Final Lesson-New Heroines

"What the heck happened to her?" Firefly asked in disbelief, as Glory picked up the giggling baby. "How the heck did she turn back into a foal?"

"The magic backlash from the shield shattering, it must have responded to her thoughts." Glory guessed, as she wrapped the Pegasus in a blanket. "And you know how immature Surprise's thinking is!"

"Oh dear! Do you think we can get poor Surprise back to normal?" Posey gasped, taking the infant from glory and cradling it in her hooves. "You're just the cutest little thing, aren't you? Yes you are! Yes you are!"

"I don't know, Posey. Aging spells are ridiculously advanced magic." The white unicorn replied uncertainly. "To say nothing of the fact most such spells were lost in the Grogar wars. I'm afraid we might have to wait until the magic dissipates, and the spell wears off."

A small distance away form the other girls, Twilight Shine was looking up into the sky in shock, tears streaming down her face.

"Princess Candace, she's gone..." The filly wept sadly, staring up into the empty sky. "My Aunt Cadence is gone..."

"C'mon now Twi, it takes a lot more than that to finish off alicorn." Applejack whinnied, echoing the thoughts of the other fillies on the matter, who were busy dealing with Surprise's transformation. "I'm sure Cadence just teleported somewhere else to heal up after that nasty hit she took." The orange mare looked at Twilight hopefully. "Right... Twilight?"

"She-she's gone, AJ." The sobbing unicorn replied, falling to her knees. "I can feel it.... Aunt Cadence is gone..."

"Oh, Twilight...." As the teenage filly continued to sob, her friend wrapped her hooves around the unicorn, trying to comfort her for her loss. "I'm so sorry, Twi..."

...

"Do you know what you six have done?" An enraged Princess Tiffany snorted, pacing around in front of her throne. "The last alicorn dead, so many foreign dignitaries turned into mindless beasts... and we don't even have a working set of harmony bearers now!"

The five fillies (and one foal), were standing before the lead princess pony's throne, while her co-rulers tried to smooth things over with the foreign visitors. An angry look on her face, the girls thought the princess looked like she was going to eat them alive. While the others tried to talk to Tiffany, the sullen Twilight just stood there, lost in her own little world.

"But it was Hydia who tried to destroy Ponyland, we were just trying to protect it." Firefly protested. "We put our lives on the line to save ponykind!"

"Be that as it may, we're going to have to patch this up as quickly as possible." Tiffany replied. "Since you are unable to accsess the elements of harmony any longer, my fellow princesses and I are retaking the wands at once."

"Then... everything we did, everything we accomplished..." Glory replied, looking stunned. "It was all for nothing?"

"You did everything you could, girls. You even managed to save the Confederacy." Motioning for the guard to open the doors, Tiffany dismissed them with a hoof. "But yours part here is finished, we princess ponies will take it from here."

Still numb after all that had happened, the five fillies trotted back out into the hallway.

"We were supposed to be the next harmony bearers. So, what happens now?" AJ asked, trying to hold her temper in check. "It's all over, and we all just go back home in disgrace?"

"I-I'm going to miss you girls." Posey sobbed, as Baby Surprise stared at her from the foal carrier strapped to Posey's side. "I don't wanna go back to not having friends any more."

"It's not fair, blast it!" Firefly slammed her hoof against the hallway wall in anger. "We're heroes, it shouldn't end this way!"

"We need to face facts girls, the adventure's over." Glory chimed in shaking her head sadly. "Time to say our goodbyes, and go our separate ways."

"No." A shaky but determined voice from behind the four of them spoke, stopping them dead in their tracks.

"Twilight?" Applejack asked, shocked that the withdrawn pony had finally spoke up. "What're you-"

"We may not have the elements of harmony, but we still have each other." Twilight replied, as the girls turned to face her. "No matter where we go or what we do, we're staying together."

"Yeah, that's the spirit, Twilight!" Glory cheered her statement on, grinning. "We are gonna stay together."

"If we do, we're keeping Surprise, too." Posey replied nuzzling the little foal. "She needs somebody besides her mean parents to look after her until the magic wears off, and she returns to normal."

"Yeah, you're right." Firefly grinned, slapping the pink unicorn on the back with her hoof. "We're friends now, just like the harmony bearers were."

"No Firefly, we're not friends like the Harmony Bearers were." Twilight looked at them, smiling gently. "After all that we've been though thick and thin together were not just friends... we're a family."

The four other fillies all stared at her, then all rushed together to embrace each other in a group hug. Their tender moment was interrupted, however, by the approach of North Star and Fireball.

"If you girls are interested, there's a home for all of you at Dream Valley." The pink Pegasus told them. "We have a long history of being home to outcasts and misfits, and Queen Majesty would love to have an esteemed group such as yourselves."

"And wherever you girls go, the colts and I talked about it and..." The unicorn started, as the other five guys came up behind him. "...we're going with you."

"Oh Fireball..." Glory trotted put to him, putting her hooves around him.

"There's nothing left for us at Misty Mountain." Thundercloud agreed. "And the best thing that's ever happened to us... is you."

"C'mere, ya big lug!" Firefly wrapped a wing around him.

"I'd be happy to join you there, Posey." Steamer told her nervously. "I-if you want me to, that is."

Without a word, the smiling Posey trotted straight up to the surprised colt, and took him in her hooves, kissing him. The other ponies just laughed at the yellow fillies sudden assertiveness.

"I suppose a mature mare like you, wouldn't want a young pony like me, huh?" Lightning asked AJ jokingly.

"Hm, I suppose you could teach this old grey mare some new tricks." Applejack laughed, licking his coat. "Maybe it's time I start thinkin' about a family!"

"Excuse me, but.... if you ladies don't mind..." Medley's timid voice called out, as she trotted up to the fillies. "I'd love to come with you girls. I mean, tensions haven't exactly died down back in Fort Dash."

"Sure Medley, we'd love ta have ya along!" Firefly looked up from grooming Thundercloud. "It'd be just like old times again!"

"We're going home girls, but we'll be sure to tell the story of your bravery to all of the other herds." Butter Pop told them, with all of the other friends they had made behind her.

"Thank you, ladies." Twilight replied, looking over all of the ponies they had come to know. "It's so wonderful to have made amazing friends like all of you along our journey."

"Good luck to all of you, on your journey to your new home." Brightglow told them, bowing her head. "And may fortune Smile on you."

...

A few days later, Twilight Shine was standing outside of the Royal paradise, staring up at the newly carved statue of Princess cadence that stood above the royal arch. She was so transfixed on the new carving, that she failed to hear the sound of hooves trotting up beside her.

"And so the last great alicorn has flown beyond the confines of the world." Tornado said, catching the filly's attention at last. "She was a wonderful ruler Twilight, she will be missed."

"I knew her for so little time, yet she taught me so much..." The pink filly lowered her head. "I already miss her so...."

"Princess Cadence loved ponykind so much, that she wanted to make sure it would be protected." The stallion explained. "She thought the only way to do this was to bring back the past, but in truth all she needed were ponies who cared as much as the heroines she knew."

"But we failed her, we didn't become the Harmony Bearers she wanted us to be!" Twilight Exclaimed, looking back at Tornado. "What kind of heroines can we be for ponykind?"

"The kind that saved Hoofkaido from a war, and brought joy to Bright Valley." Tornado Replied, looking up at the statue. "The kind that pulled Fort Dash out of Corruption, and convinced the queen of the Flutter Ponies that the rest of us might not be so bad. You and your friends did all of these things without the elements, and that's the kind of heroine Ponyland needs now. Let the princesses wave the six wands and wield the weapon of ultimate magic- you can serve your fellow pony by being just who you are."

Twilight merely turned away at that, and looked back at the statue. "So... will you be heading back to Misty Mountain to get your things packed?"

"Yes, the other colts and I will be leaving tomorrow, we should be moved into Dream Castle by the end of next week." The unicorn shivered. "I am weary about facing Princess Silver Rain again, though. I've heard she blames me for what happened to her mother."

"It seems she hates me even more." Twilight replied with a sigh. "Chancellor Bramely sent me a message that my cousin doesn't want me to ever set hoof in Misty Mountain again... I wish things hadn't ended up so poorly between us."

"Twilight... you sure you want me to stick around?" Tornado asked, trotting up to the filly. "I mean... I'm so much older than you are, and I'm not very attractive. Certainly a filly like you could do so much better than-mmmmmmmmm...."

Tornado was suddenly cut off, as he felt a pair of warm lips on his.

"You are the stallion of my dreams, Tornado, and I wouldn't have any other lifebond partner." She pulled away from him. "Besides, you think you can just make out with me in the back of a truck, then trot away like nothing happened?"

The two smiled and sat down in the grass in front of the statue, their legs folded under them pony-style. Twilight gently rested her head against Tornado, as they watched the sun rise over the Royal Paradise.

"Goodbye Princess Cadence." Twilight said with a final sigh. "You were the last great link to Equestria's past."

"But at least though her actions and sacrifice, she has ensured Ponyland's future." Tornado assured her.

And somewhere, far beyond the eyes of Ponykind, an alicorn and her beloved unicorn stallion looked on together, proud of everything this little filly and her friends had achieved together.... as the very best of friends.

….

Far, far away from the Royal Paradise, an angry old witch landed with a loud splash. Coughing and sputtering, the drenched crone pulled herself up on a piece of drftwood, that was floating on a soft portion of the crystal sea.

"Danm you ponies, you always ruin everything!" The bitter old hag shreiked, spitting shards of liquid crystal out of her mouth. "One of these days, I swear I'll destroy you all!"

-THE END-

To be continued in Twilight Then, Twilight Now