Moon's Blade and the Crystals of Chaos

Chapter 16:
Farewell

I slowly opened my eyes. A clear blue sky was visible. I tried to stand up, and when I looked around me I saw several cloaked ponies. One of them took off his cloak. It was a familiar face.

"A-am I dead?" I asked him.

"No," he responded, "But you almost were. Your friends will explain everything to you when you truly wake up, but in the meanwhile we have something else to discuss with you."

It was Wise Knowledge. I thought he died. No, I'm sure about it. I killed him after all.

"In the meanwhile," Wise continued, "We have summoned you to the afterlife. There are things to discuss."

I were full of worries, but Wise's face seemed calm.

"The Chaos Crystal is fully destroyed, but you have not fully mastered your full powers yet."

"But I knew how to use the Moon's Blade's full power. Isn't that enough?"

"A blade can't fight on its own. It needs somepony to hold it. In this case, that pony are you. Knowing how to use the sword alone isn't enough, you must know your own strength."

He walked towards me as he spoke.

"In order to grow stronger I want you to start travelling. You may need to overcome many hardships, but you'll be fine. I know it."

"I don't want to leave my friends, nor do I even know where to go."

"There may come a time that your friends are in danger and that they need you again. If you aren't strong enough at that moment, then you will fail to protect them."

I sighed, but continued listening to his explanations. It was still vague to me.

"To prevent this failure, you must become stronger yourself."

"I understand."

I took a moment to realize what he's been saying.

"But I still don't know where to go from here."

"We are the fallen sages, together we carry all the knowledge, maybe even more than Celestia and Luna together. We will be the ones to guide you on your path, but the decisions are all yours to make. To learn from failure and to understand from success."

I nodded in response. The worries that haunted me before had gone and I smiled again.

"Now, it is time to go back to the world of the living. Take the time you need to say farewell and follow your instincts. And don't forget, a weapon is a mere extension of your own power."

I couldn't do anything else besides nodding and smiling. I closed my eyes and slowly returned to the world where my friends lived.

"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted, "He's waking up, girls!"

I slowly opened my eyes. It was Pinkie who was enthusiastic that I were alive. I tried to get in a sit-position and looked around me. I were surrounded by my friends. Everyone was there, but Rainbow Dash.

"What happened?" I asked, "What happened back there?"

"You don't remember?" Twilight asked surprised.

I shook my head in response.

"When you stabbed the crystal," Applejack explained, "It exploded and you were thrown far away."

"Yes, and when that happened Rainbow Dash quickly came in action and flew after you. Not a moment later she brought you back to us, but you were passed out." Rarity added.

"How did we come back?" I asked.

"I don't know," Twilight said, "For a moment it seemed we were stuck there forever, but then a blinding light appeared and in a few seconds we were back at the top of the mountain. After that Naga flew us back to Ponyville."

A blinding light brought them back? I wonder what it could've been. It makes me wonder who had actually interrupted the nightmare in which Morgana was trying to kill me. Those were questions even my friends could not answer.

"Hey, where is Rainbow Dash?" I asked, surprised that she wasn't here.

"We don't know," Pinkie replied.

"After we brought you here she was watching over you all the time," Applejack explained, "But she isn't here anymore."

"I wonder where she could've gone to..." Fluttershy said.

I had the faint feeling that I knew where she had gone to. I asked the others if it was okay to leave my bed, and they nodded in response, as long as I would come back to them at the Canterlot Royal Palace, where the princesses had to talk to us.

I went to the cloud Rainbow Dash and I used to watch the sunset, and there she was. She sat on that cloud, staring to the sky with a face full of worries. She looked around and smiled as she saw me appear.

"Y-you're alright!" she said happily.

We hugged each other for a moment. The I remembered the flower I plucked at the shrine on that faithful day my adventure started.

"This flower remembers me of you." I said as I handed over the odd flower.

She smiled and gratefully accepted the gift. She blushed for a moment, then gave up. She didn't want to hide her feelings anymore and gave me a kiss. We decided to return to the others, who were awaiting us at the Canterlot Royal Palace.

We stood in the throne room. It was full of ponies, and in front of the throne stood Celestia and next to her stood Luna. We slowly walked towards her. Here and there some ponies took pictures of us, others cheered.

"We are in debt of your actions," Celestia said, "To show you our gratitude, we will now entitle you as Knight Moon's Blade of Equestria."

I were amazed by the amount of cheering ponies, but not as amazed as the fact I were a knight now.

Time passed on as we celebrated the victory and eventually I were summoned by Luna, who wanted to talk to me.

"I am grateful that you helped us all," Luna said, "I've been watching over your village for ages, and the day you were born I knew you would be an important pony."

I smiled, knowing she hadn't forgotten our village after such a long time.

"Since then I've tried everything to protect you. Remember that night that that white unicorn tried to attack you?"

I nodded. "Yes, I do."

I remembered that in the dream a black mare appeared and pushed Morgana away at the moment she was about to kill me.

"When you were about to be slain, I interfered with the crystal's power and forced myself into the dream and pushed her away." Luna explained.

"You weren't the one who brought us back to our time, were you?" I asked out of curiosity.

"No, I did not recognize the magic," she answered, "But there was a familiar presence, one that I haven't felt in ages."

"Morgana?"

"Who's Morgana? You mean the white unicorn?"

"Yes, that one."

"Her name is White Flare, she disappeared the first time we tried to destroy the crystal. We thought she was gone forever, but it could be possible it was her."

She sighed for a moment. "But I doubt that somepony as mortal as her would still be alive in all these years. It must have been something else."

We returned to the others. The time to say farewell had come. I had to depart, to become stronger.

"So, now that your goals are achieved, what are you going to do?" Twilight asked.

"You are going to stay with us, aren't you?" Rainbow Dash asked, thinking it was an obvious answer to that question.

"That would be so much fun!" Pinkie said.

"We'd really appreciate it." Rarity added to that.

They all seemed so happy to have me around. It only made it harder.

"Well..." I started, but a painful feeling struck my heart and I shed a tear.

The smiles the others had slowly faded away in sad faces.

"You can't stay, can you?" Applejack asked.

I shook my head.

"You will come back, right?" Fluttershy asked.

I nodded.

"A sword is nothing but a mere extension of its wielder's power," I explained with the words of Wise, "I may have mastered the ability to fully use this sword, but that alone isn't enough. There will be one time I'll need to fight again, and if I'm not prepared, who knows what might happen."

I took a deep breath and continued explaining. "Therefore I will go on a journey, to become stronger so that I can protect you even more."

"A wise decision." Celestia said.

"We will miss you..." Fluttershy added.

"After all we have gone through, this is where we part," I said, shedding several tears, "But we will meet again, I'm sure about that."

"Goodbye!" The others said, and we all started to shed tears. "We will miss you!"

I flew away, in a direction that seemed to feel the right direction, ready to face more challenges.

When I flew over the mountains, I saw something white with red and orange running along with me. I wondered if it could be her, but then I shook my head. It couldn't be.

I am Moon's Blade. I am not a hero, I am just a pony that does what he has to do. I am on my journey to become stronger, so that I can protect those who are dear to me and those around them. So that I can pretend to be a hero when needed.

THE END