Good Heart

GOOD HEART
By Roger334

Special thanks to:
Rekibob & TheBlueDreamMaker
For their invaluable help and tips through the development of my story.

“…the last defense will be from here to there, surrounding the southern entrance of the Everfree Forest nearby the old train station,” said Celestia while drawing a line on a map of Ponyville with her hoof. Her face seemed tired and her eyes reflected sorrow, a deep sorrow that nopony has ever seen in her before.

“That’s our last option, and if this plan fails…”

“No Princess! This plan can’t fail. We still have the Elements of Harmony and you as our ruler, remember?” said Twilight while she tried to look Celestia in the eyes. The unicorn's words tried to cheer her up.

The Solar Princess wouldn't dare gaze at Twilight, not after all the things Equestria has suffered in the past months. With a tear in her eye, Celestia leaves the building in which both ponies were planning the city's defense.
Twilight followed her immediately.

“Just look at the city Twilight, just look at it…” cried Celestia while she pointed to some of the destroyed buildings of Ponyville. Anger mixed with impotence could be heard in her tone.

“My duty was to protect all of you, but I’ve failed, I’ve failed my subjects, my family and now you,” said the white princess with tears on her eyes while she looked down at Twilight.

“I don’t deserve to wear this crown… I don’t deserve any of this luxury,” cried the Solar Princess while she cast away her crown and her golden necklace with the help of her magic.

The pain and the feelings were rushing inside Celestia’s mind and all what she could do was sit on the ground
while tears continued to drop from her eyes. Twilight came closer and she also lay down very near to her.

“I… I could… I could’ve fought with them…” sobbed Celestia while she continued with her bitter crying.
Twilight put a hoof around her neck and hugged her.

“No Princess, none of this is your fault. There was nothing you or I could do so please, stop blaming yourself,”
said Twilight trying to relieve the pain from Celestia’s mind.

“You know, I still remember the day when I received your letter, asking me to come to Canterlot immediately
because the city was under attack.”

“A chariot pulled by some of your pegasi guards was waiting for me outside the library and when I arrived at the city, the ponies were fleeing in one direction, all of them guided by you.”

“If it had not been for you princess, none of them would have escaped safely,” said the purple unicorn.

“Really…? Do you really think so?” asked Celestia, sobbing a little.

“Of course princess, all of them fled to safety in other cities and shelters thanks to your leadership so now is our turn to do all we can to defend ourselves.”

“Now we need our princess, our fair and kind ruler, to guide us in this our first, but not last, defense against the Dark King,” replied Twilight while she picked the royal crown and the golden necklace from the floor with her magic, putting them back on Celestia’s head and neck.

“You’re right Twilight, these ponies need somepony to rely on and now is not time to cry. It's time to fight back
and rescue our friends from it,” said Celestia while she got up from the floor vividly.

Twilight using her magic again, approaches Celestia with a white tissue for her to wipe away her tears.

“Thank you Twilight, I really needed to talk with somepony,” said the Solar Princess while she smiled for the first time in months, and it was to Twilight, her only friend.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie arrived from the northern part of the town, all of them wearing their respective Element of Harmony.

“All the ponies are evacuating Ponyville through the northern pass and now we can fight without worrying for them,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin on her face.

“Excellent, you all know what to do and remember, whatever happens do not break the position, understood?”
asked Twilight to her friends.

“Yes ma'am!” responded the five mares in unison.

In that moment, Rarity noticed that something was in the sky heading towards the circle of ponies from the horizon and it was gaining speed very quickly.

“Everypony, look!” shouted Rarity to the other ponies while she pointed at the object with her right hoof.

After a short instant, the mysterious object in the sky took the shape of one lunar guard carrying Princess Luna on his back.

The pair tried to land near the circle of ponies, however, they crashed on the ground due to their weight while attempting a maneuver to reduce their speed. Celestia trotted to their aid immediately, followed by Twilight and the other ponies.

The guard and the Lunar Princess were breathing very fast, a sign of their exhaustion.
Twilight and Applejack tried to help them stand again, however, neither could.

“Griffin Lands… Fillydelphia… Las Pegasus… Deer Empire… and Dragon Alliance are lost, all of them defeated,” said Luna with anxiety and fear between her fast respirations.

“...an hour ago, Cloudsdale succumbed and there was nothing I could do. Huey helped me escape, I’m so sorry sister…” replied the Lunar Princess, this time, with tears in her eyes.

“Impossible! Are you sure?!” asked Celestia to her sister who was lying on the soft grass.

“It’s true your majesty, we barely escaped from Cloudsdale…” replied the exhausted guard.

“But… but there was something else princess, something I think I saw during the city siege that is too terrible to say…” said Huey when suddenly a loud crack came directly from the Everfree forest, interrupting his words.

Birds started to flee in all directions while some pines trees started to fall one by one. A dark cloud started to appear from above the tree line, moving very fast towards the town and their current position.

“It’s here… ” said Luna.

“Protect the villagers sister, please do what I was not able to…” replied Luna right before fainting over the green grass.

“Luna…? LUNA?!” asked desperately the Solar Princess, but no answer could be heard from her sister.

Twilight in that moment shot a few sparkles into the sky with her magic, giving the signal to Cheerile to toll the school’s bell as hard as she could. This was the signal for everypony to leave town immediately. Their last defense has started.

As the gloomy sound of the bell echoed throughout the city, all the remaining ponies started to panic and flee
through the only exit available. Some ponies started to leave their wagons and belongings behind so they could escape in time.

“Luna, please sister, speak to me…” said Celestia with sorrow to her sister.

“Princess, it’s time to get into our positions,” said Twilight trying to focus Celestia’s attention in the battle plan they made. However, she could not see or think about anything else other than Luna, who lay unconscious in the grass.

“Don’t worry your majesty, I’ll take Princess Luna to a safe place,” said the lunar guard trying to calm the white alicorn. Celestia nodded and returned with Twilight and her friends into the half circle at the front entrance of Ponyville.

Huey took Luna and started to carry her away from the group of ponies when suddenly, Pinkie Pie approached them and after a brief exchange of words, both returned to their previous directions.

“I sent them to Sugar Cube Corner’s basement. They will be safe there,” said Pinkie to Celestia, trying to calm her too.

The dark cloud started to get closer to Ponyville and its size engulfed every pine tree in the forest. A laugh of some kind could be heard from the inside of the cloud, laughing louder and louder as it came closer.

“Alright mares, prepare your elements!” shouted Twilight as she and her friends formed a half moon position
with Celestia in the middle right in front of the town.

The Elements of Harmony started to glow one by one on each pony's neck and after all of them were enlighten,
a shield made of colors started to appear in front of them, surrounding the entire city with it.

“Alright, as soon as the Dark King shows himself, I’ll shoot a beam of pure light right into him,” said Celestia with determination.

At that moment, the dark cloud started to exit the forest. From it, the laugh grew louder.
A few pine trees fell in front of the ponies, but the color shield protected them from the harm.

From very deep inside the cloud, a bluish light could barely be seen in the thick darkness.
It was still unrecognizable at the distance.

“DO YOU REALLY THINK THOSE PUNY AND INSIGNIFICANT NECKLACES WOULD DEFEAT ME?” a gloomy voice bellowed from the inside of the dark cloud.

“WELL, WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!” bellowed the voice again, but this time, the distant light started to come closer and closer until it was right before them, making it's form recognizable.

“No… Twilight,” sighed Celestia. With horror the Solar Princess turned her face to Twilight’s, right before
the talented unicorn opened her eyes. Twilight was dreaming again.

*********

“Hey you, purple one. We are finally here, WAKE UP I SAY!” shouted an old unicorn stallion while he moved Twilight with his hoof.

After some effort trying to open her eyes, Twilight finally woke up and picked up a small bag with her magic.
With all her things gathered together, she jumped out of the old unicorn’s wooden wagon, which was filled with old and rusty items.

“From here, what road should I take to Alicornia?” asked Twilight to the old stallion.

“That’s an easy one little pony. Just take the path that's paved with brown stones and you’ll be there in 2 days,
depending on how fast you can trot,” replied the old pony.

“I almost forgot, with how much you paid me, I'll let you take this lantern on your trip,” replied again the unicorn as he picked one from his wagon.

“Don’t worry, it’s already filled with enough oil for 3 days,” added the stallion.

“Thank you,” answered Twilight as she took it from him with her magic.

“I don’t know what intentions you have in Alicornia purple one, but let me warn you something about alicorns.
They’re mean creatures who think they are superior to all of us only because they are immortal.”

“In other words, Alicorns cannot be trusted, don’t forget that little pony!” shouted the old stallion as he put back on his saddle and started to trot away with his wagon.

The sound of the metal pans and spoons clanging together could be heard as the old merchant wagon started to move away.

Twilight stood still in the middle of the dirt path while she watched the old stallion trot away. When she couldn't see him anymore, she started her long path down the brown paved road as she was told to.

This road in particular was perfectly straight. It ran through a deep forest and over small rivers. However, it was longer than the day and before Twilight knew it, the night had appeared in the sky. This forced her to stop and make camp for the night.

From her bag, Twilight took out a blanket made with several pieces of cloth. She then filled her empty bag with leaves and grass, making what it appeared to be a rudimentary pillow.

The rusty lantern illuminated the hollow oak tree in which Twilight decided to spend her first night on the brown paved road. Before long, she drifted off to sleep. A new dream started to play in her mind.

“…where am I?” asked Twilight to herself as she woke up in the middle of a green prairie, surrounded by mountains in the distance.

“Celestia, where are you princess?”

“Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Spike?”

“Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie where are you?” asked again the unicorn.

No voice answered her cry. The blowing wind was the only thing she heard. Twilight looked around, but she couldn’t see a single soul, house, sign or road. She was completely alone in the middle of that natural beauty.

A storm could be heard in the distance. Gray clouds started to cover the blue sky. When she looked up,
a raindrop fall from a cloud landing on her forehead. It was soon followed by others, forming a thick rain in just seconds.

Twilight started to run through the tall grass, looking for shelter. After a long trot through the prairie, she saw
what appeared to be a windmill in the middle of the field. Twilight decided head to it.

The windmill was damaged and it gave Twilight the impression that it had been abandoned for a long time.
Still, it was strong enough to shelter a pony like her.

When Twilight finally arrived at the wooden door, she used her magic to open it.
She was relieved to have finally found a shelter to protect her from the rain.

Some leaks trickled down from the ceiling of the windmill. Twilight sealed a few of them with some wooden planks she found inside. Now the windmill was dry enough to shelter her for the rest of the storm.

With the leaks patched, Twilight decided to explore her temporary shelter. Beneath a pile of broken wooden cogs, the purple unicorn found what it appeared to be a chest. Twilight used her magic again to open it and see what it contained.

“An old used candle… a very old bag… a broken compass and what it appears to be a scroll map of some kind. Interesting…” said the purple unicorn to herself.

Twilight put a wooden plank over a barrel, forming a makeshift table for her so she could fully open the scroll map. As the map slowly opened, Twilight couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing.

“This isn’t Equestria, this is… PONYA!!!” shouted the surprised unicorn.

In that moment everything started to fade just as Twilight opened her eyes again. Another dream about her past life ended, just like the ones she has been having since her arrival to Ponya many months ago.

Rested and ready to continue her journey, Twilight packed her things and her lantern back in the bag.
She exited the hollow oak tree and continued her long path down the brown paved road. She could see the morning sun peaking over the horizon between the tree trunks.

Just as the old merchant said, the talented unicorn spent two days traveling the path and finally by the sunset of day two, Alicornia and its famous Clock Tower could be seen from the distance.

“Finally, I’m almost there, almost there…” said Twilight to herself as she continued trotting towards the giant wooden city gates.