Legacy Of The Friendship

Not wasting any more time, the company led the ponies home. As they reached the town of Ponyville, the youngest of the alicorn princesses was already running over to greet her friends, as well as her heroes.

"Twilight!" five of the ponies from the crowd shouted and ran past Kerrigan and hugged their most beloved princess friend.

"How can we ever repay you?" Twilight raised her head and asked as she looked at Kerrigan with eyes full of tears of joy.

"Amon was as much my enemy as he was yours, and I never would have won this fight without your help," Kerrigan happily replied and bowed to Twilight. "I also owe you my thanks."

Kerrigan and the six ponies kept smiling at each other until the moment Jim Raynor and the others caught up with her.

"And, of course, I never would have done it without the help of my own friends as well," Kerrigan happily admitted.

"Your...friends?" Twilight asked and gave another look at the company that Kerrigan was with.

"I won't deny it, some of us might not exactly see eye-to-eye with one another," Kerrigan said while looking at Zeratul. "And I might not even know some of them that well," she added while looking at Tosh.

Or at all... she thought to herself. "But we all shared a common goal and had a common enemy, and I would not be here now if it weren't for them!" After she finished promoting her so called friends, Kerrigan quietly added, "Maybe Amon wasn't all that wrong about this whole legacy thing..."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Amon said something about the six of us having inherited the legacy of the friendship that once saved Equestria," Kerrigan explained, still unsure whether she had repeated Amon's words correctly. "That make any sense to you?"

Being the passionate reader that she is, Twilight instantly realized just what Kerrigan was talking about. "Of course...It all makes sense!"

"What does?" Kerrigan asked, curious about what was Twilight suddenly so excited about.

"I see now how you were able to defeat Amon. He thought he could draw power from the elements of harmony, but he could not do so because the elements of harmony cannot all reside inside the body of a single creature, nor can they be controlled...Instead, they have a will of their own, and they can only choose those that are truly worthy of carrying them!"

Twilight was so taken by this whole thing that she just kept on talking without pause, thus not letting the others keep up with her.

"Hang on," Kerrigan slowed her down. "I'm not sure I follow."

"Not long after you left to face Amon, your friends arrived at Canterlot in search of you. Since we didn't know whether they could be trusted or not, we asked them to tell us a little bit about their connection to you...When they told us at first, I didn't pay that much attention to it, but now I've realized something!" unable to quell her excitement, Twilight kept talking in the same tone and pace as before.

"Realized something?" Kerrigan repeated, unsure of where Twilight was going with this.

"Their pasts, the things they've done for you...they've all done something that represents one of the elements of harmony!"

"Us?" That statement left the metal titan surprised.

"Explain...what exactly is so harmonic about us?" Alexei asked, almost certain that this was something the young pony was wrong about.

Twilight started by turning towards Jim Raynor. "Not leaving your friend to fend for herself, even after she had done something that you could not forgive her for at first...If that's not a clear sign of loyalty, then I don't know what it is!"

Jim stood wondering for some time before replying shortly, "Point taken."

Twilight turned towards the protoss templar and the former vice admiral of the United Earth Directorate, both of which where standing side by side. "You two..."

This should be good... Stukov thought to himself as Twilight began to explain.

"If I understood right, then Kerrigan has once hurt both of you dearly...She once took something from you that can never be regained, is that not so?"

Both humanoids didn't say a word, but their silence said everything by itself.

"Even after this, you were able to forgive her and even risked your lives for her...Your kindness and generosity knows no bounds!"

"I stand corrected," Alexei admit his mistake and laughed. "You sure know how to keep one entertained, Twilight Sparkle."

After smiling at the man with the flaming eyes, Twilight turned towards the next member of the company. "Gabriel Tosh..."

"Aye?" Tosh answered, confirming that he was listening.

"From what I heard, I take it you never even knew Kerrigan."

"Aye, I had never even seen her in person until this day."

"Raynor told me about how he convinced you to come along, about how you only agreed because going after Amon sounded like a much more fun thing to do than to keep sitting on that ship...I believe that the element of laughter would fit you perfectly."

"The pony speaks the truth, mon," Tosh said while fiddling with his butterfly knife. "I only came here for some fun," Tosh gladly confessed and laughed.

"And you..." Twilight turned her attention back to the leader of the company. "Fearlessly and selflessly charging into battle alone, as well as succeeding in uniting those that did not so willingly follow you...That can only make you the element of magic!"

"The element of magic?" Kerrigan didn't seem too assured. "But how is magic an element? Especially compared to elements like loyalty, kindness and generosity."

"The element of magic is a very special and unique element. Unlike the other elements, It's not a trait that someone can inherit or learn, nor is it something that can be obtained through means of strength and power..." Twilight tried to explain as best she could. No one seemed eager to interrupt her, so she continued.

"The element of magic is the one element that chooses it's owner by itself, but how it chooses it's owner is unknown even to me...The only thing I know is that the bearer of this element is destined to unite the other elements, as well as that it's much stronger when combined with the other elements than it is on it's own."

Twilight's words left the crowd speechless for some time. Even Kerrigan couldn't find anything to add or subtract from that explanation. She could only quietly reply, "Quite the speech..."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Jim Raynor suddenly interrupted, drawing the attention of most of the crowd. As soon as he saw Twilight staring at him, he pointed his thumb over his left shoulder, right at where Dehaka was standing. "Who's this guy supposed to be?"

Realizing that she had indeed forgotten one of the elements, Twilight felt slightly embarrassed at first, after which confusion took over her as she tried to figure out just what element could this creature possibly be representing. "Uhhm..." They've got me with this one...this creature truly doesn't seem to represent anything harmonic.

"Supposed to be?" Dehaka repeated. He didn't seem to care much for everything that was going on until the very moment a finger was pointed at him. "I am supposed to be collecting essence!"

"Well, uhm..." Applejack spoke up, seeings how Twilight wasn't about to. "He seems to always be honest about his intentions."

"That must be it," Twilight agreed. "Dehaka never says anything else but that which he truly means...He might not be the most friendly type, and he might not even care about this himself, but the element of honesty has chosen him for a reason."

"You hear that, buddy?" Raynor addressed Dehaka in a friendly, but also slightly impudent tone. "May as well grow a beard and put on a top hat! You're the element of honesty!"

"I am not your friend...You speak in riddles. I do not like you!"

As Dehaka harshly replied, the others around him could only laugh at his display of honesty. All things were said and all deeds were done. A good laugh seemed like the perfect ending for this crazy day.

"So...ready to head back home?" Jim Raynor asked.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up," Kerrigan replied.

Given the circumstances, it only seemed normal for Kerrigan to want to say a proper goodbye to her new allies, so the others didn't hesitate to leave her alone with the six ponies.

"Don't take too long, alright?" Jim said and followed the other four away.

Kerrigan didn't turn around to see them leave, she only listened to their footsteps. Jim's were the loudest, so they were the last ones she heard.

"So I guess this is goodbye," Twilight said with a touch of sadness in her tone.

"Indeed," Kerrigan replied in a tone equally as sad. "I fear I must be on my way now."

"Do visit us again sometime, if you can."

"Yes, you will certainly always be welcome here."

"I'll see what I can do," Kerrigan happily replied.

"Group hug!" Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted. The other five seemed to agree with her. They stared at Kerrigan with wide smiles on their faces, as if waiting for her approval.

Kerrigan hesitated to agree. She was never really one for such things, but the warm smiles on the pony faces eventually won her over. "Ohh, what the heck." Just as the ponies came closer and wrapped their hooves around her, she knelt on one knee and hugged them back.

Is it just me or does that pink one smell like cotton candy? Kerrigan wondered.

"Ooh! Almost forgot!" Pinkie Pie said and handed something to Kerrigan. "Here, I remember you said you were looking for one of these."

Kerrigan didn't know what to think when she stared at the green, cute-looking, round-shaped, creature with wings and eyes bigger than it's own head. "What is this thing?"

"A parasprite, silly! What did you think?" Pinkie Pie laughed.

Kerrigan was just about to thank Pinkie Pie, but she started getting second thoughts as she looked into the big, blue eyes of the innocent and unsuspecting little creature. It wouldn't seem right to give it to Abathur for his vile experiments.

"Thanks, but I think i've changed my mind," Kerrigan said as she handed the flying bug back to Pinkie.

"Huh?" The six ponies seemed surprised.

"I'll admit, the plans I had in mind for this creature weren't all that nice. When I heard the name parasprite I began to think that it was something disgusting and something your land would just be glad to be rid of...but this thing actually looks kinda cute."

The parasprite smiled at Kerrigan.

"Oh! We really won't mind if you take one, there's plenty more where that came from...Plus, they're not all that cute once you get to know them," Twilight explained.

"It's fine, really, I..."

"Seriously..." Twilight interrupted. "Just take it!" She took the parasprite away from Pinkie and shoved it back into Kerrigan's hand. "Consider it a parting gift!" Twilight said with a wide grin on her face.

"Uhh..." Kerrigan got slightly confused about that response. "Thanks."

"You're welcome!"

All the goodbyes were said, and the hug was also behind them...After one last round of smiling at each other, it was finally time to leave.

"You should really be going now, there's someone waiting for you."

"Huh? Who is it?"

"Who do you think?" Rainbow Dash replied and pointed at the wielder of the same element as her.

"Of course..." Kerrigan said as she looked behind her and noticed Jim standing near a dropship a good distance away. "Thanks again...for everything." Kerrigan thanked the ponies and started backing away while waving at them. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" The ponies waved back.

***

"Those pony folk seem awfully fond of you," Raynor said as soon as Kerrigan got closer.

"What can I say...I'm a charmer." Kerrigan smiled back at Jim, but both of their smiles suddenly faded away as they remembered an important question that was yet to be answered.

"So what happens now?"

"I don't know..." Kerrigan replied with her head hanging low. "We've been fighting all our lives, war is the only game we've ever known, and now, just like that...there's nothing left to fight...Funny...this almost makes me wish Amon was still alive."

"Enemies come and go, Kerrigan. The war game is the one game that never really ends."

"You're right, Jim," Kerrigan replied and lifted her head back up. "It's only a matter of time before the next madman tries to seize power again...and when they do, I'll be ready for them! I'll make sure my swarm keeps growing in both strength and numbers!" She got a bit carried away.

"Isn't it about time you took a little vacation?"

"What?" Kerrigan asked as she woke up from her moment of bloodlust.

"Just give control of the swarm over to that brood mother of yours for some time...you deserve a break more than anyone," Raynor said in a caring tone and put his hand on Kerrigan's shoulder.

"I can't do that..."

"Why?"

"Because!" Kerrigan moved, shaking Jim's arm off her shoulder in the process. "Because..." Unable to think of an answer, she paused.

"It doesn't have to be for good, just a short moment away from all the war and violence, a small trip to help you remember what it used to feel like to be human."

Raynor's words seemed to be getting to Kerrigan. She no longer seemed so against this.

"And where would I even go?"

"Why go anywhere?" Jim asked, leaving Kerrigan slightly confused. "Your four-legged friends looked like they'd welcome you with open arm...erm...hooves."

"You can't be serious..."

Raynor didn't reply to that. He just smiled at her and winked while backing away into his dropship. "Stay in touch, darlin."

Kerrigan's eyes followed Jim for some time, and when they could no longer follow him, they followed his dropship. When it faded from her sights, she turned her attention to the town full of ponies behind her. After a short moment spent staring and thinking, she started laughing out loud, after which she started slowly walking towards the town.

Learning how to be more human from a bunch of candy colored ponies...And here I was thinking that the craziest part of this day was already behind me.