When the Elements of Harmony are defeated, three little fillies are left to pick up the pieces. In Canterlot, a few Royals struggle with the same problems.
When the Elements of Harmony are defeated, three little fillies are left to pick up the pieces. In Canterlot, a few Royals struggle with the same problems. Image by High-Roller2108
Newspapers and magazines all across Equestria heralded the news. There wasn't any pony who didn't know: The Elements of Harmony had fallen in their last battle. The evil had been defeated, of course, but the nation still mourned the heroes. None more than the little fillies huddled together in blankets in their club house.
The rain pouring from the sky only intensified the somber mood in the normally joyous place. There were no giggles or whispers of secret plans. The usual light hearted mood of the clubhouse had been replaced with a muffled silence, punctuated only by the sobs and sniffles of the three fillies.
It had been a week since the declaration of a new holiday, and a week since the fillies had been shuffled through funerals and memorial speeches. So many things were still happening, but it had been all signing papers and attending celebrations of the lives the Elements had lived. What they needed was each other.
They hadn't said a word since they had arrived. Apple Bloom had been the first, wanting to be in the clubhouse her sister had helped build then given to her. Sweetie Belle had came not long after, searching for the comfort of someone who truly understood, and snuggled in next to Apple Bloom. Finally Scootaloo had arrived, lying on the other side of the farm filly. It was hard to tell how much time had passed, not that the three fillies cared. Occasionally one of them would break down, and the others would wrap her in a tight embrace.
The Elements of Harmony were invincible. Nothing could harm them. After all, they had the Princesses’ blessing. One was even a Princess herself!
Not that it had stopped what had happened. The three fillies had thought their role models were invincible. Now they were faced with the mortality of the ponies they had looked up to.
"AJ said she hated days like today." Apple Bloom's voice was hushed, but compared to the silence before, it seemed to fill the room. "She always said they made it impossible to work. But I always loved 'em. She would always have hot cocoa for me when I woke up, and make me pancakes. We would do house chores, and then she would always make some real good soup for lunch, ‘cause by then I'd be getting cold. The fire in the living room wasn't really enough to reach the whole house." Her voice broke on the last word. A sob shook her body, and then another. She gasped for breath, trying to control her emotions. "And then she'd play with me the rest of the day. All day. Mac would play some, but he was out in the barn a lot. And Granny would fall asleep. AJ and I would be together all day. We had so much fun. I would get to help her make chili for dinner, too. And after dinner, we would get a blanket and wrap up together, and she would read to me."
Apple Bloom squeezed her eyes together and shook her head. "I just want her back," she whispered. "I need my sister." Sweetie Belle stroked Apple Bloom's hair, making soft, comforting noises.
Scootaloo watched, tears silently falling onto her cheeks. "Me and Dash didn't do stuff like that. I mean, I was only ever at her house once. Mom and dad didn't like her too much, but she was teaching me to fly for free, so they didn't tell me I couldn't hang out with her. We never hung out on days like today. She was always busy with Pinkie. But on those really great days, where the sky was clear and the sun was bright, she would take me flying." Scootaloo smiled, even as more tears fell. "She would take me up onto clouds. She would show me wing exercises. I know doctors say I can't ever really fly, but Dash said that didn't mean I shouldn't keep my wings in shape and stuff." Scootaloo let out a small laugh. "I asked her why she put up with me, one day. I said I wasn't even really a pegasus, I can't fly or work weather or anything. And she said that I had a pegasus heart, and that was all that mattered."
Her voice started shaking as she continued, though she never lost the smile. "She said it didn't matter that I couldn't fly through the air. She was really proud of what I could do, and how awesome I was on a scooter. Then she asked me if I thought Fluttershy was less of a pegasus because she didn't fly. And really, that made me feel really good about myself. She always made me feel good about myself, even when I failed at something. She was a great sister, even if she wasn't related to me.
"I miss her a lot too." She leaned over and nuzzled Apple Bloom, who pulled her into the hug she and Sweetie Belle were in. Sweetie wrapped a hoof tightly around Scootaloo.
Sweetie took a deep breath. Then another. Then another. "I think the hardest part is knowing I should have been nicer." The words were laced with anguish. "We didn't really like the same things, but she was my sister. I wish I had let her make more clothes for me. Or let her teach me about color palettes and all that stuff. It always just seemed so boring. Especially after she would go outside and play and even get dirty with me, and I wouldn't ever do any of that fancy stuff she liked. I...I feel like I should have. It would have made her happy. It would have been better than fighting with her before she left." Sweetie Belle barely squeaked out the last few words.
They held each other close. There wasn't much they could do, but be there for each other. More stories were told, throughout the day, and soon the sun was setting. They would have stayed there for the night had no pony bothered them. But Big Mac's voice floated up through the windows. "Girls, it's time to come outta there. Scootaloo’s and Sweetie Belle's parents are here. Come on now." The three fillies looked at each other, gave each other one last hug, and slowly walked out.
Sweetie Belle ran into her mother's open embrace. Then she climbed onto her father’s back, her face pressed into his mane as they walked away.
Scootaloo trudged over to her parents. Her mother asked if she was okay, but Scootaloo just kept walking. The earth pony couple exchanged worried looks before waving goodbye to Big Mac and following their daughter.
Big Mac looked over at Apple Bloom. "You ready to get back to the house?" he asked. Not looking up from the ground, Apple Bloom shrugged. "Come on, then. Granny’s getting worried."
Slowly, the brother and sister walked through the rain to their farmhouse, both imagining another sister walking with them.
Spike had never hated the castle in Canterlot more than he did at that current moment. He hated the tapestries, he hated the guards, he hated the cold stones and the soft carpets. He hated the servants and the staff. He hated everything about the castle with every ounce of his being. What he hated the most, however, were these stupid, colorful, stained-glass windows that Celestia seemed to insist on having made. The morning’s bright, cheerful sunlight flooded through them, the colors dancing on the floor as if there was something to revel in. His footfalls were loud, echoing through the hall, giving more than enough warning to anyone in the hall of his approach as he stomped his way to the room.
He hated the way the guards just opened the door for him and the looks they gave him. He didn’t want to be in this castle or in this town or around any of these ponies. He just wanted to be home, two weeks ago. He wanted to be in the kitchen, fixing Twilight tea while she ran frantically around trying to find this book or that reference article. He wanted to be back with her, and not in some stuffy, old, drafty castle that no one in Equestria even liked.
Finally, he reached his destination. He didn’t look up, even though he knew Twilight would be highly upset with him for not doing so. He just didn’t care anymore. He was not happy, and he was prepared to make it a well-known fact. He hopped up into a chair and sat, glaring at the table as if it were all the wooden structure’s fault that he was currently sitting there. He ignored all the words said, not even bothering to see if any were directed at him. He was required to be there, but he wasn’t required to do anything else.
At least, not until he heard a broken, wavering voice. Spike didn’t know that voice could hold that amount of pain. “Please listen, Spike. This is important.” Spike blinked, but leveled his gaze at the white unicorn stallion sitting in front of him. “You can come live with us in the Crystal Empire, or stay with Celestia and Luna here, or…well, if you want something else, I’m sure it can be arranged.”
Finally, Spike took in the scene around him. Cadance was gripping Shining Armor’s hoof tightly, her fur wet where near literal streams of tears rolled down her face. Spike had been comforted when Cadance and Shining Armor had surrounded them when the news first hit. They had babied him, he knew, but he had appreciated it. He was allowed to just be sad, just like everyone else. And then it had seemed it wasn’t okay to be sad anymore. A brave face and a stiff upper lip had been expected of everyone from the castle. Cadance was special for Spike, though. In the nights, when he wasn’t able to sleep, he went to the old rooms he and Twilight used to share in the castle, before she had the large research observatory. It seemed Cadance had the same idea. He had walked in while she had been sitting on the bed, stroking the pillow while loud sobs had shook her entire body. When she had noticed Spike, he had held him close, nearly too tightly, and they had been sad together, even though they weren’t supposed to be.
Luna had surprised Spike. He knew she and Twilight were friends, of course, but the Princess of the Night had simply shaken her head and expressed how sad it was that such young ponies should die, but that had been it. Spike’s stomach twisted into angry hot knots as his eyes fell onto her. He understood that she had lived since at least the dawn of Equestria. He understood that she had lost many friends and loved ones through and to time, but that didn’t mean that Twilight deserved less. No, she deserved the best. She was a better unicorn than Starswirl, and he knew a lot about Starswirl. Taking his eyes off of her as quickly as he could, he looked at Celestia.
This hurt is heart. The Princess’s mane wasn’t flowing in its ethereal wind. The soft, kind glint her eye was gone. The slight, ever-present smile that let all of her little ponies know they were loved and cared for could not have torn through the harsh set of her lips. She sat, looking ahead at seemingly nothing. It was as if she wasn’t really in the room, despite her body being present. It was almost like a place holder for something that had been.
Spike took a deep breath, tearing his eyes away from Celestia before more tears sprang to his eyes. “What I want is to go home,” Spike said, looking directly into Shining Armor’s red-rimmed, blood-shot eyes. “I want to go back to Ponyville and be Twilight’s number one assistant. I want—“
“Spike,” Luna said sharply. “She is dead. That is not changing. You have been presented options. As a dragon, you will lose many, many of your friends. I suggest you learn to move on.”
It took all of Spike’s willpower to not shout at Luna right then and there. As it were, Cadance was on his side. Her voice was worse than the broken sound of Shining Armor. Her voice, normally music to anypony’s ears, scratched worse than a hoof on a chalk board and was so low, it was almost like a ghost of a voice. “He is a kid, Luna. Let him grieve his sister. Goddess knows we all need to. We aren’t all as heartless as you!”
Even though he was watching, Spike didn’t see what happened. One second, Luna was sitting in her chair as they had the discussion, and the next, she wasn’t. Anguish crumpled Cadance’s face as she put her face in her hooves, sobs wracking her body. He couldn’t be completely certain, but Spike would have sworn he heard her trying to speak through them.
Shining Armor placed a hoof on his wife’s back. “Cadey, sweet heart, she will forgive you. Everyone’s stress level is high. Come on, don’t…”
“Let her be, Shining Armor,” Luna’s voice came from the doorway. She slowly stepped in, several boxes held afloat in the glowing blackness of her magic. Hearing the voice, Cadance looked up, blubbering incoherent words. Luna sat the boxes on the table, and stood beside of Cadance. “Shhh,” Luna said, bending down to press her forhead to Cadance’s. “I understand, dear niece. We all have our own ways of grieving. Blueblood had sunk himself under strong drinks. Everypony who works in the palace has shown such support and honor, wearing the black bands of cloth. My dear sister…” she trailed off, looking over to Celestia. “She has gone nearly catatonic. I believe she would rise the vile villain who did this time and time from the grave, if she could, just to ensure their suffering was greater than what was faced.” If Celestia knew she was being spoken about, she showed no sign. Taking her seat, Luna placed the first box on the table. “These boxes are full of Twilight Sparkle. Letters she has written. Papers she has written. Pictures. Drawings and diagrams.” Luna moved another box onto the table. “Filled to the brim with her old possessions and forgotten pursuits.”
Luna turned her gaze to Spike, and for the first time, he saw pain in her eyes. “To go through these might make you feel better for a time. Feel free, but know that these things are just that. They will not bring her back. Perhaps they will recall memories.” Luna lifted the lid, placing a piece of parchment in her sister’s line of sight. “These memories might serve to comfort you. For me, Twilight Sparkle does not exist in these things. She exists in what I do. Showing friendship to others, striving to do what is best for those around you, not because it is your responsibility as a princess, but because that is what a friend does.” She swallowed. “It is the lessons I’ve learned and the love I’ve felt that will forever allow Twilight to live within me. These boxes are not yet completed, but I fear I may have held out too long, trying to fix the perfect box for each of you.”
The rest of the boxes floated onto the table, in front of each person present. With a sigh in Celestia’s direction, Luna opened her box for her. “They are your most precious memories with your student, sister,” she murmured. “The letters she sent you, pictures of the two of you together.”
Spike wanted to look into his own box, but he watched as Luna tried to get Celestia to react to something. Finally, Spike crawled onto the table and toward Luna and Celestia. He rummaged through the box, finding exactly what he was looking for. He looked at the sheet of paper. Drawn by a filly that couldn’t have been older than six, the picture would never hang in Maresonian. A purple unicorn foal and a large white Alicorn sat on a rug with a book between them, a small purple blob labeled SPiKe sitting next to the unicorn. A read heart floated above them, with the carefully formed words ‘CeleStiA AnD TwiliGHt TiMe’ written across the top. Along the bottom were the words ‘I Will lOVe YOU fOReVeR!’.
Spike held the picture up into Celesita’s line of sight and watched as her eyes slowly focused on the picture. Slowly, more slowly than he had ever seen the Princess move, she reached her hoof up and grasped the picture, holding it close over her heart. He watched as her eyes filled with tears, even as she looked at it again and again. She stroked the small purple unicorn, her breathing becoming choppy as she looked up everyone seated in the room. When her eyes eventually landed on Luna, she fell into her younger sister’s open hooves.
Spike watched as the fur under Luna’s eyes became darker as well. Walking over to his own box, he opened the lid. Maybe he did hate this castle right now. Maybe he wanted nothing more than for Twilight to be back. Maybe he could eventually accept that she wasn’t going to come back.
For now, he had his box and these wonderful ponies who were trying to do what Twilight had always done. Look for the best in the situation and find the way out of it. Most importantly, stick by those who love you, and those you love.
