The city’s old walls shook as multiple shockwaves reverberated through the ancient stonework. Buildings that had weathered thousands of years of use stood resolute against the thunderous booming washing over them from the sky. High above, the stars hid from sight, as a continuous barrage of exploding shells smothered the air with their own artificial light. From horizon to horizon, the sounds of heavy artillery joined with screaming rockets and the rapid staccato of chained fuses going off in sequence.

The light show above had been going on for hours now, but it did not show any signs of ceasing anytime soon. This part of town was far outside of the residential districts and its streets remained empty of any other denizens this late at night. This seclusion made it easier for the five dark figures ducking from shadow to shadow to stay hidden.

The group of shapes, two were short and three were tall, paused in between two towering administration buildings. They crouched in the darkest corner of the alleyway, out of sight from any living or electronic observation. Four of them stood stock still while the last fidgeted nervously as another cascade of lights and colors crawled across the heavens. Though the entire street lit up, the figures remained obscured enough to remain unseen.

As soon as the latest light show ended, they took off running. The only sign of their passage across the street was a faint shimmer of the air, gone as soon as it had passed. Not one of the nearby security cameras picked up on the military grade stealth systems while they passed by them. However, if anyone had been paying attention to their live-feeds, several alarms would have been activated when the last shimmer tripped over the median curb and tumbled several feet across the ground.

Luckily, with the commotion going on above the massive city, the monitoring station watching the cameras was closed and unoccupied. If someone had been watching, they might have missed the tumbling mirage, but they would not have missed the distortion blinking away and revealing an earth pony tangled in a stealth-field cloak. The pony clambered to his hooves and vanished from view again, quickly following his compatriots across the street and down an elaborately carved set of marble stairs.

The stairs ended at a courtyard in front of a gigantic ornate structure built into the side of a cliff. Columns of pristinely cut stone lined the front facade. Stained glass windows rose from the ground all the way to the roof, each depicting a famous event in the history of Equestria. From grand battles, to the creation of powerful alliances between species, these windows displayed Equestria’s already rich history well before they reached out to the stars. Under their watchful gaze, the shimmering figures slunk along the edges of the cliff up to a pair of towering wooden doors, older than Equestria’s first moon landing, their well-kept oaken slabs contrasted the very modern locking mechanism at its heart.

“Alright, Alice. You’re up,” the lead form whispered. A tiny holographic cloud of lights popped into existence around the lock, swarming around the device for several seconds before it unlocked with a heavy mechanical clang. Even though it must have weighed several tons, the massive door was easily pulled open on its perfectly balanced hinges.

No sooner had the forms crept towards the opening when a booming voice, dripping with barely contained amusement, seemed to come from every nook and cranny in the courtyard. “Greetings, champions of Equestria! Welcome to the final level!”

Without warning, the two gigantic doors slammed shut with a tremendous bang, and the entire courtyard filled with light and sound. Sirens wailed and spotlights on the rooftops swiveled around to target the group of shadowy figures huddled by the entrance. All around the open square, doors burst open and a flood of black armored bipedal soldiers came running out, hip-firing their boxy rifles on automatic.

The six figures leapt sideways, scrambling for cover behind the two nearest pillars to the doors. Ceasing their onrushing assault, the matte black armored soldiers took up positions around the courtyard, keeping their weapons trained on the group’s hiding spots. After a moment of silence, only punctuated with the wailing of proximity alarms and the humming engines of two hovercraft fliers who had somehow flown in without making a sound until now, one of the cloaked shapes stood up and pulled off his stealth tarp. The human walked down the stairs and up to the line of soldiers, until he could see his reflection in their tinted face-plates.

He looked from one expressionless soldier to the next and shook his head. From here, he could easily notice the mismatched horns poking out of their helmets, as well as the long snaggletoothed smirk peeking out below their face-plate. Raising his arms out wide, James Fletcher called out with a loud yell. “Discord, you can show yourself now.”

The lines of what were clearly smaller draconequus wearing identical black tactical armor broke apart and stood at attention as a much taller draconequus strode forward in an officer’s dress uniform. His chest bore a multitude of medals, service ribbons, and badges. Most of which James was sure were fantasy since he could not remember a medal bearing a golden profile of Discord’s face from when he had to study decorations at the academy.

As Discord walked up to James, the rows of magical copies saluted as one and the taller draconequus returned the salute before stopping in front of him. James frowned and put his hands on his hips, craning his neck back to stare up at Discord. That small little smirk, and the barely contained excitement in his eyes, told James that his team had not come close to successfully sneaking away from the festivities taking place across the entire planet. Discord had noticed, and had allowed them to come this far only for his amusement.

“How did you know?” James Fletcher let his neck relax and he pinched the bridge of his nose while wondering how much trouble they were in.

Discord snapped his fingers and brief flash of light filled the courtyard. When it was gone, all of the soldiers, alarms, spotlights, and hovercraft had simply vanished. Now wearing a formal tuxedo and bowtie, the master of trickery walked around James who joined him to make their way back up the stairs towards the double doors. “I thought you and your friends would try and sneak away from the celebration in Canterlot, so I just waited and watched for you to make your move. I’ll admit, the stealth cloaks were clever, but I knew exactly what to look for so I thought I would have a bit of fun.”

“Yeah, I guess it was pretty obvious how much we didn’t want to be there.”

“I’ve always found you mortals to be so very predictable. I personally would love to be the center of attention of every single creature on all the planets of the Equestrian Nations.” Discord smiled down at James, who let out a sigh.

“It’s just too much for us right now.” James said as the pair reached the landing at the top of the stairs. Discord smiled at Dmitri Bearclaw, Victoria Schaefer, Socket Wrench, and Isamu Zhang as they shed their own stealth cloaks and joined their captain and captor.

A massive bang filled the air, and the group turned around to watch as the night sky rivaled high noon. The entire planet seemed to be completely taken up with celebration. Explosions of color chased away the dark. Across the entire horizon, brilliant motes of blue, yellow, and crimson fire continuously erupted, blanketing the city with a rainbow of color.

Rolling booms echoed from every direction. Even the cheering crowds from the party happening all the way out in downtown Ponyville could still be heard miles away. Though James and his friends would have rather slipped away unnoticed than take part in the celebration, he couldn’t blame them for celebrating. The war that every human, pony, griffon, or most of the other species in the UEN had been born into was finally over. Only the immortal Princesses of the sun and moon, Discord, and a few other powerful magical creatures could remember a time before the war.

James wondered what the United Equestrian Nations would do, now that they did not have to worry about the bombardment of their homes or the destruction of their fleets. This victory would surely usher in a golden age for them and he felt a warm sense of satisfaction that the next generation wouldn’t have to deal with the nightmares of cygnul extermination fleets.

He frowned as the memories of darker times pulled at his focus, when he felt a warm hand grab his own. Looking up, James saw the smiling face of Victoria as she squeezed his hand. A knowing kindness in her eyes eased his fears, and James felt himself relax as the stress that had been building vanished completely.

“Shall we go inside, Captain?” Victoria pulled James around and gestured to the now unlocked double doors behind them. Discord snapped his fingers once more, pulling open both slabs, and the whole group entered the Sanctuary of Harmony.

The polished marble floor extended far across the interior of the sanctuary. Tapestries and paintings adorned every wall, continuing the story of Equestria started by the stained-glass windows on the front of the building. Their first permanent moon colony, the defeat of the rogue Naga kings, the great solar eclipse, and even the first meeting with the humans, was all on dazzling display.

In between the two-dimensional art exhibits, statues of granite and gold stood several stories tall. Ponies, long dead from Equestria’s past, posed regally in royal attire. Earth pony, pegasi, unicorn, and even alicorn sculptures watched over the Sanctuary with their eternal gaze. Like the artwork, each monument embodied a renowned pony of the nation’s past.

In the center of the massive open space stood the crystalline Treehouse of Harmony. Glowing with its own natural aura of light, the Treehouse filled the hearts of those in the sanctuary with a deep, calming warmth. The Elements had been returned back to the living representation of Harmony and their new bearers could feel their presence.

However, what caught the attention of the six bearers and stopped them in their tracks was the presence of two very real alicorns and a large bipedal wolf sitting next to the Treehouse, admiring its glimmering branches. “I haven’t seen the Treehouse this healthy in a long, long time,” Princess Celestia glanced their way and smiled. “I know I’ve said it a thousand times before, but thank you all for what you’ve done for Equestria.” The tall regal alicorn stood and waved over the new bearers to join them. James, Dmitri, Victoria, Socket, Isamu, and even Discord made their way across the sanctuary.

“I’m sorry we left the party you threw for us at the castle, Princess,” James began but stopped when Luna raised a hoof to stop him.

“Apologize for nothing, James Fletcher. We know that entertaining the Canterlot elite can be… rather taxing. Especially after all you have gone through recently.”

“We just wanted to get away for a bit.” Socket Wrench craned her head to stare up at the glittering rose-colored leaves of the Treehouse. “It was all too much too fast.”

“You miss her, don’t you?” The large wolf spoke up.

“Don’t you?” Isamu Zhang pulled his eyes off of the Treehouse to focus on the eye-patch-wearing lupine. “Royal Historian? That’s a stretch for you, Lord Moonclaw.”

The wolf smiled and he shook his head. “Well, I am technically a researcher of time magic so it’s not too far off the truth. You’re right though, I do miss her.”

“The disguise was a good one, though.” Victoria Schaefer walked up and gave the large wolf a hug. “Thank you for sending her back home. It was the right thing to do.”

Moonclaw knelt down to return the hug. “I’m glad I was able to thank her. I realized how wrong I had been after serving my time in Tartarus, but by then it was too late.”

“Twilight Sparkle had a wonderful life.” James Fletcher spoke up while staring at the row of pony statues directly behind the Treehouse. There, stood granite effigies of an alicorn, a unicorn, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. “She had wonderful friends, a wonderful family, and she did so much for Equestria. She lived a long, happy, and prosperous life.”

He turned to address the rest of the group. “Our good friend lived and died thousands of years before any of us were ever born. I never would have guessed that a pony we learned about in history books about would be able to teach us so much about friendship in leading by example. It was so hard saying goodbye to her, but I’m so thankful we were able to share part of our lives with her.”

“Even if it wasn’t as long as we all would have hoped for,” Dmitri added on. “Appreciate those who are close to you and never take them for granted.”

“That is a good lesson that I think Twilight Sparkle would agree with,” Princess Celestia nodded her head at the earth pony. “She always told me how important you all were to her and she cherished your friendship for the rest of her life. But don’t forget that you all have your own lives ahead of you now. Live them well, and make Twilight proud.”

“We will, Princess,” Socket fluttered over to stand next to the tall alicorn. “And when we are done, maybe we will see Twilight again.”

James Fletcher took another long look at the statue memorializing Twilight Sparkle, the first Princess of Friendship. He nodded his head and turned to make his way from the sanctuary. The rest of the creatures made to follow him and they left through the towering front doors. Pausing in the courtyard outside, they stood under the night sky still dominated by shimmering lights and starbursts of celebration.

He wondered how many years it would take to fully recover from the war. There was a lot of work ahead of them before things would truly quiet down again. Though the tasks seemed daunting, there was relief in knowing he wouldn’t have to face them alone. Glancing left and right at Dmitri, Victoria, Socket, Isamu, and even Alice’s tiny glowing form on his shoulder, James knew they would be all right.

They would face these challenges the same way they ended the war; by working together, side by side, as friends.

The End

Author's Note

And fin!

Thank you all for sticking through it with me while I write this story. Again, my apologies for not cranking it out faster. Real life has a way of getting in the way of things. I hope you enjoy where we went and how Heart of Courage ended. I know G4 will be finishing soon and it was a wonderful ride. MLP has the best fandom I've ever interacted with in my opinion.

Some background information about this story if anyone is interested. The main plot point of this story was decided upon when I first started writing some background and reference information down. I always wanted Twilight to be thrown into the far future where a united pony and human interstellar nation was at war with an alien race controlled/created by the entity that created Nightmare Moon. All the while, there would be a conflict going on back in her original timeline. I also always planned to have Moonclaw be redeemed after Twilight's passing of old age and meet her somehow in the future.

On that note, I personally feel that immortality is a curse, not a blessing. Because of that, I only had those the show confirmed to be immortal survive into the future timeline. I felt like it made their goodbyes more poignant. Forcing Twilight to outlive all her friends and family seems way too cruel in my opinion. (Cadence and Flurry would be in the same boat I guess)

I started this story halfway through Season 2 so I know the canon has changed quite a lot since then, but I did my best to continuously rework certain parts to try and stay as close to canon as possible. This is another reason why Twilight is a unicorn and not an alicorn. I didn't try to be too sneaky about it, but I enjoyed throwing in references to later seasons that her future friends knew about, but she didn't.

Many of the fight scenes in this story were actually inspired by music and the name of the story itself comes from Two Steps from Hell's song, Heart of Courage. Listen here!

I spent a few weeks studying black holes and their wacky effects on surrounding space. The math is just nuts and I built an excel spreadsheet to crunch the numbers and figure out exactly what would happen during the big space battle in the cygnul home system. I had dozens of formulas working together to try and keep the battle as realistic as possible. It took some fine tuning, but I was able to get our heroes as close to the black hole as possible without ripping the ship apart. Once I got that number, I calculated the time dilation (which wasn't much at all for a small black hole) and the apparent diameter it would look like. I learned a lot actually and it was a fun side project to this story. (Big fan of the movie Interstellar by the way)

If you have any additional questions about the story, feel free to ask me in the comments for this chapter. There's a lot that goes into a story this long so I don't want the Author's Notes to be any longer.

Thank you again for reading Heart of Courage. I hope you liked it! Cheers!