Sense predicted a "doozy" would occur. In a few seconds, her eyes had gone totally yellow, no irises or pupils to speak of.
"Give up, Twilight." Pinkie robotically uttered, her mind clearly altered by the spell.
"Shush! Friendship is magic!" Twilight retorted, foaming at the mouth.
"This folly, this misdirection, this sickness, it will not be taken sitting down." Grogar proclaimed, glaring down and clasping his Bell, still not raising his voice a single notch.
"Friendship is the greatest!" Twilight hollered, refusing to believe she was defeated.
"Then why isn't it working?" the mind-controlled Pinkie asked, condescendingly, in that same robotic voice. Twilight's eyes and muzzle contorted with so much rage in response, they might've gotten stuck.
"You even erased Havoc, didn't you?" Grogar inquired, his anger sounding sorrowful that time.
"I made him go against his destiny of destruction." Pinkie mechanically confirmed.
When Grogar heard that, his face widened as his temper reached the breaking point. He decided he was done speaking and let his actions take over. The four Horses of the Apocalypse looked up at him, listening to his every bitter word, taking in the low pitch at which he talked, and feeling the Malice Magic that his body sparkled with in his fury. They were as unsettled by it as all the creatures in the crowd who also had to hear it. He was tranquil, but hostile. Outwardly cool, but steamed inside. This wasn't like the loud, acted rage he treated the villains to during the invasion's planning stages. He did not explode, but it didn't take much deduction to tell what they were seeing. For the very first time, they saw Grogar genuinely, and blindingly, mad. Livid.
The rainbow beam the fuming Father of Monsters assimilated fired out of the Bewitching Bell and touched the sky, preparing to crash down the same way it did before.
"FRIENDSHIP IS INVINCIBLE~!" Twilight screamed, eye reddened, and no sign of the glow returning. Pinkie stood up and welcomed the gigantic beam with open fore hooves. Behind the two, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, in bad shape, tried crawling back to the young princess. Spike, the Pillars and the students were out of range of them, and perhaps this time, they had to be far away. It was only the six good-hearted ponies who would take the reversed, corrupted blast.
The Malice rainbow's impact shook the earth. Everyone even a few feet away from it was pushed back by the shock wave. Twilight and her five, dearest pony companions were swallowed under by malformed radiance. Unlike it's original form, it didn't stay too long, but what it left in it's wake was a shallow, but wide, smoking crater that surged with those familiar, disgusting bolts of electricity. Every single pony and creature around the area gasped in disbelief.
"NOOO!" Spike bellowed.
Shining Armor wailed in distress as Night Light and Twilight Velvet shivered and shed tears. Celestia breathed in and out heavily and put her hoof up to her chest, as if her heart had been struck. The Cutie Mark Crusaders grabbed each other and shook their heads constantly, wanting for this awful event to be averted. Big Mac joined the three and closed his eyes, pleading for something to save Applejack. Discord stuck his hoof forward, futilely reaching for Fluttershy, while the animals cried out in a panic. Spitfire and the Wonderbolts gritted their teeth in dread. Maud Pie had gotten so terrified for Pinkie, her consistently stoic expression was slowly, and visibly, turning into a look of anguish. Scorpan looked down at the throne shards he collected, feeling like he had to do something, and quick.
As it turns out, the rainbow didn't destroy the six ponies. They were still there, laying in the crater together in pain. Rarity still had her horn, Rainbow and Fluttershy still had their wings, but every single one of them was barely conscious. Their vision got blurry, their ears were ringing, and black smoke enveloped their hooves.
"Some... creature..." Rarity whimpered. "Help... us..."
"Twilight..." Applejack breathed out in a weakened voice. "I get it now..." She moaned as sparks flowed through her mane. Twilight gave no response.
Fluttershy turned her head towards the monsters in view. She had only a few seconds left of strength to keep her eyes open before she said one word to them. One word of worry and certainty. "Run..."
It was at this moment the Bewitching Bell, no longer rattling uncontrollably, used it's almighty assimilation spell one more time, just as it was going to do before the worldwide army's arrival! The stream of yellow and black magic targeted all six ponies at once, draining each of them at the same time! They shrieked in unimaginable agony! Everyone except for... Twilight! The torturous magical attack affected them for several seconds, until their uniquely coloured cores, all shaped like their respective Element of Harmony gems, left their bodies and entered the Bell! When it was done, Grogar glowed with a violent, multicoloured aura, and Twilight and her friends were grey shells bereft of life!
"Spike!" Scorpan called, approaching the little, weeping dragon as fast as he could, throne shards in his grasp. Softly, but in a hurry, he said "I got these shards! They can cancel magic!"
"What good are those now?!" Spike cried in question.
"The Bell! Hide one and get it close to the Bell!" Scorpan hastily suggested quietly.
Spike, without really thinking about anything since he was so stressed, followed the gargoyle's instruction, grabbed a shard and put it inside his mouth without it being seen by anyone! His claws and feet had more control than his mind right now, seeing as he was finding himself heading in Grogar's direction!
The sorcerer king nodded to his Horses of the Apocalypse in acknowledgment! They knew there was one more thing left to do! Grogar's horn and collar ignited with an offensive spell, Eclipse's horn cast a beam of light to the sky, Chrysalis prepared an energy beam from her horn, Tirek stretched out his arm and opened his hand to cast a field of heat around the coreless forms of Twilight and company! Cozy dropped the six students to the side, retracted her shadow appendage and plugged her ears in anticipation!
Not only were all the ponies of Equestria panicking and begging for something to happen that would save the day at the last second, all of the other creatures roared and screeched in despair! Rutherford and Ember yelled, incredulous at what they beheld, Seaspray and Thorax stared in hopelessness, and Grampa Gruff furiously clutched the snow beneath his talons! Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Ocellus, Silverstream and Smolder covered their innocent eyes!
So then, lightning struck down at Eclipse's command, a wide blast fired from Chrysalis, Grogar threw up his head, and Tirek closed his hand! In the moment before this onslaught made contact, it was clear that nothing was going to pop up. Not this time. The only odd sign, something Twilight's gang wouldn't even catch, was the sound of a baby's laughter. A tiny, merry noise, right before...
BOOM!
Simultaneously, the power of four, powerful, wicked spellcasters made a devastating explosion in the crater. Grogar quickly cleared out the smoke by waving at it, and while the sound of the blast was still reverberating across the valley. Twilight Sparkle and her nearest, most beloved friends were no longer there. No signs left of their bodies, except for many strands of their manes and tails that scattered to the wind.
All the ponies and creatures from afar saw the hairs take flight over the reddened, wilted land. It was crystal clear what this meant. The war was, for real, over, and it ended in the villains' decisive victory. Everyone hung their heads in total defeat and ceased further resistance.
"Just like Stygian." Star Swirl whispered, standing by in mourning with the other Pillars.
Spike gave up running towards the ram sorcerer, for he couldn't take his eyes off the crater, where he took his last look at Twilight. It became harder for him to breathe, not only from the cold, but from the intense trauma he succumbed to, prompting him to bury his face in his claws. His big sister, whom he loved and looked out for since his early youth; he would never see or hear from her again.
The families of Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow expressed equal levels of heartache. Big Mac and Apple Bloom exchanged consoling hugs. How would they break this to Granny Smith? She was too old to bear the news that she outlived one of her grandchildren, and that said grandchild went to join the apple siblings' parents at a young age. Discord, low to the ground, looked at his hoofs and silently lamented what he had done. As he had been told, he could've ended this before it began a long time ago. Fluttershy paid with her life for his mistake. The world was doomed by him. He made this possible, by doing nothing. Zephyr Breeze and his mom and dad happened to be nearby to give him comfort, for all that was worth.
Celestia couldn't hold back her tears or stand up. She murmured to herself "First it was my stupidity, now it was my weakness." She hurt everywhere from the new reality she had to absorb. Her sister, Luna, was trapped in a state of permanent, inanimate state without a core, and through unforeseen circumstances, her former pupil, the pony whom she saw as a surrogate daughter, had been taken away from her, along with the friends the young alicorn made who championed friendship by her side. After all the lessons, after all the growth, the sun princess had to accept that as of this moment, the days she watched Twilight learn and develop into a worthy leader, those that she called "the best moons of my life" were a complete waste of time.
"YES!" Chrysalis whooped, standing tall on her hind hooves in unhinged euphoria. "They're finished! Those parasites will never again be a pain in my rear end!" She laughed in the most maniacal way probably ever heard in Equestria's history. She couldn't stop. Her loyalists laughed along with her.
"Alright, peasants! Get in line!" Eclipse ordered the crowd of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns. "You don't have to inhabit this frozen desert anymore! I've got an ocean you can live in, if you don't mind paddling and holding your breaths!"
"Our business here is done, boss. The Present Run must go on, whether they appreciate it or not." said Tirek plainly. He shifted his gaze to Cozy and saw that she wasn't having much of a reaction. "Cozy? I thought you'd be thrilled?"
"Somehow, I feel empty inside." Cozy admitted. "But..." Abruptly, she turned her back on the giant centaur and demanded "Don't talk to me, you wouldn't understand."
"I beg your pardon?" Tirek responded in annoyance. "Bah! You were always a weird kid."
"Citizens of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle's contamination damages you no longer!" Grogar announced. "Sadly, though I have all the ingredients to cast the spell that'll get rid of the Windigos for good, no sense in completing the mixture for it without you summoning them back."
"We don't care about your erasure spell, even if you can cast one!" Moon Dancer tearfully objected. "The Windigos are our responsibility! It's up to us to prevent their icy storms by remaining unified, especially against dark forces like yours!"
"How long will you believe in those words?" Grogar queried.
"As long as it takes to bring you and your herd down!" Rusty Bucket replied, hoof raised.
Grogar sighed, and then his eye caught something not too far from the spot on which he stood. It was Scorpan, putting one of his ape hands on the grieving Spike. He had dropped all of the throne shards he was carrying on the snow-covered ground. With a swift wave of his hoof, the wizard disintegrated the shards, which neither the dragon nor the gargoyle noticed. Speaking of things unnoticed, Grogar was hit hard, but it was like a mere slap. He turned to his head to find that Yona was ramming him.
"GROGAR HURT TREE!" Yona bawled, headbutting the big ram in the side, to no effect. "GROGAR BLEW UP TWILIGHT! YONA NEVER FORGIVE GROGAR! YONA HATE GROGAR!" Gallus and Smolder rushed up and fought to pull her back, recognizing the futility of the little yak's rightful, and defiant, outburst.
"Please, don't hurt yourself more, Yona." Grogar advised the child. Then he turned his view over to the children he gave to the world. He saw the very manticore, cockatrices and other creatures who revealed the terrible truth to the ponies. He spoke up to them in a soft, fatherly way "What you did was treasonous. But, you fell under their spell, a far stronger one than I thought. You're not traitors, you're victims. Let me cure you, my wondrous little ones." The super-creatures felt uncertain about returning their father's side, but it would seem they had no other choice. All of their brothers and sisters were waiting.
"What do you hope to accomplish, moons from now?!" Spitfire inquired harshly.
"To craft an Equestria - a world - smarter, stronger, unrestricted and unforgettable." Grogar answered professionally. "To end an era, give or take a few generations, so we can start one that never will."
An era already had it's final curtain call. The day on which it did would, without a doubt, never be forgotten. Equestria's darkest day of all time, and nobody could tell when the sun was setting on it. This is what the mistress of time decided to tell.
Twilight Sparkle and her fellow bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the most heroic, righteous ponies ever born, were... dead.
...
For the first time, and the only time it would ever have to, the magic of friendship... lost.
...
This was... the end.
...
No.
A pony sprung awake, still one eye, a horn and a pair of wings short, hyperventilating and sweating like crazy while her line of sight adjusted to the new environment around her. It was... familiar, but also different. This reality she found herself in, filled with stars and cosmic clouds, but also lined with splotches of Malice Magic, she was surprised to see it. Twilight felt her shoulder, confused as to how she was wide awake and moving. The remainder of her life force faded away in the tainted rainbow beam only a minute ago, yet now, and without a core, she was back on her hooves. How?
"Twilight?" Pinkie's voice softly spoke from behind. This prompted the alicorn to turn, and get even more perplexed.
Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow were there as well, lively as they were before they were taken down.
"Can anypony explain where the hay we just wound up?" Applejack asked.
"Is... is this what the ether looks like?" Rarity nervously pondered out loud.
"I know this place." Twilight confirmed. "This is where Celestia gave me my wings." Saying "my wings" brought back to mind the incinerated spots where those pegasus appendages used to be.
"I doubt it looked corrupted before." Fluttershy mentioned, pointing at the waving Malice.
"It did not." Twilight attested.
"I can't believe this!" Rainbow yelled indignantly. "All the friendship of Equestria and every land out there, and it wasn't enough?!" In the midst of her rant, she tried to fly, but without her core she just fell flat on her belly.
"So, what did we come here for? Congratulations on influencing the whole world? Something for the students?" Pinkie wondered. "Are we gonna become alicorns?"
"I don't know." said Twilight, dejected. "Maybe we just failed, the villains won, and this is where we're staying for the rest of eternity."
"With those yellows clashing with the blues? No thanks!" Rarity protested.
"So, this may very well be it, huh?" Applejack assumed. "Tons of adventures, tons of laughs, and it ends like this?" She lowered her head, coming to grips with the situation. "Perhaps you were right, Twilight. Nothing we did ever mattered." Nobody noticed, but at that moment, the apple shape of the Element of Honesty appeared on her chest, pitch black.
"Eh, you know what? Friendship, magic, parties, all that stuff? It's for foals." said Pinkie. "Gotta grow out of it at some point." The Element of Laughter, also blackened, appeared on her chest.
"What a travesty." Rarity moaned. "If I had known it wouldn't work out in the end, I'd have been spending more time packing my things for our permanent vacation than spreading goodwill." The black Element of Generosity manifested.
"I guess the greatest kindness of all would be to let those ponies and all the creatures survive in a world ruled by a monster." said Fluttershy. "I wish them luck." The black Element of Kindness became visible.
"As far as I'm concerned, you five are all I need." Rainbow affirmed. "I don't owe Equestria anything. None of us do." The black Element of Loyalty shined.
"Friendship..." Twilight began. She looked for the words for a few seconds, before landing on "Friendship betrayed us." The black Element of Magic emerged. "At least we can feel sorry for ourselves alone. As... one." Her eye slowly closed, when a ray of new light touched it. It rose higher and higher. The alicorn took a good look at what was making it's presence known.
It was Flurry Heart, laughing like the innocent, cheerful little pony she was, jubilated to see her aunt. Right above her, sleeping with her head and wings pointed down, was Cadance. The baby's wings were pointed up, which gave the impression that these two were forming a shape.
"Flurry?" Twilight gasped. She realized fast that the mother and daughter were making the shape of a heart. "Did you..?"
"Unacceptable!" an echoing voice snapped, before it's originator materialized before the six ponies. It was the Twilight-shaped avatar of the Tree of Harmony's spirit, and it looked cross.
"What the- there's two of them?!" Pinkie yelped.
"What in tarnation is that thing!?" Applejack exclaimed in surprise. Everyone else was freaked out by the presence of this doppelganger.
"You are here because Flurry Heart, the child of the Crystal Empire, brought you here in astral forms." the spirit explained. "You were saved, in a way. Physically, you no longer exist."
"So, are you gonna be our bellhop and find us a spot to sleep?" Rarity asked.
"Thanks for ascertaining our fate, by the way." Rainbow sarcastically added.
"I am a projection of the Tree of Harmony's consciousness." the spirit described itself. "I have watched over you for a long time. I have given guidance to the students you welcomed into your School of Friendship. In their friendship and coordination, those promising six creatures have exhibited powers just like you and I."
"Well, that explains the new Treehouse look, alright." said Pinkie.
"How are you here, after what Grogar did?" Twilight queried.
"His Malice has greatly inhibited my capabilities, but little Flurry Heart, a perfectly pure being, entered the heart of the world to give me the strength to hold the Windigos in Equestria for some time." the spirit answered thoroughly. "She has my thanks for that. Currently, she is forming a new Crystal Heart with her mother, Crystal Princess Cadance, to create a perfect blockade between this dark magic and the world's roots of life."
"That's amazing!" Fluttershy complimented. "So, do you know when it will be ready?"
"Soon." the spirit state. "But not before you withdraw your foolish contradictions and learn what really connects the six Elements of Harmony."
"This is the heart that's been beneath us the whole time." Twilight whispered. She then said to the spirit "I'm sure we already know how the Elements connect, though."
"Are you so sure?" it doubted. "Here's a thought I believe you have never dwelled on before. Have you ever wondered how and why Celestia and Luna, only two ponies, controlled the six Elements of Harmony?"
"Because they're honest, generous, kind, loyal, magical and bring lots of laughter?" Pinkie guessed.
"It's not about what they are, but how their goals, their passions, their hearts weaved the virtues into a perfect web." the spirit clarified. "Honesty makes Laughter, speaks words of Generosity, is Kindness from the heart, and shows Loyalty to effort. Laughter is Honesty by truth, defines Generosity by healing, shows Kindness in togetherness, and displays Loyalty to hope. Generosity is Honesty in giving, brings Laughter to the sad, synchronizes with general Kindness, and proves Loyalty to the less fortunate. Kindness is living with Honesty, begets Laughter as a sign of happiness, instigates increasing Generosity, and is a mark of Loyalty to those whom are beloved. Loyalty is Honesty with your friends, a source of Laughter in knowledge, Generosity in facing fears, and an act of Kindness for refusal to give up."
Applejack stared into blank space for a moment before she repeated something recently said to her. "Take one out, and the rest are..!" She didn't finish, but it hit her that such words meant more than Spike or anyone else were aware of.
"Exactly." the spirit asserted. "If one Element is missing, the others don't sit without power. They disappear with it. And if they are twisted, the spark of Magic can prove itself venomous. Magic manifests from the Elements uniting, but their union is found and maintained by a single, more important force that mustn't be severed."
"You mean, like, a Super Element of Harmony?" Rainbow questioned.
"Essentially. Call it the Element of... Faith." said the spirit.
"For some time now we've been fighting with faith." Rarity pointed out. "It didn't work, Tree, darling."
"It is not merely a tool with which you win battles, it is a seed." the spirit corrected. "And what happens when the tree grows it? More seeds. That's what happened when the Pillars planted me." Then, all around the spirit and the six friends, screens popped into existence. Like videos, they displayed events that were easily recognizable, and showed many of the creatures they knew from all their adventures. The world's heart was playing memories of moments when friendship shined bright.
"Discord told us to believe in ourselves." Fluttershy reminisced. "That's how we learned that the real power of the Elements sleeps within us."
"Regardless of his trickster methods, he gave you that epiphany through his Faith." the spirit certified. "He had it in you as Celestia and Luna had in each other, in Equestria, and in the Elements' reawakening. For that, they were worthy to be the princesses for more than moving the sun and the moon. The old leaders of the pony clans found it when they joined together to bring Spring and Summer to what they would call home for generations to come. By sharing what you learned with the griffons, dragons, yaks, hippogriffs and changelings, you gave them your Faith in their ability to make a difference everywhere, they shared it, and their whole tribes wished to offer it in return, giving them an revolutionary link with one another as well as the ponies."
"I see. But, I'd like to know about this "primordial" Harmony we heard about." Twilight requested.
"It's the very energy that keeps the world alive, even if the magic or the light has disappeared." the spirit answered. "It is hurting, but Faith can heal it. Remember the love of family, the decency of neighbours, the trust of friends, the reason of home, for that's the way you, as the Elements of Harmony, will take shape again."
"That's what I've wanted to rule Equestria with." Twilight mentioned.
"It's your key to completing the cycle of optimism." the spirit assured. "Believing in and looking towards others as they, far and wide, believe in and look towards the six. This is where the real power of friendship comes from, and always has."
The friends stood in silence for a while, looking up at the screens that showed everything they, their loved ones and their students had been through, from the days of the Golden Oak Library, all the way to their time in the School of Friendship. Every victory over Equestria's enemies, every problem tracked by the map solved, every reconciliation, every mind changed, every noble sacrifice, every lesson ever written down or vocalized. As they watched, each of their open eyes glowed with rainbows, as they did long ago when they learned what they, as the Elements' representations, needed to do for the sake of others. The rainbows burst out like fireworks, and immediately afterwards, the black Element symbols on their chests changed to their proper colours.
"What were we saying earlier!?" Rainbow cried out in realization. "We are Equestria's remedy!"
"Your lesson is complete." the spirit announced with a nod. "Return. Cure this world. Be their crown and necklaces." On that note, the spirit disappeared into the cosmic clouds.
A second after the Tree's avatar faded away, Twilight's group was magically lifted off whatever invisible, but solid surface they had been standing upon and pulled up to Flurry Heart. The young alicorn herself had been drawn in to the baby until they were close enough for their hooves to make contact. Flurry's eyes opened to reveal blank, white, glowing sclera. Suddenly, she spoke. "Auntie Twilight!" Above her, Cadance's eyes opened to show the exact same thing. Within moments, the stars and clouds all over the place fought off the spread of Malice and closed in on everyone. They formed into a heart-shaped field that contained each of them.
They were out again, unable to see or hear the incredible flash of light subsequently enveloping the plane of the world's core.
The Crystal Empire re-emerged from the snow of the Frozen North within an instant, a new Crystal Heart materialized in the spot previously occupied by the original, and from the entire city, into the sky, shot an enormous, glittering energy beam.
A discharge of the Treehouse's primordial energy banished the Malice smog around it, and revived the greenery in the area. Not six, but seven marks illuminated it's openings and windows.
"That's all the turncoats amassed!" said Chrysalis, seeing her transformed drones capturing the benevolent changelings.
"Relax, everypony. We have all day to store your Cutie Marks." Eclipse promised, lining up all the despondent ponies of Equestria.
"There's still much work to be done, my Horses." Grogar emphasized. "Return to your kingdoms and await my next meal."
"Yeah, back to your post." Cozy snarked. "Until next time~!" On that singsong word, she began to fly away, looking back at her fellow Horses of the Apocalypse with a mix of disdain and disappointment.
"Post." Tirek repeated. "POST!?" The term was, in a reversal, affecting him personally. He held his head, teeth gritted, groaning. Wanting this frustration to wear off fast, he took his gargoyle sibling in a large, cramped bubble of magic and told him "Let's go home, Scorpan."
And so, the five villains were set to go their separate ways yet again, with Cozy having a head start. Tirek was about to jump, Eclipse prepared her brain scrambling spell, and Chrysalis and her followers were just leaving for the hive with their reclaimed prisoners. Grogar remained where he was to perform a spell on the harmony-cursed manticore.
Without warning, continuous bolts of blue lightning struck the ground all around the villains and the foot of the hill. The points where they made contact melted the Windigo snow. It wasn't a vicious barrage. It was a controlled, magical storm. Everyone within the vicinity stared up at the sky to see something that could only be described as... miraculous.
The heart-shaped field that closed in around the cosmic space descended from the red sky. When it touched the ground, it had an effect on some of the surrounding creatures. Gallus felt a magical projection of a crown on his head as his energy flowed into the heart. His fellow students sensed projections of necklaces appearing on them. Similar things happened with their adult supervisors, and the Pillars, and Discord, and Celestia, and the various family members of the heroic six. Even the three ancient headdresses joined.
Following the brief moment of soaking up magic, the heart spun and opened up like a flower to reveal the good equines everybody depended on, brought back to life!
Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash walked the soil once more! However, they looked different! Their manes and tails were ethereal and waving versions of their usual styles, comparable to the manes and tails Celestia and Luna used to have, and sporting silver streaks! Their Element symbols glowed vibrantly on their chests. Their Cutie Marks were surrounded by images of silver hearts! The two earth ponies had metallic looking hooves! The two pegasi had alicorn wingspan! The one unicorn had a longer, pointier, curved horn!
As for Twilight, her body was whole again! She had new wings, which had pink feathers underneath, a new, long horn not unlike Celestia's, which was coloured blue between each segment, a larger, more imposing figure, and her missing eye restored, just with yellow sclera, in addition to metallic hooves! She spread her wings and stared at the evildoers!
"HEART! RAINBOW! POWER!" the ghostly voice of the Tree, from the air, dubbed this transformation.
"You never cease to surprise, Tree." said Grogar.
"You know what's stronger than friendship and fear? Faith!" Twilight stated. "It changed us! As long as it's never broken, we will not allow you to subject our world to a fate worse than destruction!"
"If the Elements of Harmony won't be destroyed..." Grogar mused. "Creatures, children, get away!" He levitated with the Horses, minus Cozy, and then, with a swipe of both of his fore hooves, the Phantom Zone portal opened up on the ground, and it was larger than ever! Twilight's team flew up fast enough to not fall in! To the terrifying gateway, the ram sorcerer hollered "Phantom Zone, accept these offerings and return some! Give me strength and doom these ponies to eternal intermixture!"
"What the heck did he just open?!" screamed Starlight, horrified by the vast portal to darkness.
A massive glow of rainbow energy, much like the one that emanated from the first Rainbow Power, radiated from the six! They generated rainbow tethers, which grabbed Grogar around his collar! For a moment, it looked like it was going to come off along with the Bewitching Bell! Unfortunately, there was another complication! The Phantom Zone was trying to suck them all in, and magical cores were flying out of it at the same time! They reached the Bell!
Grogar looked at the ponies, his mind flashing back to when he was restrained by Gusty the Great and her warriors, before he broke out of the rainbow bonds, surging with new power! He emitted the same radiance as Rainbow Power, his mane, tail and eyebrows turned into starry flames, his horns became spiky and crystalline, and a pitch black star appeared on his chest, above where the Bell hung!
Twilight and her friends released a sonic boom of magic that surrounded and forcefully pushed the villains! Grogar resisted with all his might, but Tirek, Eclipse and Chrysalis struggled to push back! Rarity put up a diamond shield to block the current trying to pull the gang into the Phantom Zone vortex! She took a look around until someone caught her eye. She saw Spike, waving frantically and calling her name! The fashionista teleported within several feet of the little reptile to see what was up!
"Hurry! Take this!" Spike instructed hastily in a muffled voice. He spat out the remaining throne shard he hid in his mouth, and a great distance too, but it almost got drawn down into the portal, until Rarity caught it in time.
"A rock?" Rarity questioned.
"Get it close to the Bell!" Spike urged. "Trust me!" Rarity was uncertain about this pebble in her telekinetic grasp, but she didn't need to be convinced to trust someone this dear to her.
When she teleported back over to the side of her Heart Rainbow Powered friends, she gasped in shock at something bright and destructive looking above! Within seconds, Grogar conjured a massive energy ball, big enough to pass for a miniature dwarf star!
"Don't ask questions, pass it on!" Rarity yelled to Fluttershy, regarding the throne shard. So, Fluttershy carefully took the item sought to give it to Rainbow.
"Go where wrongdoers belong!" Grogar exclaimed, tossing his energy ball straight towards his opponents.
Rainbow, without question, passed the shard to Applejack, who gave it to Pinkie, who threw it like a baseball over to Twilight. The powered alicorn caught it in her telekinesis, and recognized it right away.
"Oh. Maybe I can..." Twilight puzzled. Before her thought could finish, the energy ball smashed into her group! Not only that, it inhibited their movement and pulled them into range, like a black hole! She shielded the shard with a tiny barrier! In the meantime, her friends fought back against the energy ball, while inside! What rotten luck, though, as it seemed they were at an undesirable impasse! The ball wouldn't move or dissipate!
Worry filled up Scorpan, whom was watching from the side! He viewed the clash from every angle! They're struggling! He searched for an opening! He tried to think of something he, an elderly gargoyle, could do for these girls! His view shifted until it locked on one thing; the three things that were far-removed from the fight, but were trying to be part of it - Tirek, Eclipse and Chrysalis, trying to attack from behind! He punched his palm with an idea and turned around to see the other creatures!
"Everycreature!" he addressed everyone emphatically, flying over. "Let me borrow your magic!" The response from all the ponies and creatures from beyond was one of confusion and apprehension. "I have a plan! Don't be afraid, I'll return it!" They still weren't sure about this. But, Scorpan's patience was already worn thin in this predicament.
Without further hesitation, the gargoyle pushed his draining power to the limit and stole all the vitality magic from every single pony, dragon and good changeling he could reach, rendering them tired and immobile! Within 5, strenuous seconds, he collected the magic in a big sphere! Putting his thumb on his palm, he twiddled his fingers to turn that single sphere into three, smaller orbs!
"Only one shot. Must not let that Malice touch it." Scorpan thought out loud to himself. He pulled his arm back... "HERE!" ...and he threw the orbs into the air. They curved around the battle zone and Grogar, completely under his notice!
Twilight's team managed to make it close to the other end of Grogar's energy ball. The alicorn held up the throne shard, injecting the power of primordial Harmony into it, and gave the ram sorcerer a grin when she pushed it towards his collar! He realized what was going on when that little stone sent jolts of electricity close to his talisman! It was time for him to end this faster! A powerful shout was belted out from his mouth, a move that gave the ball a push in it's collision course! Twilight and the rest yelped from the surprise! It may have been too late! But...
BANG! A thunderous explosion struck Grogar from behind! The sneak attack was strong and sudden enough to make him shut his eyes, grit his teeth and growl in pain! He instinctively looked to his rear side and lifted his eyelids to see the ones responsible.
Chrysalis, Tirek and Eclipse had received a major boost in power, thanks to Scorpan's help, and blasted their benefactor while his back was turned to them! They looked at him in loathing!
Grogar was distracted by this turn of events for the time needed for something to be taken off of him. His shock over the damage he took led to shock over him losing his core-enhanced form, and then finding that his precious Bell wasn't on his collar anymore. The Alicorn Amulet's lock had been broken through to, and opened.
"Oh no!" Grogar uttered in horror, looking at where the item went! Twilight and her friends fully broke through the energy ball, leaving it to harmlessly fall into the void below! She grasped the throne shard and the Bewitching Bell in her aura! This image made the wizard's mind flash back to when Gusty grabbed the Bell way back when! She was exhausted, holding it by her teeth, and covered in some Malice-induced scars, quite like what Twilight got! "My Bell! You worm!", yelled the past Grogar.
"You've taken something stronger..." Twilight deduced. "...than a thousand armies!"
The three Horses of the Apocalypse prepared to fire their combined energy wave at the wizard again, but they were stopped by a force that rapidly expelled the magical enhancement from their bodies! Scorpan was at work again, and the power of Harmony was too overwhelming for them to do anything about it!
"You know, I do have a very special creature to thank for getting us this far." said Twilight. "For planting the warning signs in my mind so I didn't abandon our path. For helping the Tree of Harmony pass on the friendship lesson we never knew we needed. For making our magic grow to the closest thing to perfection."
"Who?" Grogar asked, feeling the magical tendrils of the Tree of Harmony wrapped around him.
Twilight smiled, peaceful and satisfied, with a one word reply. "You."
Grogar's face fell. He looked down at the primordial Harmony trapping and consuming him. He puzzled for a moment. He didn't know what else he could say now. Finally, he expressed in both defeat and begrudging admiration, "Well played."
Chrysalis, Tirek and Eclipse made their next sneaky moves! They just got drained, but still had their evolved power! The centaur tried to blast Twilight to get the Bell from her! Chrysalis made a precise shot with her acid spit! Eclipse summoned lightning from over her fellow alicorn's head! Their desperate attempts were blocked! Out of the blue, Cozy returned, making for the Bell, but it was her copy! The real Cozy was coming in from the other side, forming a spinning drill in her shadow form! Twilight casually dispelled the copy and shoved Cozy over to her partners in crime!
"My worth!" Cozy whined.
So, at last, in the moments Grogar was accepting his defeat and having the strengthened light of Harmony crush him, Twilight activated the Bewitching Bell herself, and started reversing the enchantments it bestowed upon the four Horses of the Apocalypse! They squealed like pigs, especially Cozy, as their features from Malice Evolution dissolved; most clearly Tirek shrinking back through his lesser forms and Cozy's living shadow returning to it's natural, lifeless state! Twilight stopped the assimilation spell just before it extracted their cores!
Grogar closed his eyes and prepared for one, last blow from his Malice Magic's greatest threat. His whole body cracked, countless electrical bolts enfolded it, and one instant later, his entire form was nothing but particles of sand, spreading everywhere like it was kicked. The Phantom Zone closed, having already eaten the energy ball, the four Horses pathetically crashed to the ground, and the Heart Rainbow Powered six gently touched down.
In recognition of it's owner's sound defeat, the golden Bewitching Bell returned to the dilapidated condition it was in before and ceased to glow. At long last, at this moment of triumph, the red in the sky vanished, to make way for the warm brilliance of the afternoon sun. No more snow, and everyone could see the sun again after a week that felt like a lifetime. Over in the distance, Tambelon, already a bit messed up by Chaos Pinkie, crumbled to the ground in a deluge of dust. Every zombie pony evaporated into the breeze, no longer sensing their master. Nobody could believe it, but the worldwide army accepted it happily.
Grogar, the Father of Monsters, was no more! Harmony definitively won the war, peace was kept, and Equestria was on it's way to recovery! This ordeal was finally coming to an end!
As he vowed, Scorpan had returned the vitality he took to their rightful bearers. Everybody surrounding the field of the preceding battle cheered for it's powered winners. Twilight, focused on the Bell, plucked a core out of it's bottom; a blue and purple orb which made cartoon-y noises. She waved her hoof to send it on it's way. Discord was it's target. When it touched him, he jumped, and his body ejected the phoenix power that had reanimated him. That replacement core sprouted flaming, translucent wings and took off. It flew to Luna and entered her body. Her return to consciousness was signaled by her jolting awake.
Celestia looked down at the moon princess, beaming and beginning to choke up. "Welcome home, sister." The royal siblings had the warmest embrace they've had since the defeat of Nightmare Moon.
Back with Discord, a magical force compelled him to stand upright as all of the animals he was composed of before appeared and flew into him, rebuilding his chaotic form as quick as a flash. Surprised by his return to literal form, he pointed to the sky, commanding a living pineapple, the same kind Chrysalis failed to control, to spring out of the ground and onto his shoulder. It didn't bite, but rather purred at it's conjurer.
"Ah, yes, Chaos Magic, not Kiosk." he said.
Right in front of Shining Armor, in a small, sparkling twister, Cadance appeared, fully restored from the effects of Heart Rainbow Power, horn included, Flurry Heart carried in her hoof.
"Good afternoon, dear." Cadance greeted.
"Cadance!" Shining Armor cried, relieved and happy to see his wife and child in person again, and in perfect health. They lovingly embraced, their emotions overflowing.
"Mommy! Daddy! Auntie Twilight!" said Flurry Heart. It caught the couple off-guard.
"She's talking!" Shining Armor blissfully panted. The mother and father didn't want to let go of their learning little one.
Twilight's group was getting a look at one another's gleaming new forms, when Discord popped up close to them. They noticed in no time, and saw him nervously smile and wave, without a word.
Fluttershy's face lit up, her mouth gasped as hard as it was reasonably possible, and her breath was exhaled in a shrill call of catharsis. "DISCORD!" She jumped on him, knocking him on his back, laughing, shedding waterfalls of tears born of joy, and nuzzling up.
"It's good to see you too." Discord remarked, patting the pegasus.
Tirek, Cozy and Eclipse got up after their hard landing. Eclipse, back to a regular unicorn echo, stomped the ground in frustration at losing the fight. Tirek observed his withered hands, realizing in somber regret that he was once more left with nothing. Cozy, seeing her devolved and useless shadow, trembled and whimpered in her vulnerability.
"Imbeciles!" Chrysalis snapped defiantly, chest held high. "That upstart goat may have fallen, but we're far from vanquished! You think friendship will save you forever?! We will always return! Nothing will ever stop us! Furthermore, as the rightful queen of Equestria and the Horses of the Apocalypse, I decree you! Boors! Get-!" Then a giant winter boot fell out of thin air and squashed her.
"Oh, thank Celestia, somepony shut her up." said Eclipse. She tried to teleport away, but her horn had no power left. This caused her relief to wear off. "Why!?"
Chrysalis stuck out from the bottom of boot and tried to shapeshift, but nothing happened. All she could do was flail about and roar like a frenzied lion.
Two figures approached the four villains, angered beyond comprehension.
"Chrysalis! Tirek! Cozy Glow! Aurora Eclipse! There isn't a punishment proportionate to all you've done!" Celestia proclaimed threateningly.
"I know I likely... definitely don't have the right to ask..." Discord came up to suggest. "...but if you'll hear me out..." he whispered something into Celestia's and Luna's ears. Funny enough, they actually liked what they heard.
"Oh, that does seem fitting." the night princess admitted. "Twilight?"
"Your majesties, please, give me a minute." said Scorpan, holding his hand up to the ponies while approaching his centaur brother. They watched him expectantly.
Next to Twilight, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo tugged on her legs, drawing her attention. They whispered to the alicorn, revealing information that was much to her surprise.
"I'll take this one." Twilight announced, telekinetically pulling Cozy over, terrifying the filly even more.
Tirek tried to absorb his brother's vitality, only to discover his own powerlessness.
"It's over, Tirek." said Scorpan, stretching out a friendly hand to him. "I can give you a good life. You can do and be something better. We... can start over."
"Never." Tirek denied, pushing the hand away. "I call a truce, but remember my words from long ago: to live with friendship and love, as you have, would be to live in disgrace."
Scorpan paused, disheartened. No argument started. "Very well." He acknowledged. "It's what father would've wanted for you."
"Please let me go!" Cozy shrieked, eyes red and watery. "Let me go, I'll walk away and never do anything bad again! I'm sorry, I was all wrong, just don't hurt me! Don't hurt me! PLEASE!" She wailed so hard her throat hurt.
If this were an adult, this would be sad and hilarious. But, Twilight recognized that any creature Cozy's age, even somebody intelligent beyond their years, would be scared out of their mind if it looked like their short lives were about to be cut even shorter, whatever the method. Sympathy hit like a brick, but she had to remain firm, for the fact remained that this little girl helped bring about Equestria's darkest days.
"This is exactly the fear I felt for seven days, Cozy." Twilight darkly explained. "For that..." she calmly breathed in, and then said "...we're even." the filly opened her eyes and uncovered her face after that sentence. Twilight added "The Cutie Mark Crusaders told me you expounded the truth of how disharmony took hold, allowed them to reach the clans, and have chosen to rebel against your fellow Horses. Also, they say you're looking for worth."
"I am." Cozy confirmed. "I was naive to think I would find it with those THUGS!" she blew a raspberry at the other villains, before continuing. "Perhaps I need to give myself worth. Maybe not through your silly ways, but somehow... I'd like to try."
"Whatever we do with you, we'll give you plenty of time to find it." Twilight asserted authoritatively.
"Thank you, Princess Twilight." said Cozy. "As long as it's comfortable and stable. I miss those things." Out of nowhere, her chest got extremely sore as if it caught fire, her hoof reflexively jerking up to clutch it. She began coughing like a lot of dust got in her throat.
Twilight thought fast, took the throne shard she enchanted with primordial Harmony magic, turned it into a sheet of energy, wrapped it around the Malice-infected filly, and merged it with her body. A moment passed, and Cozy was taking breaths until she found herself no longer hurting. She looked up in perplexity.
"Hey! Whatever you did there, it... saved me!" Cozy commented, eyes wide.
"I've suppressed the Malice still within you using Harmony-enhanced cancellation." Twilight clarified. "Don't let it go to waste." Cozy nodded in compliance. Next, Twilight approached Discord and the royal sisters and began to carry out the sentence of their remaining enemies.
Twilight, her friends and Discord charged up an electrical spell. Celestia declared "To stone!", and Luna followed up with "Infinite sleep!"
"May you finally find peace in eternal imprisonment, Chrysalis." said Thorax, looking sadly at his former queen one last time.
"Fade with the rest of my accursed past, like our teacher!" Starlight hollered to Eclipse, shaking her hoof.
Scorpan glanced at Tirek only once before he glumly uttered "Good-bye, brother."
The spell hit the trio. In their last moments of freedom, Eclipse put her hands on her cheeks in shock and incredulity, Tirek initially looked surprised but crossed his arms and closed his eyes in acceptance, and Chrysalis howled and tried to lunge forward in animalistic rage. Those would be their positions when the spell was complete, and they were transformed into a stone statue, held up by a pedestal and connected by an added sculpture of a decrepit tree.
"Formerly isolated, now together forever." Discord cheekily noted, checking out the statue and giving it a flick with his claws. "I can't think of anything they would want less." While he admired his craft, Celestia and Luna shot each other smiles of amusement. They knew he earned this.
The sound of applause erupted from the worldwide army another time. Today was a historical day in the history of Equestria none would forget. A victory deserving of it's place in the books. But, there were still a few loose ends to tie up.
Shining Armor and Cadance tended to the Crystal Empire's royal guard, whom were now freed from Eclipse's mind spell. Ember and the dragons were blowing off some steam on their wyvern cousins. Then there was the changelings with the, once again, leaderless rogues.
"Thorax, you misunderstand!" one of the rogues stressed.
"Dude, listen, we were just pretending to be loyal to Chrysalis!" another rogue explained, sweating.
"Yeah, we had no other option!" yet another rogue added.
"We were going to double-cross her eventually!" one more rogue said.
"Define "eventually"." Thorax asked. He didn't buy their attempts at winning his favour back. One rogue looked like she was about to answer.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves, lying to Thorax and I, and undermining his leadership growth!" Pharynx scolded the traitorous bunch.
"Oh, Pharynx. What happened to you? You had more passion for our old ways than any of us." a rogue lamented. He realized what he just said, received glares from his partners for it, and slapped his head, groaning "Stupid!"
"You're right." Pharynx conceded. "My love for them was exceptional. But that was a long time ago, and I always loved Thorax more." The broodmates held hooves in brotherly love and respect. "Hey, magic stealing monkey guy!" he called over to Scorpan. "Do us a favour here!"
The rogues collectively responded "Uh oh!"
Meanwhile, Discord was in the middle of a conversation with Spike and the six, whom had turned back to their regular forms.
"Don't sweat it, Discord." Applejack said to the draconequus. "You'd have been spared a lot of torment if we hadn't made a lousy judgment of our own."
"I suppose so." Discord agreed. "Still, I barely helped in the cleanup." He humbly kneeled, conjured a top hat, pulled a slip of paper out and held it forward, anticipating some writing. "Your wish is my command, Princess."
"Discord, I sentence you to Equestrian service, helping others rebuild all that was torn down." Twilight decided. "On the level of a common pony. That means you must lose the Chaos Magic, for a while."
"So be it." Discord accepted without complaining, his punishment manifesting on the paper in words. "All the exercising I did as a pony, it wasn't so bad, despite the fact I'm millennia out of shape."
"You're cool with it, just like that?" Spike asked, bemused. "You sure changed while we weren't looking."
"Good thing, too." Fluttershy commended. "I'm going to need your claws and know-how to help me fit your whole family in while we get the sanctuary rebuilt." She motioned her head towards all of the super-creatures whom had stopped attacking, now that the values of friendship were clearing up and spreading to them.
"Oh yeah, and uh... Twilight?" said Rarity, holding up a reflective magical barrier up in front of the alicorn.
Twilight hadn't paid much mind to it before, but when she looked at her reflection, saw that her body was all better, the scars having faded, her horns and wings having grown back with colourful new features, with the only blemish remaining being the yellow right eye, no elation she felt before could compare to what she was overloaded with right here and now. Best of all, reverting back from Heart Rainbow Power allowed her to keep it.
"Thank you so much, Tree." she whispered in tearful gratitude.
"So... what do we do now?" Rainbow inquired, seeing as the damage everywhere, all the same, had been done. Twilight snapped her feathers like fingers, answer at the ready.
With the Elements' power having fought off Malice's corruption, the enduring Castle of Friendship was entirely safe to go into again. That's where the six ponies, as well as Spike, Starlight, Sunburst, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart went to settle. Better yet, they got Donut Joe - the unicorn from Canterlot's donut shop - to bake them a well-earned, delicious snack. Their spot of choice? The map room.
"Hmm, post-apocalyptic donuts. Interesting choice." Rarity opined.
"May I request: if the universe can keep all our future challenges, struggles and adventures simple and the stakes low, that'd be nice." said Fluttershy.
"Pretty nuts where our lives went since the early days, huh?" Applejack pointed out. "How did we go from a bad night at the Grand Galloping Gala all the way to a week of full-on end of the world business?"
"I know." Twilight noted. "But thanks to the other clans, the ponies will have a lot of shelter to turn to until we've finished construction. One day, however long it takes, we'll be setting hoof in what I, as Princess, will call New Equestria. Till then, all I ask for is to spend a quiet moment with the best friends I ever had."
"Well, mostly quiet, anyway." Applejack remarked, gesturing to Pinkie, whom was so hungry and sugar-crazy she stuffed herself with 40 donuts before chewing. In delight, she mumbled.
"It's like... the end of an era." Fluttershy commented.
"Or the beginning of an even more awesome era!" Rainbow put forth. "Like, come on, we're the Elements of Harmony now!"
"All I know is whatever's next in store, it's going to be interesting." Twilight said confidently. Her eyes shifted her view over to Spike. The alicorn noticed, strangely, he didn't seem to be in high spirits. "What's wrong, Spike?" she asked.
"Not going to lie, I'm jealous you girls alone got the big, flashy finish again." Spike confessed. "The one time I get to participate in the rainbow laser, it's chewed up and spat out like gum."
"Don't feel left out, little brother." Twilight reassured him. "It wasn't just us. This was everycreature's victory, and your Faith as a royal advisor played it's part perfectly."
"Besides, we're way past rainbow lasers." said Rainbow. "Have been for moons."
"Although that part is really cool, still." Spike maintained, cheered up.
"I can't wait until we can go back to our jobs." Rarity mentioned. "Your beautiful coronation dress was lost in the boutique's destruction."
"Well, considering the extra delay we've got, when the hour has arrived I'll be wearing something twice as beautiful." Twilight replied. "Like we are."
They would spend the rest of the day quietly enjoying each other's company, thankful for the fact that everything worked out fine, they had a brighter tomorrow to look forward to, their home was recuperating, and they were still alive, well and tight-knit.
The absolute worst was behind them, like a bad dream. Whatever their next endeavors would be, they'd face them happily, without an ounce of doubt or fear.
Together.
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11790885
A natural choice. I had this in mind: