Bells rang as the wind changed. The grass leaned back, and the clouds in the sky seemed to stir by some unseen hand. Star Swirl the Bearded took note of the change for only a moment, pulling on the brim of his ringing hat to keep it from being blown away, before his attention returned to the battle at hand. Blasts of pure magical force danced across the distant landscape, where the divine sisters, Celestia and Luna, waged war against the centaur. Though they were holding their own against the magic-thief for the moment, Star Swirl could see their growing fatigue. Luna’s wings sagged, and Celestia’s shield of golden magic cracked under the force of the blasts from between Tirek’s horns. Fortunately, they wouldn’t need to hold out much longer.

“Are you nearly ready, Scorpan?” the archmage asked. “We won’t have much of a window for this.”

Tirek’s brother, standing a mere dozen feet away atop the same grassy hill, nodded. “This still feels wrong to me. We should have been able to convince him. Somehow…”

Star Swirl smiled back, glad that his beard and hat would help to hide the pain in his eyes. “Ponies… people don’t really change, Scorpan. I’m afraid I’ve learned that the hard way.”

“I changed, Star Swirl.” The creature, whatever Scorpan truly was, stared down at the black, crystalline shackles between his clawed fingers. “We don’t have time for regrets now, do we? Is your spell ready?”

Without looking, Scorpan heard the bells of the unicorn’s hat ring in time with his nod. Only a moment later, the hat fell to the ground, revealing a horn alight with green magic. Scorpan spread his batlike wings, offered a nod of his own, and leapt into the air. Star Swirl’s magic caught the brave creature, and with a single mighty thrust that churned Scorpan’s stomach, launched him toward his brother.

The changing winds tore through Scorpan’s mane as he flew faster than he had ever flown before. The chain of the crystal shackles rattled, and his knuckles burned from the sheer power involved in holding them tight. They ate his magic, and burned his palms, but he held steady as he approached.

A column of Tirek’s fiery magic tore through Celestia’s shield. The alicorn princess shuddered and began to sprial slowly downwards, her wing singed and twisted by the sheer force. For his part, Tirek simply laughed. “It seems I’ve finally beaten you. Ponies have grown so much weaker since we last did battle.” Between his towering horns, another ball of magic began to gather, ready for the finishing blow.

Luna landed, wings flared, and braced a shield of her own against Tirek’s attack. “You mistake peace for weakness, Tirek!” When the fire came, she staggered backward, but the shield held.

Tirek laughed yet again. “Peace is weakness. If you don’t use your power, you have no power.” His magic grew more forceful, and again Luna stumbled back. “You two could have been rulers. You could have brought an army against me and at least put up a fight. But instead, you’re going to die here. Alone.”

“They’re not alone, brother!” The click of the manacles locking around Tirek’s horns was nearly inaudible, but absent the noise of the centaur’s magic, it rang clear in every ear.

“Aagh! What?” Tirek’s protest broke down into a wordless roar of fury as his massive claws ripped at the black crystals locking away his magic. “Scorpan! You’ll pay for this!”

Star Swirl appeared beside Scorpan in a flash of golden light. The unicorn wizard’s horn parried the brute force of Tirek’s slash. “Celestia! Luna! Now!”

In the air behind Tirek, a box of purple magic and shadows swam into being. The wind changed again, gushing into the misty void that was Tartarus. The same magic picked up Tirek, sucking him into the darkness. As his shoulders passed through the portal, his clawed hands latched onto the frame. As the shadows of Tartarus swept up around him, and even stretched out toward the sisters, he smiled. “You’ve lost. You’ll freeze with me. My spirits—” Before the centaur could unleash another word, the portal consumed him, and he winked out of being.

What followed was only the pure wind, and the ringing of Star Swirl’s bells. Four friends sat on the grass, staring at patches of charred undergrowth and huge troughs where trees and bushes had been torn from the ground. For those few moments, no one dared speak. The quiet was too comfortable, too welcome, too peaceful to break.

Luna moved first, helping her battered sister to her hooves. “We did it… We’re alive. Are you alright, Celestia?”

“I’ll survive,” the elder sister replied. “We both suffered worse fighting Discord. Are you two alright?” Celestia’s question turned sour at the sight of Scorpan huddled on the ground into a ball. Star Swirl sat beside him in silence. The sisters approached with caution, and it was Luna who moved first, placing a wing across Scorpan’s back. “I’m sorry.”

Scorpan’s first reply was a shudder. It took him three gales of the meadow breeze to find his words. “We didn’t really have a choice, did we?”

“Scorpan…” Celestia whispered.

“Don’t cry. It’s over now.” He looked up at the empty sky where the portal had been. “My brother is gone. I wish we could have done something else for him… but we saved lives, didn’t we? It… it was the right choice.”

Again, they joined in silence, watching as the grass rose and fell with the breathing of the breeze. Fatigue settled onto them. Shoulders slumped, and wings rested against the ground. Luna allowed herself to lay down on her side, staring up as the clouds moved overhead.

None of them were sure how long they rested together, but it was Star Swirl who finally broke the silence. “What now? Will you come back to River Rock with me?”

Celestia and Luna shared a slow glance, and then the elder replied with a shake of her head. “We aren’t ready to go back, Star Swirl. Even you called us goddesses…”

Luna picked up where Celestia’s words failed her. “Though it may well be our right, we long ago elected that ponykind was better if we allowed them to rule themselves. We will stay here, and guard against whatever other evils come against you.”

“If that is your wish,” Star Swirl replied, with a nod. “Though perhaps we will not need guardians, now that the pegasi have rejoined us.”

Celestia and Luna both turned toward the old wizard with widened eyes. “Pegasi?” they asked, nearly in unison.

Star Swirl smiled, and nodded. “I thought you would have known; it’s been nearly three years, now. They flew here to us after escaping some awful war with the ‘griffons’, and built up a city in the clouds. Nopony is quite sure what to do now; our system was working for the earth ponies and the unicorns, but we’re not sure what to do with a third race in the mix. At first it was easy, but they eat quite a lot of food, and some ponies are starting to complain.”

At Celestia and Luna’s expressions of worry, he smiled disarmingly. “Of course, I’m sure we’ll have that figured out when King Lapis meets with their Emperor Hurricane in two days.” The old unicorn released a tired sigh, and turned his head east. “A meeting I will be expected at. It’s a two-day walk back to River Rock for these old legs, my friends. But before I go, what about you, Scorpan? The ponies in Northwind Basin seemed to like you well enough.”

Scorpan held up a clawed hand to wave away Star Swirl’s offer. “I don’t think I could live amongst your kind. Not now, Star Swirl. I’m sorry. You have been an excellent friend to me, and I would welcome you if you ever sought my company. But I must find my own place in this world.”

Star Swirl nodded, and donned his hat. “Until we meet again, my friends.”

The three remaining friends watched as the old wizard wandered off, until the jangling of his robe’s bells faded behind the wind.