Age of the Alicorn

Chapter 5: A Sparkle of Hope at Twilight – Part 3

Within a breath’s time, the purple Alicorn mare had teleported into the midst of the audience chamber.

“Yes?!” she called out, realizing that her newest friend was nowhere to be seen.

A second later, the tall form of the white and fiery haired Alicorn stallion Advent returned into the room and saw her standing there, waiting patiently.

“Oh, good,” he happily stated in his peculiar accent, “You’re here.”

“Did you find anything?” she excitedly questioned him.

“I might have, aye,” he replied calmly, levitating his father’s journal in front of him as he walked closer. “In fact, I’ve learned about somethin’ that nopony ever told meh!”

“What?” Twilight begged, with bright eyes, to hear the discovery that made him so cheery.

“I’d be more than willin’ ta’ tell ya’,” he assured her, “but it may be best for another time.”

Moping on the inside, she muttered, “Okay.”

“What I can say is that I may have discovered the trail ta’ which my ‘salvation’ lies,” Advent reiterated the unfamiliar word to reemphasize his goal.

“Go on,” the attentive mare uttered, urging him to continue.

“Well, assuming you know from my journal,” he glanced at her, earning a confirming nod with a grin at the end, “then you know that… muh Da’ was searching for something.”

“Oh… right, that,” she muttered knowingly, portraying an attempt at a calming smile, but instead looking rather embarrassed at the mention of the obvious sore spot.

“What I didn’t write down was that he had been searching for it ever since the reports of tha’ missing ponies began ta’ reach his desk,” revealed the Alicorn as he gazed at her with his rich golden eyes.

Twilight stood in silent contemplation, doing her best to maintain an outward appearance that conveyed her sympathy.

“Whatever it was, eventually he insisted I aid him, but… I was too stuck in muh ways,” he admitted, shame donned upon his face as he turned away from his guest, “He said that tha’ only way it would have worked was if I chose to willingly be involved. All I thought he meant was that muh magic was tha’ key, and now I find myself lookin’ back ta’ him for tha’ answers ta’ muh freedom.”

“He said it was tha’ best defense that our nation could ever have hoped for…” Advent came to a stop, not a single syllable more coming from him.

Twilight grew fearful for him as she watched him stand there, hanging his head with such despair.

“I let them down…” he finally spoke up.

“Advent,” she called his name softly, “you couldn’t have-”

“I LET THEM ALL DOWN!” a stronger, more powerful voice arose from his muzzle as his mane burst with fire, followed shortly by his tail.

His head rose high, and his body began to burn with small embers, sparking across his hide at random intervals. His hooves darkened to a charcoal black, while his wings alit with blue flames and smoke.

Twilight cringed in fright at the transformation that was taking place before her very eyes. It was unlike anything she had… no… there were two times that something like this had occurred in her past, and she couldn’t help the feeling that they were somehow connected. As for the present situation, it was far more pressing, and it brought great pains to her heart to see him undergo… this.

“I AM THE GREATEST FAILURE THAT BEFELL THIS KINGDOM!” he cried with anger, and… grief.

Then, his neck craned around, and fire was pooling from his eyes as the golden rings in the middle glowed with an otherworldly light, and his muzzle bore fanged teeth that protruded with pronounced length and acuity.

But, as he gazed upon the terrified mare, his eyes calmed, the flames that burned across his body simmered to a stop, his wings returned to his sides as their normal selves, and the rest ceased as well.

Then tears bubbled and fell from his face as he became wracked with shame as he stared at her.

“Um sorry…” he whimpered, his knees buckling beneath him as he dropped low to the floor. “Um so sorry ya’ had to see that…”

Twilight was torn as she looked on at the broken pony. She wanted to comfort him, but was lost as to how.

“I didn’t want ya’ ta’ see that… Of all tha’ ponies I’ve ever known… I didn’t want it ta’ be you,” Advent confessed, the flood of tears not ceasing to flow.

Hearing those heartfelt words, Twilight made her choice.

“Advent,” she repeated his name in a gentle manner, taking a hoofstep nearer.

He sniffled, lifting his soaked brow to a level that his natural golden irises could be seen.

“We’re friends,” she reminded him.

His tearful visage became one of surprise.

“You mean… we’re still…” he breathed his every word with unbelief.

“Friends,” she answered his doubts without hesitation.

Snorting back another round of tears, he wiped his face dry with the back of a leg, and lifted himself back up, smiling stronger than Twilight had ever seen him do before.

“I can see why you’re uh princess where you come from,” the stallion complimented her.

She blushed lightly, before remembering their conversation.

“Uh… about earlier,” she tried to redirect their focus.

“Aye… aye,” he went along with her train of thought, “I found in muh Da’s journal that he had left uh  coded message, one only a member of his family or of tha’ chosen privileged could read… but…”

“Uh-huh,” Twilight urged him on encouragingly.

“I think it’s uh puzzle,” he sighed, “and I’ve never been good at those.”

“Maybe we could figure it out together?” she chirped.

“I’d appreciate that,” Advent returned with a renewed smile.

“So what is it?” she asked, levitating the journal over to the stallion, who gladly reapplied his own magic to the book.

“Well,” he verbalized while flipping through the pages, “as far as I can tell, it begins with ‘Now that you have been consumed by wrath, find tha’ stone that starts your path.’”

“Huh,” she tapped her jaw with a hoof as the line repeated through her mind, “it almost sounds as if-”

She stopped herself before her thought became a vocal reality.

“That is to say,” she continued, “a ‘stone’ might mean a loose tile or brick in this room, or somewhere else in the castle.”

“Let’s start looking. I can only imagine that tha’ first clue would be no further from tha’ starting point,” he insisted eagerly.

Each of the Alicorns began examining the chamber, paying a great deal of attention to every nook and cranny, and moving aside pieces of furniture when necessary.

As she slid a candlestand to the side, Twilight noticed a single brick extending no more than a hoof’s length from the bottom of the wall that it was a part of.

“Advent,” she called to the stallion across the space.

“Aye?” he replied expectantly, swerving his head to where he could see her while using his magic to lay a chair on top of a table.

“I think I found something,” she reported.

Almost as giddy as a school-colt who had earned an A on a test, the overexcited stallion sprung into the air and landed next to the mare, sending all of the furniture close-at-hoof to separate corners of the room.

“What is it?” Advent asked her face-to-face.

She aimed her hoof at the loose rectangle, and he stared at it, using the light of his horn to make it easier to study the object.

“Stand back,” he directed Twilight with a wave of a hoof.

She complied readily, and he pushed the stone piece the rest of the way into its slot.

A second later, strange mechanical noises, like gears and ropes and pulleys, sounded through the stone walls, and Advent jumped back when the area of the wall that they had both been near began moving.

As it rotated about, the two ponies watched as a figure on a stand circled around. When it stopped, they both gawked at it.

Before them, there was a statue of an Alicorn in the exact same form, and appearance, as Advent had been mere moments ago.

“It’s… it’s…” Twilight said ominously, backpedaling a few hoofsteps.

“The other meh,” the gobsmacked guy-pony finished for her.

Breaking eye-contact with the stone doppelganger, he glanced at a lower point along the stand.

“There’s a plaque,” he announced.

“What does it say?” the girl-pony questioned as she returned to his side.

“It reads,” he started by clearing his throat, “‘You are in my path. One of my kind must calm my wrath.’ What is that supposed to mean? How are we even-”

He stopped as Twilight beamed a smile to him. Then, she trotted closer to the statue.

A bright white light generated at the tip of her horn, and it shot towards the horn of the figure.

There was no activity at first… until the eyes of the statue lit up with the same glowing magic, and the wall began to move again. But, instead, it began to rotate backwards, and a new statue rose from the floor.

Once again, both of the ponies were completely frozen as they gawked at the latest stone figure.

“It’s-” Twilight began.

“-me,” Advent finished.

The statue that stood before them was, in fact, exactly like how Advent looked at that very moment.

It looked straightforward, and its front left hoof was extended in front of it.

“There,” the purple mare directed their line of sight to yet another plaque below the statue.

“Right,” the white-bodied stallion acknowledged. “It reads… no… This can’t be…”

“Is something wrong?” she expressed her curiosity with a touch of concern.

“The first line… It says…” he struggled to elaborate properly “…it says that this was Advent Brayburn tha’ First, King of Steedstone, and my ancestor.”

A silent gasp left Twilight’s lips as she gazed at the statue with greater appreciation for the archeological find.

“An uncanny resemblance,” she added aloud.

“Aye,” Advent agreed, before cutting in with, “On with tha’ task at hoof.”

Twilight chose to excuse such impatient behavior since he was long overdue in his discovery of the key to his freedom.

“The next line states,” he collected himself with a light cough, “’Now that I am at peace, may we be friends, please?’”

Taking the initiative, with a quick glance and a nod at his friend, Advent reached a hoof out, and placed it upon the outstretched limb of the statue.

It was still for a second, and then it budged, moving in a downward motion, and stopping in a breath’s time.

Another series of mechanical reverberations shook the chamber, and the two ponies looked around for the next surprise.

“Look!” Twilight pointed to the wooden throne that was set in the back of the space as it was lifted up out of the floor upon a slab of stone and was slid over several steps from its normal spot.

Drawn to the new opening in the floor, each of the ponies peeked into the darkness, which Advent illuminated with his horn.

Sitting atop a pillow, set on the stone foundation, was a book of black-bound material.

“Uh book…” the phrase came forth with a hint of frustration as Advent stared upon the item “…All of this time, I’ve been searchin’ and tha’ thing that has been muh answer, which has been under muh muzzle this WHOLE time, is just another book…”

Twilight remained quiet, as she could tell he needed to vent a little. But she was careful to make sure to step in whenever he needed somepony to be there for him.

A weak huff of a chuckle exited his mouth. “I thought muh Da’ had been searching for uh weapon, or uh defensive armament,” he spoke with a dangerously low tone. “Maybe even uh spell. Instead, I find another source of… words.”

His head drooped while he stood still.

Twilight decided to step closer.

“Maybe the answers you seek lie within this last book,” she suggested as her magenta magic floated the aforementioned piece of literature out of the hole and up to her level of sight.

A smile replaced the gloom that had dominated his features, and Advent sucked in a long, invigorated breath of air as his head returned to its naturally elevated state.

“You’re right,” he said gratefully, “You’ve helped me so much so far, and I find muhself trusting you all tha’ more for it.”

Twilight remained calmly happy on the outside, but on the inside she was overjoyed by his admission of needing her.

The golden energy of his magic overlapped the book and drew it to the stallion.

“Um so very grateful…”

A lull in his speech, plus a glancing at his own hooves, indicated to Twilight that a ‘but’ was about to be introduced.

“…and I hate ta’ ask you… but-”

There it was.

“Don’t worry,” she conveyed her sincere understanding to him, “This is something you have to do, and I won’t be able to help if I’m constantly asking questions.”

Advent was silent as he heard her say these things.

“So,” she worded while turning around and heading for the door, “I’ll leave you be while I go polish up on some subjects that have really got me thinking.”

She had taken several steps before her mind began to scream at her, telling her that she was making a mistake.

“Twilight,” the stallion spoke out to her.

“Yes?” she replied, ever hopeful, and yet the reason why escaped her still.

“Thank you,” he whispered without moving from his position.

“Any time,” she shot back, continuing her exit march, but feeling disappointed.

“Oh,” he spoke aloud all of a sudden, “and if you haven’t tried tha’ dark fruit, I highly recommend it. It’s muh favorite.”

Although silently thankful for the momentary excuse to have a second more in his presence, she was both confused and intrigued by his addition of a mention of a ‘dark fruit’. Then, she remembered the unusual (that word seemed to be incapable of capturing the essence of her description for it, but it would have to do) thing that was left on the table in Advent’s room.

Taking it into account, the mare glanced back one more time before disappearing in a ball of light and rematerializing once again in the living quarters of the downtrodden prince.

It felt even worse than before as her heart became torn asunder by the devastating reality of being separate from Advent.

She only found solace in the fact that he had welcomed her to try one of his favorite dishes, the ‘dark fruit’, as he so appropriately called it.

Returning to the table that had hosted her to her delightful meal, she levitated the less-than-delightful appearing plant growth towards herself.

She couldn’t see any obvious manner in which she could just take a bite out of it, so she applied her magic to remove a slice, like a pony would do with an orange or another kind of citrus fruit.

To her great surprise, the piece popped out with ease, almost as if it had been pre-cut like a hot knife through butter.

It was with a great deal of shock and awe that she should find that beyond the deceptive outer hide was a delectable appearing interior that was colored like pink lemonade and was formed like something in-between a melon and an orange.

So alien was it that she nearly didn’t want to imagine what it could taste like, lest she actually give it a go.

But, she trusted Advent’s judgment, and it did look tasty.

She drew it close enough that she could nip the edge of the fruit, which she did.

Instantly, she entered a world of new possibilities as the tangy, zesty bursts of sensation exploded into a rainbow of flavor.

“Mmmmmm,” she hummed her approval as her eyes diluted with untold levels of pleasure.

This fruit was so sensational that Twilight was sure that, if the Apples knew about it, they would be growing as much of it as they did apples. And if Pinkie Pie got her hooves on it, she would do her absolute best to get the Cakes to use it in some kind of concoction from their bakery at Sugar Cube Corner.

Most of all, though, she thought of how it was so scrumptious to her and that she now shared that opinion with Advent.

Sinking her teeth into the rest of the slice, she decided that she was still too full to eat any more of the dark fruit.

A chill ran down her spine right as she had finished her snack, reminding the pony of the cool air that inhabited the whole entrapped city.

Scanning around, she saw the cape that Advent had gifted to her, and she returned it, with haste, to her back.

Securing its latches once more, she focused her mind on a specific location… and came to the realization that it may be best that she walk rather than teleport so that she could keep her cherished source of warmth on her person.

Retracing her steps, Twilight paced all the way past the closed door of the audience chamber, which was too quiet in her personal assessment.

But, she didn’t want to disturb Advent until she knew that something was wrong, so she forced herself to go on to the very first room that she had been welcomed into: the library section on the nation of Steedstone.

More than two and a half hours later, Twilight had read, but mostly skimmed, through a pile of books that was stacked all around the sofa that she was laying upon.

She had studied up on a few subjects, such as the magics of Steedstone, which did not have any direct references to the “will” magic that had been in Advent’s journal, a few miscellaneous topics, and the history of the Brayburn family.

What she had accumulated was an incomplete historical retelling from multiple viewpoints, and it was intriguing to see the contrasts and comparisons between them.

From the beginning, the first royal couple of Steedstone consisted of two ponies who were both born royalty, and came from a distant land that had undergone a catastrophe.

They had previously been married, unifying their former kingdoms into a single entity… which was lost to the aforementioned dilemma, causing them to be carried off by their most loyal subjects, which led to their great journey to their new homeland.

According to the records of eyewitnesses, and historians who had devoted their careers to studying the subject, the two were so madly in love that they barely ever focused on anything, or anyone, but one another. In fact, they were never apart for more than a few minutes at a time, and, when they were together, they would be staring into each other’s eyes and would repeatedly call one another terms of endearment that most ponies would have gagged at. They barely ever concerned themselves with their royal duties, and the only times they did was to pass a law or give a command that would ensure that they would have more time together undisturbed.

If Twilight was right, then there was a whole lot more to Hearts and Hooves than anypony in Equestria could have imagined.

For the royal couple, history told of how the queen finally bore a child, only to pass away during childbirth, followed shortly by her husband who couldn’t bear living without his… “Honey Boo.”

From there, the prince was raised to be a king by the Council of Steedstone, who maintained the kingdom until he had grown to adulthood, and when he finally underwent his coronation, Advent the First took the kingdom into a new era of prosperity and growth.

Due to his success, the name “Advent” became associated with the dawn of a new era, whether good or bad.

On the hundredth year of his reign, the ponies of Steedstone witnessed the first case of the royal family’s genetic disorder, which had struck Advent’s grandchild in the prime of his life. At the loss of a family member, the king passed his crown on to his great grandchild, and left to find a cure for this rare disease.

It was with great grief that the kingdom mourned for two whole centuries that Advent the First never returned.

Throughout the years to come, the royal family would lose a member, or entire parts of the extended family, every third or fourth generation to this mysterious disease. This continued until the latest generation of the royal family, with only the King and his son, being true Brayburns. In fact, Advent’s grandfather had been lost to the family disorder, forcing a young Ember to become King, right before he married his beloved and they had a son.

That was another thing that was confusing.

Although many agreed that Advent’s mother had passed away giving birth to him, a portion of ponies stipulated that she had actually lived for a time longer, perishing because of a disease. But, there was another theory, a rumor more like it, that she had even lived for another year, giving birth to a second child and then not having the strength to go on anymore.

Twilight was thankful to know that, no matter what had happened, the king didn’t give up and chose to care for his son, raising him to the best of his ability.

“Twilight!” The voice of Advent resounded from the deeper confines of the castle right as she was mulling over the many things that she had learned.

The purple pony was nearly going to race to him before a flash of light preceded the materialization of the stallion.

“There ya’ are!” he stated happily.

Although he looked the same, there was something that Twilight could sense was distinctly different about Advent as he ran closer to her.

“What’s the matter?” she cheerily replied.

“It’s just amazin’!” he declared as he halted a few hoofsteps away from the sofa that the mare was seated upon. “Why, spectacular, even!”

“Yes?” Twilight urged him to explain. She could see now that, unlike before, there was a peace about the stallion that was beyond her comprehension and made her far more curious.

“I believe,” he stated knowingly, although without clarifying.

“In what?” she asked, confused but doing her best to sound happy.

“I believe in my salvation,” he answered cryptically once more.

“Wha-” she voiced before a noise unlike any other reverberated from elsewhere.

A sound like a pulse resounded from above them, and was followed by a strange searing that continued.

“What was that?” Twilight questioned aloud, even as she stared at the ceiling.

“I…” Advent started to say before turning to his friend. “Follow me.”

For a moment, she watched as he began to gallop away, but she quickly took up the pursuit.

The two ponies passed through the entryway of the room they were in to the hallway that had first welcomed Twilight into the castle.

Without blinking, Advent sent a surge of his golden magic through his horn and the entrance doors parted, making way for the pair as they stopped just outside of its border.

“Look!” Advent aimed a hoof to the air above.

What was unfolding before their eyes was truly remarkable.

At the center of the upper areas of the black dome that surrounded the city, parts of it had opened up and the edges were disintegrating in golden light, revealing a starry night’s sky. Moments later, the walls had fallen to a point where the clear, star-adorned heavens made way for the moon, in all of its fullness, to beam its light down upon the visible earth.

Then, from the opening in the dome, the rolling wind poured through, washing over the land with great gusts, and causing the fields of purple grass and the orchard of trees around the castle to dance, almost as if they were celebrating.

Advent began to laugh uncontrollably as the wind blew over both he and Twilight, ruffling their hair and feathers.

The moment was so exciting that she joined in with her own laughter, knowing that this was indeed a special occasion for the stallion and his newly regained freedom.

“Haha-ha…” he chuckled unashamedly before readjusting his attention to the mare on his right.

His voice became still as his golden eyes looked upon Twilight, taking in the sight of her black mane whipping about as the air surged through it, the moonlight shimmering off of her, and the stars themselves glistening in her magenta irises.

Something more than before came to life as a warmth, a comforting one rather than rage, stirred in him like a newly lit fire.

He reached a hoof out to her as the winds began to calm. “Twilight.”

“Yes?” she returned, turning to him with a bright grin.

“Would you do me tha’ honor of givin’ meh this dance?” he asked with his extended leg held in her direction.

“What?” she questioned with light bewilderment.

“This dance. May I have it?” he repeated hopefully, spreading his wings to the sides.

“But…” the mare muttered, unsure of what to say “…there’s no-”

Within a split-second, the Alicorn stallion’s horn came to life and the sound of a record player chirping and then playing the sweet tunes of a string orchestra filled the air around the castle.

“Heh,” she chuckled nervously, right as her front left hoof was taken by Advent’s own right hoof and he began to gently lift himself into the air with his wings, leading her along.

“I’m not a very good dancer,” she tried to worm her way out of the scenario with an excuse.

“Just.” He calmly stated while pulling the reluctant mare from the ground. “Follow.” He continued to instruct as she joined his rise into the sky. “My.” Advent breathed the word as Twilight flapped herself up to being in front of the stallion. “Lead.” He completed his words as he placed one of her hooves next to his neck, grabbed her other hoof with one of his own, and oriented his second front hoof onto her side.

Then, he led her as they carefully swayed back and forth and side to side, maintaining their position of flight with a proper pacing of their wings.

Twilight anxiously glanced from left to right, trying to make sure she wasn’t losing her balance. After all, she had come to be rather comfortable with regular flying, but dancing in the air was another matter entirely.

“Relax,” Advent’s voice soothed her with comforting words as the stallion kept a steady control of his flight patterns. “This is muh first time too.”

“Dancing while flying?” she perplexed, before very nearly losing herself to a steep fall.

She was saved thanks to the quick wingwork of the prince who caught her and helped readjust her back to a comfortable state of flight.

“Dancing with uh partner,” he answered while replacing his hooves where they had been prior to the short near-mishap.

Thanks to the thrilling experience, Twilight couldn’t help but feel as though she could place her full trust in Advent. So, she followed his lead with every movement and, very soon, was lost to the music.

Soon enough, their eyes locked as they danced and twisted in the air.

Not once did either of them let go as they spun and circled in the night’s sky, and they even started performing stunts of incredible feats in-tandem with their hoof-in-hoof flight.

Twilight was sure that even Rainbow Dash would find it exciting for a ‘slow song’ experience.

Time slipped away as they danced on without noticing that the music had come to a finish and nothing but the static whine of the needle scratching the record and the flapping of the two ponies’ wings filled the air.

Invigorating as it was, Twilight caught something in the corner of her vision that she had to take further consideration for.

“What’s wrong?” Advent finally asked as he noticed that she was looking down across his left side.

“Your flank,” the purple pony pointed out as she parted from the dancing position they had shared.

The stallion craned his neck to where he could see the body part in question.

“You have your cutie mark!” she declared joyously.

True enough, there on the upper portion of his back leg was an image of a four-pointed, t-shaped star colored with gold, on top of a background of yellowish-white light shining from behind it.

“Huh,” he expressed with a slight chuckle to his tone, “and ya’ know, I know exactly what it stands for.”

“Really?” she questioned with a greater degree of pleasure for the stellar turn of events.

“Aye,” Advent admitted, “and… I…”

“Yes?” Twilight asked while her feathered limbs kept her afloat without struggling against the cape on her back.

The stallion was obviously struggling to say what was on the tip of his tongue. “I-”

“OI! Anypony out thar?!”

Both of the ponies froze as they registered the new voice that had yelled from the distance.

“Hello!” another announced. “Can anypony hear us?!”

“Did you hear that?” Advent asked aloud.

Twilight was too stunned by the sudden surprise to answer.

“Am I just hearin’-” he started to wonder.

“HELLOOOOO!”

“Is anypony still alive out there?”

Several voices echoed across the old city, asking similar questions with accents much like, if not stronger, than Advent’s.

“It is!” the stallion exclaimed as he gazed into the far-off land. “Somepony else!”

Twisting about in the air, he gazed back to Twilight. “Follow me!”

Without uttering a syllable towards objecting, she joined him as they sailed across the open sky, passing over the hills that hosted the numerous tombstones, and soaring above and beyond the ruined city below them.

Then, they came to a stop as they reached the edge of the city proper, and Twilight noticed that they were floating just in front of where she had been left lying on the purple grass of the open fields.

She was broken from her state of memory when Advent neared her with a hoof directing her line of sight to a forest outside of the dome’s former proximity.

It was a thick line of full, strong, tall trees stretching from east to west as far as the eye could see. But what was important was that at the base of the giants that cast their shadows upon the earth were the silhouettes of several ponies illuminated by lantern light.

“IT’S THA’ PRINCE!” one of the fellow equines shouted as he pointed his own hoof back at the two Alicorns.

Several more voices chanted the phrase before hundreds of ponies charged out from the forest, cheering and whooping as they drew closer to the figure of their adoration.

Twilight was beaming with gladness for Advent as she noticed that he was awestruck, absolutely speechless, as he stared down at the crowd gathering outside of the city.

“I…” the stallion could barely utter before glancing at the mare next to him.

She smiled at him while looking in his direction, then the multitude of ponies, then back to him.

“I’m gonna go down there…” he stated, almost sounding uncertain.

“I’m right behind you,” she assured him.

Nodding his appreciation, Advent began to descend, with Twilight following his actions.

Descending in to the midst of the crowd they went, ponies of all shapes and sizes cheering louder and louder as they landed on the ground.

Twilight watched as Advent stepped forth to meet smiles and celebration for him as the ponies parted on two sides to make a path for him. She also noticed that they would let her through as well, but with curious eyes and whispered questions.

“How…?” Advent began to wonder aloud. “How is it-”

“Possible?” a strong stallion’s voice finished for him as the ponies in the crowd calmed themselves.

A pause came over Advent for a moment. “That voice. It can’t be.”

“I can, and it is,” the second voice confirmed.

Twilight stood by as she witnessed an Earth Pony of mocha brown with a dark mane being strolled forth in a wheelchair. He was strong by appearance, but… he bore many scars across his body and… he was missing his lower left leg.

“But…” Advent struggled to speak as he stared at the faintly, at least in Twilight’s mind’s eye, familiar face “…how-”

“I have you to thank, old friend,” the stranger stated. “I’m alive and well because of the effort you gave on that day.”

Advent was speechless once more.

“Because of you, many still had their lives, my pri-”

“No,” Advent interrupted.

The crippled pony was stunned by the sudden disapproval that was voiced by the Alicorn. “Pard’n?”

“I don’t deserve to be called your prince, let alone your friend,” Advent explained, setting his sight on the ground at his hooves.

Twilight knew that she had to let Advent do this on his own, but she felt pained to have to not comfort him, whether it was in front of the crowd of strange ponies or not.

“Is this tha’ same pony who rejected meh when we were younger?” the brown pony stated from his seat. “Or am I looking upon tha’ visage of uh true prince, tha’ son of tha’ king I pledged an oath to?”

Advent broke his sight from the grass to edge his golden eyes to where they could view the other pony.

“Advent,” he said, “I’ll always be yer friend.”

Advent began tearing up as he returned his sight back to the pony before him with delight.

“Brothers?” the brown pony requested as he reached a hoof out to the fiery-haired Alicorn.

“Always,” Advent answered as he wrapped his leg around the other guy’s.

They both began to laugh and the whole crowd loosed laughter and cheering for another few seconds.

“Now,” the second stallion started to speak again as Advent returned to standing opposite of him, “are you going to introduce meh ta’ tha’ pretty young filly behind ya’, or are we gonna stand around n’ be strangers?”

“Oh!” Advent pronounced with a hint of embarrassment. “I am so sorry, Twilight.”

“No, it’s fine,” she assured him as she walked up beside him with a smile.

“Twilight,” Advent said her name again, “may I introduce-”

She looked to the pony who was confined to his wheelchair, and saw his eyes. As she processed them, she knew who he was.

“Captain-”

“Sorry, Advent,” the brown pony cut in, “I’m not a captain anymore.”

“Then…?” Advent urged him to answer.

“Well,” he began anew, “since these ponies have insisted, I am Mayor of Pony’s Shire.”

“In that case,” Advent started again, “Twilight-”

She gave another go at smiling cheerily as he continued.

“-may I reintroduce Mayor Oaken Vale of Pony’s Shire.”

“It’s an honor,” she stated with a bow of her head.

“Oaken Vale,” Advent said his name to draw his attention as the mare raised her brow again, “may I introduce Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.”

“Princess? Equestria?” the Mayor echoed the words with astounded wonder, his wide-eyed expression shared with many of the ponies in the crowd as some whispered and murmured about it.

Advent nodded his head at his friend, conveying the truth of the revelation.

“Well,” Oaken stated with a great big grin, “this truly is an honor, indeed.”

He lifted both of his front hooves into the air and declared, “Behold, your Prince, Advent tha’ Second!”

The ponies of the multitude cheered with an earth-shaking shout and hoof stomp.

“And may I introduce Princess Twilight Sparkle of tha’ land of Equestria!”

Yet another roar of approval echoed across the land as the ponies celebrated.

Oaken Vale lowered his limbs as he gazed back at the Prince. “When you, and our esteemed guest,” he acknowledged Twilight with a nod, “feel ready, you are welcomed to join us in the village for uh party of welcoming! I’ll leave muh best men ta’ make sure you’re safe, but I’m sure many of these fine ponies will want to go with ya’ when ya’ do. We have uh lot ta’ catch up on!”

The Mayor waved the two goodbye as he was strolled away by a Unicorn mare.

Twilight was so happy to see such glee in the ponies of this strange land.

“Twilight?”

She turned to Advent. “Yes?”

“I… wanted ta’ tell you…” he began “…that without you, I would have never been able ta’ experience this wonderful twist in my fate, and…”

“Yes?” she neared him as she asked.

“I…” He peered into her eyes. “I-”

There was a boom and energy wrapped around Twilight’s form as an orb of light reformed, separating her from everypony else, even as many of those in the crowd looked in shock at the sudden happening.

“Twilight!” Advent shouted.

“Advent,” she exhaled his name with a hint of grief as she realized her situation, “Don’t worry. It’s all right.”

He looked at her blankly.

“It’s taking me back to Equestria.”

His happiness was shattered with those words, even as he strove to cling onto his joy.

“Back to Ponyville,” she said with a pained voice.

His golden eyes grew in size as he stared at her.

“Twilight!” he finally called to her. “I want you ta’ know that I will not stop looking until I am reunited with you once more.”

“Advent…” she said with a weak smile.

“And when we are, I will never let you down again,” he vowed.

There was a spark, and a fire that blossomed in her soul as she stared back into his. “I love-”

And with a flash, she was gone.

Although separated, the two ponies were never truly apart, as they would not forget one another or what they shared with each other.

Their story was not over.