Chapter 7
"Don't you feel, I don't know, like her doing all this stuff to have wings is kinda intruding?"
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at Firelance for a moment, judging both his words and his actions, then diving at him and using her speed to plow into his side with the shoulder of her armor. He didn't budge as much as she might have hoped, but it was enough that she could use her right foreleg to hook his and pull just the right way to put him off balance.
Stepping backward in a quick three-step-plus-hop action, Firelance reestablished his footing and circled to Scootaloo's left. He couldn't spare thought for the conversation, not while he had a lightning-fast combatant looking for any opening.
Just when Firelance lifted a back hoof, Scootaloo struck again. This time she didn't focus on a foreleg, instead rushing in and dropping her own shoulder to the ground and spoiling her footing. Grabbing Firelance around the barrel from underneath, she twisted toward the side where his raised rear leg was and spun him in place.
Crashing down on his side, Firelance lost all his wind as Scootaloo scrambled atop him and pinned him in place. He reached out and tapped the floor with his hoof—he knew she wouldn't let him out of the hold.
"Honestly? It's kinda cool. She has not one ounce of pegasus magic in her, so she can't do all the serious tricks even a raw recruit could, but it's nice to be able to just do a little flying with her." Getting her hooves under her, Scootaloo reached down with a wing and pulled Firelance up too. "Next time, slide your rear hoof and don't lift it. The moment it left the floor I had you."
"Yeah, I know. Sergeant Puffball keeps chewing me out for it, and she puts me down harder than you do when I leave myself open." Of the two mares, Firelance knew which he'd rather spar against—though the Monster Hunters sergeant was an expert in using her body as a weapon. "Training's up next week, then I'm going on my first patrol."
"I still have to wait a year, but I think I'm going to do a few seasons in the Royal Guard. I just—"
"You have friends in Ponyville who you don't want to leave. I get that." Firelance started doing stretching exercises, one of which meant he could rub his shoulder against Scootaloo's. "I have somepony in Ponyville I don't want to leave either, but I know she can survive a few months without me."
The touch wasn't accidental and Scootaloo knew it. "Are you sure of that? Maybe she'll cry herself into oblivion?" She couldn't keep a straight face while saying it, so hid her snout under her left wing so Firelance couldn't see it.
"If you were at risk of that, I don't know as we'd be together." Reaching out, he butted his head against Scootaloo's shoulder. "You know the first patrol is mostly on-the-job training for new recruits, right?"
"Firelance, you were scouted by the Monster Hunters. They spent extra weeks training and testing you. They're going to expect you to be up to speed and ready to take over the primary role of caster for a squad."
"And I'm up to it. I know I'm up to it. But, I bet whichever squad I wind up in will have some crusty sergeant who does things by the books. And I'm ready for that too." Tilting his head to look at Scootaloo, he couldn't help but feel lucky to have met her.
"Well," a gravely and older stallion said as he walked into the practice hall. "I give our newest member a few days off to spend with his special somepony before his patrol—and find out he was wrestling with her." Commander Spring Dance tried not to glare too hard from his one eye, not with how he knew it could intimidate ponies.
"Wrestling and losing, sir. She's too fast for me and I still can't keep my back hooves from raising." Firelance felt compelled to admit it, not just for honesty's sake, but Scootaloo's too.
Spring turned his full attention to Scootaloo. "Really? You still have a year before you can join up full-time, right junior cadet?" When she nodded, he raised the eyebrow of his missing eye. "Have you considered the Monster hunters? Fast pegasi are always welcome."
"Sorry, sir, I already have my sights on the Royal Guard." Scootaloo felt proud of that, and more proud given how many of those guards she knew and that she'd served in their ranks once already.
Grunting at the strike to his ongoing efforts to skim the cream of the crop to his arm of the service, Spring turned it into a laugh as his memory brought back who the young mare was. "Right, I should have known. You're Captain Heartstrings and Commander Drops' little one, the filly who demanded her time be spent at the Royal Guard, then conspired with Princess Celestia to accomplish it. Good luck with whatever you have planned, though I think it will be Commander Feather who has the hardest work ahead of him."
Snapping off a perfect salute, Scootaloo couldn't hide her grin. She might be known as Lyra and Sweetie's daughter, but she also had deeds she was known for. She wanted to add to that. "I'll see to that, sir."
"Dismissed, both of you. I don't want to see either of you around here until he's shipping out." Stretching his muscles, Spring Dance started getting ready for the sparring partner he'd organized.
Under orders now, Scootaloo and Firelance laughed as they trotted out of the training hall and fetched their things from the lockers. A shower each and they were out in Canterlot and ready to have some fun together.
"Where first?" Scootaloo asked.
"We missed lunch, so I think we need to get something nice to eat—that isn't out of a mess hall." Firelance made no pretense at it being an accident, he slipped just close enough that his hip and shoulder brushed Scootaloo's.
Scootaloo had seen Lyra and Sweetie walk like that enough times to know it was a good way to be reminded that you were part of somepony's life. She liked the casual warmth of Firelance's coat on hers, but it was the way she got just enough tactile push from each touch to know their walks were in sync that made her want to sing.
The problem would be, of course, that singing would probably upset the cadence of their walk. "Where should we stop?"
"Where do most ponies go in Canterlot if they want something tasty but don't want to have to worry about which fork to use?" For all he wanted to reach the destination quickly so they could eat, Firelance also liked just walking with Scootaloo.
With a laugh, Scootaloo tilted just a little more toward Firelance. "Pony Joe's, of course."
They continued, chatting about meaningless topics and each enjoying the company of the other. When they spotted their destination, they broke into a gallop without a word further. It was a race, but the winner didn't matter.
Laughing as they entered the shop, then froze. If they'd been paying more attention to their surroundings and less to each other, Scootaloo and Firelance would have seen the big, muscled centaur standing in the middle of Pony Joe's as he'd just finished sucking the magic out of the patrons of the shop.
"Run," was all Firelance could say as he lowered his horn and brought his magic to bear on Tirek.
The beam of light that shot toward Tirek was almost blinding, but Scootaloo watched as it froze in the air and he reached out to grab it. "You run!" It was obvious to her that Tirek was capable of stopping magic, so she figured a good crash-tackle would be plan to buy some time for Firelance to run.
Laughing, Tirek opened his mouth and inhaled. The latest two ponies in the shop, he discovered, had far more magic in them than the other patrons. "Delicious, and for dessert…" He slurped up the spear of magic in his hand like spaghetti.
Collapsed on the floor of the shop, Scootaloo stared at Firelance. He looked unconscious and, even when he managed to open an eye, it looked drained and washed out. All their training and all their skills hadn't helped them.
Celestia, Luna, and Cadance weren't doing so hot. Tirek had stormed out of the throne room, and while he hadn't taken an iota of magic from them, their arrival in Tartarus had been a disaster. The doors were locked shut, the cages were all open, and Cerberus was charging around trying to round up all the monsters.
The seat of power in Equestria was without any.
Which is when Moon Dancer, struggling under the weight of having had her magic and cutie mark stripped, walked in with three of her friends beside her. "See?"
"Where's Lyra?" Lemon Hearts asked. "She normally handles these things."
"In Ponyville, where that monster was seen headed next. Let's leave the big action hero stuff to her—we need to figure out how to get the princesses back. Twinkleshine, can you do anything to pinpoint them?"
"Hold on, this isn't easy without magic." Unloading her saddlebags on the floor, Twinkleshine started unpacking little stones that still fizzed and crackled with magic—at least to her nullified senses. The rocks and their markings made up a continual siphon spell that could concentrate magic into an area.
All four felt when the last stone was in position and magic started to trickle into them.
Moon Dancer shook her head. "It won't be enough on its own."
"I know." Twinkleshine sighed and reached for more things in her bag. The first was the magic mane-curler she'd built. It went into the middle of the little series of rocks and the output of it strengthened. "Okay, out with 'em."
The curler was added to, bit by bit, by each of the unicorns. A magic book. Magic chopsticks. Magic horseshoes. Moon Dancer dug the last of her items out of her bag—the magic token that Luna had given to her that would grant her access to all sections of the castle. It fizzled inside the circle and let loose a good pulse of magic.
"Is that enough?" Lemon Hearts asked, her eyes lingering on the small collection of some of her most precious items—not the least of which a little cupcake tray that always made perfect cupcakes. All of them now powerless.
"Let's try." Moon Dancer leaned forward and touched her horn to the ball of magic hovering above the stones. It rushed into her, but though it renewed her magic, it could not restore her cutie mark or her ability to absorb more magic. "Everypony, charge up as much as you can. Twinkleshine, can your lodestone find the princesses?"
Charging her magic, Twinkleshine let out a little whinny of excitement when her spell worked. "They're in"—shock registered as the answer sank in—"Tartarus. And the door's closed."
Minuette had just finished charging her own magic, and stared at Twinkleshine at the revelation. "What? How? How can he have gotten them in there while the door was closed?"
"Same way he got out, probably. We can't do that. We'll need to open a portal there, open the doors, and hold the portal open for them to get back." Moon Dancer was already coming up with calculations to do exactly that. "We don't have enough magic to open the portal a second time. We barely have enough to do it once and then open the door of Tartarus."
Lemon Hearts nodded. "Then we have to be fast—"
"…efficient—" Minuette added.
Twinkleshine sighed. "…and give it everything we've got."
"We are going to have the worst headaches ever," Moon Dancer said as she built the portal spell. Shoving the magic into it to open, a view of the front gates of Tartarus appeared. "Go!" She stepped over the top of the stone channeling circle, absorbing every stray drop of magic from it to power the portal and hold it open.
Charging through the portal, Lemon Hearts was first to reach the door of Tartarus. Their schooling had prepared each and every one of them for this. "Minuette, you match my lead."
"Got it." Minuette focused her horn to provide energy to Lemon Hearts. There was no room for ego in this, even if she considered herself a better lead for group casting, she knew Lemon Hearts had studied Tartarus more.
As soon as the doors opened a crack, Twinkleshine wedged her own magic in to open them further. Together, the three unicorns opened Tartarus—and promptly let all the monsters out. They were so focused on their task of keeping the doors in place that none could react to the rush.
Looking around after the stampede had ended, Twinkleshine spotted Celestia, Luna, and Cadance—each chained to stakes in the floor. It was exactly why they'd kept one of them with some magic. Aiming her horn, she let off a blast at Celestia's chain, a second at Luna's, and as the third left her—so did the last drop of her magic.
"Wait, Cerberus, calm down." Celestia walked to the doors to check on her three students there and found a portal back to Canterlot. "Luna, Cadance, grab a pony each and follow me." Picking up Twinkleshine with her wings, Celestia hefted the mare onto her own back and started helping Cadance with Minuette.
Moon Dancer, when she finally had the princesses through the portal, fell to the ground and collapsed on the channeling stones. She looked up at Luna and smirked. "We did it."
Helping her little sister and niece to unload their cargo on the carpeted lower stairs of the dais, Celestia felt her age far too much. She set-down Twinkleshine, only to find Luna carrying back Moon Dancer too. "We must try to warn Twilight. We likely won't make it to Ponyville before Tirek, but we have a duty to—" She spotted two small figures in the smashed-open entry of the throne room.
Firelance was barely able to move. Scootaloo was only upright by the same level of determination that had seen her able to recover her ability to fly. She hobbled across the floor of the throne room, eyes fixed on the three drained princesses. "Y-Your Highnesses, Cadet Scootaloo and Corporal Firelance reporting for Guard duty."
"You're both able to move?" Luna asked, doubting the answer before she'd even finished asking.
Firelance, on hearing the question, strained to raise his body fully under his own power. Having a princess ask if he was able to move made him able to move. "Yes, ma'am!" He even managed a salute without his legs wobbling too much.
"We need an escort to the railway station and, possibly, somepony to assist working one of the engines." Celestia hated to co-opt the pair, but she needed ponies who could move and think, and they fit the bill. "Take what equipment you can find, but try not to disarm any of our guards."
Wishing she'd have worn her armor at least, but knowing she wouldn't be able to stand up with it on, Scootaloo walked over to one of the pegasi that she saw had hoof-claws in addition to their spear. "Sorry, sir, I need to borrow these." He didn't come-to in all the time it took her to unbuckle them and attach them to her own hooves.
When Scootaloo turned back to the princesses, she saw that Firelance hadn't found anything to use to defend them—which meant that was up to her. Testing her wings gave a mixed result. She had literally no flying magic, but she felt enough air under them she could probably stop herself from falling too fast. The hoof-claws were oversize for her, but she'd strapped them tight enough they shouldn't fall off. "We should move if time is short."
Cadance had seen Lyra and Sweetie in a crisis before, had watched them take apart a situation in an instant and have a plan to deal with it—she'd never expected to see a filly handle it, but Scootaloo's voice was solid and showed no sign that she was impaired. Meanwhile, Cadance could barely think straight still after having given all her magic to Twilight.
Following along anyway, Cadance tromped through Canterlot with her aunties, a hole in her heart growing at the sight of all the ponies who were collapsed.
By the time she reached the train station, Scootaloo had new problems to deal with. There was a train in the station, but the driver, conductor, and all the passengers were unconscious or struggling to move. "Firelance, can you check on the conductor while I see to the driver. We need to—"
A huge red beam of angry magic shot in the sky, drawing a line through the clouds before choking out when the end of its arc brought it close to the ground again.
Looking back over her shoulder at Celestia, Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Any idea what—?" Another red-black-magic effect went off, this time a blast that Scootaloo was glad she wasn't looking toward.
More blasts and explosions, thankfully far in the distance, started to affect even the environment itself. The sky darkened and a reddish haze of clouds filled the sky just below Canterlot.
"They're fighting." Luna said. "Twilight Sparkle is doing battle with Tirek and—Sister, is she winning?"
"We need to find out. Can we get this train moving?" Celestia asked Scootaloo.
"You're asking the wrong pony." Luna, even with her magic gone, could give her big sister a cocky smile. "Come, Guard Scootaloo. I have knowledge of this iron beast and how to work it."
Cadance noticed their four followers first. The four mares that she still couldn't believe had retrieved them from Tartarus were behind them, walking on shaking legs. "You're coming?"
Moon Dancer wanted to say something sarcastic and biting, but her voice wasn't up to it. She just nodded.
Watching her sister march to the locomotive, Celestia led the way onto the train. There were about a dozen ponies in the two cars. She and Cadance carefully helped each off until there was only the pair of them, Firelance, and the four mares that'd rescued them from Tartarus. A whistle from the front of the train and a thud as all the carriages started into slow movement was all the lack of warning they had.
There were more red/black blasts of magic, showing the fight to be continuing. Then things went quiet. Everypony was quiet on the train as Luna and Scootaloo managed to work the train around the switchbacks heading down the mountain.
Just as they reached the bottom, Firelance jerked his head up. Eyes widening, he looked at the four unicorns that were accompanying them. "Do you feel that?!" His excited voice had everypony staring at him, but he didn't care.
"Feel what?" Moon Dancer asked.
"I can't—" Cadance froze mid-sentence. It wasn't the magic she was used to, but there was a tiny trickle of magic starting to flow into her. "What is that? What kind of magic is—?"
"Friendship!" Celestia had been keeping track of what her former and future students were up to—she had a copy of a young unicorn filly's first book of spells. "This is friendship magic, which means Twilight is winning." To demonstrate, and show off having kept up with new trends, Celestia cast one of the simplest friendship spells—one to make friends feel better by showing them the bonds of their friendship.
The weight of being without magic lifted slightly as the newest form of magic swirled around the room, showing each pony how tight their links to each other were. Firelance noticed a huge, thick band of light rushing off toward the front of the train, and felt a giddy feeling of happiness about it. He knew for a fact that wasn't leading to Luna.
For just a few more seconds they could appreciate the bands of friendship between them, even growing new ones as they noticed the other ponies present almost as if for the first time. Then the world exploded.
It shot into the air as a ball of white light that washed away every shadow—but didn't blind them. Everyone was staring out the windows of the train as it rushed along toward Ponyville, so they all saw the ball explode a second time into a rainbow blast that shot across the world.
As the waves approached, Scootaloo was sure she saw Twilight and Rarity, manes and coats a riot of rainbow colors, rush past them. Then the magic connected.
Everypony in the train stopped for a moment and closed their eyes to feel the magic pour over them. It was like a horizontal rain, but among the downpour was little bits and pieces of their own magic.
Luna had positioned herself to be protectively in front of Scootaloo, but that didn't matter to the magic that rushed over them. It wasn't just magic that refilled her—it was her purpose.
Scootaloo felt an extra rush, having her own magic restored to her felt great, but she watched as Luna regained her mantle and majesty. She didn't fight the tears of joy that came to her eyes, especially since Luna wasn't holding any back.
Lyra's will was focused on the task right before her and nothing else. She had burned through her magic at a ferocious rate to teleport every one of the fillies and colts around town to the cottage at the edge of the Everfree Forest.
She'd only really had a few weeks to get to know Fluttershy, but she was sure the mare would not begrudge her home being used as a shelter.
Tirek had appeared without warning and had set about draining the ponies of Ponyville of every ounce of their magic and, more horrifying to Lyra, their cutie marks. "Dinky? I need you to make a spell for me. Can you create something that hides a pony's destiny? Hides all their magic, too?"
Blinking in surprise at the request, and looking around at all the foals that were in the house, she realized why Lyra wanted to block those. "I think so. It won't just be friendship magic, though. It needs to be dark and friendship." As she thought about it, though, she realized it needed one more—and thankfully the house was riddled with it. "And chaos."
"Make it, please, and cast it as soon as you can. I—three elements?" Even Sweetie Belle wouldn't be able to work that one. "Make it as complex as you need to, but please make it quickly."
"Okay!" Looking around for writing materials, Dinky realized that the best she had was chalk and the floor. Getting to work, she filled her head with the spell's effect and tracked back to the pattern required.
Lyra washed as more and more of Fluttershy's living room floor became a mess of complex symbols and patterns that would all need to be combined. It was going to push her ability to build patterns, but she didn't want the foals exposed to Tirek if she could help it.
What annoyed Dinky the most about the spell pattern was how messy it was. It had sharp bits all over it that would be disastrous if not correctly built, but she didn't have time to make it simpler. When she finally filled-in the last section, the gathering spirals that would pull in and mix all three types of magic, she was panting with effort. "I—I have it!"
It was a nightmare of a spell. It was the kind of thing Lyra would use to demonstrate to Guardponies why she only taught simple spells to be used in the field. "I'll need a moment. Okay…"
Lyra had to push away most of her usual complex spells. It was fine, she could always go back and memorize them again, but with all the twists and patternless linework of the spell Dinky had made, she couldn't afford to put anything before it.
The problem was, as she saw it, casting this would draw Tirek's attention. That was both good and bad. It would take him time to reach the house, time she could use to head out and meet him, distract him—but if he didn't buy her ruse it would be bad for the foals.
More details she had to shove aside to cast the horrible, twisty, convoluted spell. "I think I have it. Yeah." She felt detached from reality. Her head was filled with a crazed pattern and she couldn't afford to be distracted from it. "Okay, everypony, when I cast this I have to leave you all here. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Rumble—you are in charge of keeping everypony here until I return, got it? Nopony leaves the house and—especially—nopony uses magic. Not unicorn, earth pony, or pegasus. Got it?" She'd called out the names of the older foals in the group.
When she got nods and worried voices affirming they understood, Lyra started to build the spell with her magic. It wasn't easy, but she couldn't afford to use a tracer of magic to construct it first for fear that even that might attract Tirek. In the end, with what she was sure was the spell built and ready, she finally released her magic and let chaos and darkness flow, then friendship bind it all together and—her senses spun for a moment as she had the impression of being alone. The foals in the room weren't just clouded from her magic senses, she could barely see them.
It was perfect. "Thanks, Dinky. You all need to stay here now and wait for me or somepony you trust to come and get you."
Lyra didn't want to look back at the faces. She didn't want them to see the fear and worry on her face.
Now, though, she needed to put as much space between the cottage and herself as possible, but in a way that puts her between Tirek and the foals. Breaking into a gallop, she got as far as where the path to Fluttershy's house split off from the path into the Everfree Forest when she felt the ground tremble.
"Oh sweet mangoes, it's—" Tirek was galloping her way. He was bigger than the library in town, probably bigger than the clocktower. "Tirek!"
Slowing his gallop to a trot, then walking the last few steps, Tirek inspected the pony before him. She had magic aplenty, but there was spice to her that he loved—she was carrying a lot of destiny. "You're the last one. The princesses in Canterlot, the little princess they sent to fight me with all their magic—even Discord lies crushed behind me." Taking another step forward, Tirek felt like gloating. After all, what was the point in executing the perfect victory if there was no one to admire it? "And now you—"
The pony vanished.
Tirek spun around, sensing the destination of her teleport as being behind him. It was a clever ploy, if one that wouldn't affect him. "You wish to fight? Me?!"
The noise of his shout caused Lyra to pin her ears back, but rather than discuss the finer points of using his inside voice, Lyra instead teleported again. This time she chose up. Way up. Almost as high as the clouds. She might be falling, yes, but Lyra was used to ballistic travel and, when Tirek opened his mouth in her direction, she teleported again with barely a thought.
Lyra's magic regeneration was bordering on alicorn levels, and though she could teleport all day, she was being extra careful to by noisy about it. Polluting the surrounding area with her magic cost far more than the teleportations did, and those were already rapid enough to make her actually start to get motion sick from it all.
Finally, standing on the outskirts of Ponyville, she was panting and tired as Tirek walked up.
"Done running?" Tirek asked, amused. "You made this harder than it had any right to be."
"I do that a lot." Shrugging, Lyra could let out a sigh of relief. "I find doing things the hard way is better. It makes the reward so much more worth it." She sat down, content with how her little game had run. "So you got Twilight's magic, then?"
"All of it. Every. Last. Drop." Pondering how to strike down the impudent pony, Tirek just shrugged. "You know, I kinda liked your moxie. If you weren't a pony, and showed some more guts, I might—" And with that he opened his maw and drew hard on the ball of magic spiced with destiny before him.
It felt, to Lyra, like her purpose in life were being ripped out. She struggled and strained, not to keep her magic, but to retain her destiny. All to no avail.
Slumping to the ground, she felt listless and lost, though there was one burning little flame that warmed her still—she'd saved as many foals as she could from the same fate. It was almost enough to rekindle hope, but when Tirek started stalking toward the Everfree Forest, the fear returned and crushed her. Was he going back for the foals? Lyra thought and let out a soft whine.
But just as she was feeling her worst, she saw him angle instead to go deeper into the forest—aiming toward the Castle of the Two Sisters. Letting her head rest on the ground, Lyra smiled just enough to keep herself sane.
She didn't have long to wait.
A blast of rainbow light, spreading out in a familiar arc, rushed overhead. Lyra felt not just her magic return but a rush of destiny with it. Like a warm glow deep inside, she closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of her purpose.
A rumble just in front of her made her snap her eyes open again—to find her nose-to-door with a castle. She opened her mouth as if to whinny, but cut her exclamation off short as friendship magic—wild and rushing around the new building—settled on her. Plates and padding formed itself over her. A helm wrapped around her head and Lyra felt a rush of purpose.
Crying tears of joy, she turned around, stepped to one side of the doors, and snapped a salute to Twilight and her friends. "Your Highness! Permission to—Uh… Go and get the fillies and colts I hid in Fluttershy's house so Tirek couldn't find them and drain them and make them feel terrible about them—"
Lyra froze as two ponies rushed up to her and hugged her with their forelegs and wings. One set of wings was Twilight's huge alicorn numbers, but the other pair were leathery.
"Permission granted, Lyra. Tirek's dealt with." Twilight gave her friend a squeeze before letting go. "Where'd you find the crystal armor?"
Looking down and back, Lyra blushed at the purple, glass-like plate armor she was wearing. "You know what, let's figure that out later. I'll be right back, so if a certain pink pony could bake some cookies for a bunch of hungry—"
"Ooh! Oh! That's me! I'm a pink pony who does baking! Can I do it?" Pinkie Pie felt so full of energy she was fit to burst. She pronked over to Lyra and giggled. "Did you see it? It was all fwooosh and rawr and then Twilight said something awesome and hit him with our friendship magic!"
"I didn't see it, Pinkie, but I trust you all to handle him. He was a bit too much for me, though I managed to keep him from finding the foals, so yay? I should probably go and bring them back."
Disentangling herself from the six friends, and leaving them to an inexplicably-arrived trio of princesses, Lyra made haste for Fluttershy's house. The whole building was indistinct, but Lyra prepared a counter for her earlier spell and—couldn't remember one. "Ugh, I'll ask Dinky for one."
When the door opened, Dinky leveled her horn at it and waited to see if it was an angry centaur. When it was Lyra, she let out a snort of excitement and rushed forward to hug her.
Being hit by a dozen little bodies—all mostly invisible—didn't surprise Lyra all that much. She hugged back where she could definitely feel the right places to hug, but cleared her throat. "I'm so proud of you all, but Dinky, or Sweetie Belle, could one of you cast a magic dispell to stop this effect? I've lost most of my spell patterns."
Sweetie Belle was shocked to hear that. Lyra had always seemed like the most amazing wizard she knew—apart from Twilight, but Twilight was an alicorn—that she'd worked herself to such a limit was almost unthinkable. Still, she always wanted to help and cast one of the better dispels. Pulling in equal parts light and harmony, she made the silly fishy pattern with her horn and let the two magics rush into it.
The room filled with all the little faces that Lyra knew it to hold. "I am so proud of all of you, and guess what?"
"C-Can we go home now?" Dinky asked.
"Bingo! The big angry meanie ran into Twilight and her friends, and they told him he was being a big meanie." Lyra walked to the door and opened both halves of it, leading the town's foals back.
The party, downstairs, was in full swing. Twilight could hear that somepony had talked Vinyl Scratch into bringing her equipment, because the walls of the castle actually trembled a little with the thumping of bass. "You don't have to do that."
"Kinda my job, Your Highness." Lyra just smirked at Twilight, and daring her to physically move her. "Last time I let you out of my sight, you took all the power of every alicorn in Equestria, gave it to the latest big-bad-evil-guy, then had a change of heart and beat him up."
Struggling, Twilight ultimately lost her fight with a severe case of the giggles. "It didn't—I didn't mean to do it like that!" The room felt less echoey with her giggles filling it. "Besides, it worked."
Twilight let her laughter fade and thought about the situation. "I'd hoped you'd helped hide the ponies, but I didn't even think about the foals."
Lyra smiled, remembering all the faces of ponies getting used to having their destinies returned, realizing that their foals hadn't experienced that emptiness. It was a memory she knew she'd remember for a long time. "Tirek seemed… odd. The bigger and more powerful he got, the stupider he got—or so I heard. If I'd gotten everypony to hide…"
"He'd have noticed that. Right. But the foals were less interesting to him so he didn't notice them missing." Looking at the proud mare standing at her door, guarding it for all she was worth in her shiny new crystal armor, Twilight could feel how right it was to have her here. "It was the best you could do, and you pulled it off perfectly. Dinky told me you had her make a spell to hide them. Care to share it?"
"Nope. Can't remember it. Just getting it cast once was a strain." Reaching a hoof up, Lyra rubbed the base of her horn where it poked through her helmet. "Dinky made it in about a minute. I told her, 'Complexity doesn't matter, just make it as fast as you can'. It's ugly and I had to give it so much space that I barely had two teleport spells left. Tirek expected me to fight him with magic—all I did was pollute the area around us so much that he'd never sniff them out. That it worked was a miracle."
"How many magic sources did it use?" Twilight asked.
"Three. Friendship, dark, and chaos. I think I'll assign her to make the spell anew and optimize it. Seems like a good project. Poor filly can't even cast it herself."
"'Poor filly'… Lyra, she's a genius. She crafted an advanced level spell in a minute or so. I'm just glad you spotted this and are developing her talents. It worries me that not every town has an advanced wizard bent on ensuring everypony finds their true calling and has the option to grasp it."
"Well"—Lyra gave up her post and walked over to sit on one of the oddly comfy-looking chairs beside the fireplace—"not every town has an amazing princess in it, either." What surprised her was how comfortable the armor was to wear. "Oh, and did you hear about Scootaloo and Firelance? Or our friends from school?"
"I know! How did they even manage to get enough magic to open a portal, break into Tartarus, and free the princesses—when they didn't have any magic?!" Twilight threw her hooves in the air and slumped back on the chair. "What are we going to do about all this?"
"Firelance requested a transfer, from Princess Celestia herself. Nopony at the Monster Hunters is going to challenge it—not after what he did. I don't think it will be long before Scootaloo petitions for the same post." Still without a spell except for teleports—and those were almost instinctive to her—Lyra sighed. "I hope you don't mind having a small contingent of Guardponies. You have the castle for it now."
Closing her eyes, trying not to argue, Twilight instead summoned some sandwiches from the party downstairs. Passing one to Lyra, she ate her own contemplatively. "I don't need guards."
"Then we'll pick a better name, but I think you'll find that Royal Dragoons is taken, Conquistadors would give a completely wrong idea—probably Crusaders, too, despite Scoots' obvious preferences…" Chewing slowly after that, Lyra looked over at Twilight when the other mare gasped.
"What about Royal Friends?" Twilight asked.
Letting the words percolate through her mind, Lyra wanted to dislike it but there was something there that worked. "Scootaloo has done several things—even just outright helped Princess Celestia with a big problem. Firelance hasn't done anything other than today's effort."
"And, last I checked, you've never done anything for any royal ponies." Twilight stuck her tongue out at Lyra before breaking into giggles. "Besides, I'm the princess, I get to decide these things. Do we get to make up a new uniform?"
"Careful, if you say that too loud, Rarity will come running. But, seriously, offer her the chance to make our dress uniforms. She'll love it, we'll get amazing outfits, and you get to not have to worry about some lunatic in Canterlot trying to do it."
Twilight nodded to that. "I should get back to the party—We should get back to the party. Do you think Firelance will say anything about this transfer request to me?" Standing, she regretted having to leave the peace and solitude of her new—whatever the room was called. Twilight would need to get some royal surveyors in to catalog all the rooms. So far, and she wasn't completely sure, she had yet to find an end to any of the hallways. "I miss my library."
Stopping beside Twilight, Lyra reached out and pulled her into a hug. "I do too. That tree had—it had a lot of character."
Relaxing against her friend, Twilight let her tears flow. All the memories of time spent in her library, all the books and experiences she'd shared with others. "I don't even know who had books out."
Just hugging, Lyra let Twilight complain about all the things she wanted to. From the extra halls that needed polishing and cleaning, to losing her favorite reading cushion. There was a litany of things a mile long, and Lyra just listened to them.
Eventually, Twilight ran out of tears. She just clung to Lyra, face pressed to her friend's neck, and let loose the sobs she needed to. It was one thing to lose a library, but another to lose a home. "Can we get Tirek back out of Tartarus?"
"Why, Twilight?" Lyra asked, sensing that maybe Twilight might be hugged out.
"I want to blast him a few more times." Trying her best to pout, Twilight tried to ignore the wet patch on Lyra's neck. After a few moments of waiting for Lyra to notice and correct her coat with a quick spell, Twilight remembered that her friend lacked most of her patterns. "Oh, um, let me fix your coat."
Smiling like a fool, Lyra stood there and let Twilight fuss with the damp patch on her coat. All it really needed was a quick dry spell, but Twilight got carried away. "Is it dry?" Lyra asked.
"Yeah, but—"
"Come on, then. I like this armor, but I might have to stop wearing the helmet, though. It claims a little of my peripheral vision. Not sure how protective it is against strikes or magic. We'll have to test that." She marched to a set of doors that opened out into the big hallways at the top of the stairs in the huge ballroom where the party was still going on. "Want me to announce you?"
"Don't—you—dare." Twilight gave Lyra a hard stare before giggling. "Can we just walk down together, as friends?"
Lyra nodded and waited for Twilight to walk up beside her, said, "Just this once," and opened the doors.
The wash of thumping music almost pushed the pair back into the hall they'd just come from, but they shrugged that off and made their way down the stairs. By the time they reached the bottom, the music had gotten much quieter.
Everypony in the room cheered, even Twilight's five friends, even Spike. She felt Lyra step off to the side and so, alone, walked up to Celestia, Luna, and Cadance to join them for a moment. "Th-Thanks, everypony. This is all a bit overwhelming, but I appreciate the well-wishes and—" She froze mid-sentence as a cupcake was shoved into her mouth; a delicious cupcake.
Lyra didn't expect to be confronted by Rarity and Applejack, but they carefully backed her into a corner. "Can I help you with—?"
"Yes, but I believe things are the other way around." Rarity's voice was, as usual, impeccable. She'd already spent most of the night hobnobbing with princesses, but when Applejack had spoken to her she'd agreed that they both needed to speak about something important with Lyra.
Lyra, as usual when beholding Rarity, had to very clearly remind herself that she was married to her Bon Bon. "Oh. Uh. What's that?"
"We felt what Tirek was doin' to everypony. It—" Applejack had promised Rarity could do the talking, but she couldn't help herself.
"It was just horrid. I had moments when I couldn't even think about sewing!" Levitating a fan up, Rarity fanned herself to banish the horrible memory. "What we'd like to do, with the utmost sincerity and as representatives of our families, is thank you. Profusely thank you."
"Even after dealin' with Tirek, there was still a lump in my throat at the thought of what everypony went through. When I realized it would have affected my family, too—Shucks, it was almost as bad as when Tirek drained me in the first place."
"Then you said you'd hidden all the foals in Fluttershy's house. I could scarcely hope that you'd managed to keep Sweetie Belle—"
"… and Apple Bloom—"
"… from his clutches." Rarity sighed. "You did what we couldn't."
Lyra snorted and shook her head. "And you did what nopony else in Equestria could." Twirling a hoof in the air, Lyra continued. "You have probably heard this a million times, but you're all my heroes."
"Darling, that's—"
"Wait just a—"
"The thing," Lyra said, cutting in on both of them with a slightly-below-parade-ground-casual-voice, "is that you can't change that with words. You are my heroes, all of you, and it is an honor to do my best so that you can do yours—for everypony."
"Darn," Rarity said. When Applejack stared at her, she felt compelled to continue—though she would have anyway. "I had practiced this speech. I had run over it a dozen times in my head. Now Lyra goes and relegates it to the second-best spot for the night?"
Applejack snorted and laughed. "Drama queens, both of ya. Besides, I think the princesses are going to say some words. Last I heard, they're all way better at speeches than either of y'all."
"I won't argue with that." Lyra turned, along with everyone else, to see where four alicorns were facing them. The look of pride on Celestia, Luna, and Cadance's faces said it all for Lyra—they'd trusted Equestria and probably the whole world to Twilight, and they'd been justified.
Luna pondered, for just a moment, engaging in some gratuitous use of the Royal Canterlot Voice, but she feared that a castle made of crystal might not actually survive it. She was pleased to see that she wouldn't need to tempt fate or structural integrity. "We all owe Princess Twilight Sparkle"—Luna didn't mean to slip, but quickly corrected and returned to her normal tone—"a great debt of gratitude. She has proven herself to be not just an alicorn, but a princess. I won't lie, I was skeptical of my sister's plan when I first heard it—I needn't have been. I have spoken to several of you, heard how our newest princess fought both with skill and then with her heart, and I find no reason to ever doubt her royal highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle, again."
Twilight wanted to stare at Luna in surprise. She hadn't realized Luna had felt any reluctance beyond what was sane to under the circumstances, but the support rallied her emotions toward elation.
"I've known Twilight most of her life. I took care of her as a tiny filly and watched her grow into the mare you see now. I was hesitant, like Luna, to part with all my magic. It had nothing to do with Twilight and everything to do with feeling like I was giving up. But, remembering that my sister-in-law never stands alone against any threat"—Cadance took a moment to look around the room, making eye contact with nearly everyone present—"I knew she was the right pony to put our trust in."
Now it was a struggle to keep from rushing around and hugging everyone. Twilight, though, was left waiting for Celestia.
"No pony has worked harder to protect Equestria than you, Twilight. You have shown me such hard work and determination that I wonder why anyone would think to test us. I find it a relief, after holding Equestria together for a thousand long years, to have such brave ponies as you, my sister, and my niece to help.
"The future of Equestria is brighter than it has ever been before, and while I don't doubt there will be more challenges ahead of us—it will be us that takes them on. Together we are stronger of heart and mind than anyone who seeks to destroy Equestria and ponykind."
Twilight gave up trying to be the regal and detached princess. She rushed to Celestia's side and hugged her. Though she was still tiny compared to Celestia, Twilight had never felt so close to her former mentor in stature. Then, realizing there were two others missing out, Twilight reached out with her wings and her magic and pulled Cadance and Luna into the hug.
"You were right," Lyra told Applejack.
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I wasn’t expecting Tirek already, but this was a thrilling way to handle him. Thank you for it.
Also, I hadn’t considered what dark friendship magic would entail. Fascinating stuff.
So, Lyra, how long will it take to re-memorize all those discarded patterns?
Ah, great chapter! I really like this story, it's so "comfy", you have no idea : )
That escalated quickly. Wonderful chapter. I might have teared up a little when Scootaloo and Firelance reported for duty. R.I.P. Library Tree.
i love this chapter amazing.
Royal Friends sounds like an innuendo for a harem you know. Wonder if Twilight secretly planned that.
Things have changed, things have improved.
Dinky and Lyra can stage the Raid Of Alexandria on the Tree between Twilight leaving it and it being blasted?
Well that's, lovely, just lovely. Centuries of work and monster control all blown to...
Well nuts, we didn't manage to butterfly the crystalline abomination away. Ah well, now Twilight has a place to house the garrison that's going to be foisted on her.
The monster hunters will have to work overtime to recapture all the escaped monsters. I like how Lyra managed to hide the foals. Also Tirek's appearance was a bit of a surprise since I hadn't guessed we were there already.
For one part, you protect the children , and in the same chapter you have freking child soldiers. Is very hard to read for me
This isn't the right type of story for this, but I had briefly wondered if Lyra would revert back to human with no magic and no destiny.
11300588 I pondered it, but the fact is that it would take magic to change her back to human again. Losing magic just leaves her a magic-deprived unicorn. It would require some kind of weird magic that tries to reverse fate to actually make her into a human—at which point the magic would start to affect her again.
Snrk! But Bonny likes the wings.
Hehehehe.
11300605
Such as a certain overpowered unicorn rewriting time?
No rainbow, no Cutie Mark.
Could even posit that the rainbow was what really pushed all the magic to the overflowing point and caused Thestralia in the first place.
Scoots doesn't have a cutie mark yet.
11675059 Ack! Clearly Discord had something to do with this! Thanks.
Lyra having been dubbed official Royal Friend is frickin hilarious!
Destiny is a type of magic now? Huh.