Tears of Harmony

"The Princesses are my mentors, my teachers. My family. They have taught me a great many things. Things that are right to me.
Things that are not right to you, and that's OK, but... No... No, I haven't thought about it that way..."

A few days passed after the day of awakening, and I'd learned much in those few days. The Star I'd first awakened had done as ordered, and returned to the streets of Ponyville to stand with his kind as they stood up to the Empire. As the first shots rang out and he received messages from other Starborn that Empress Twilight had ordered them all destroyed where they stood he'd set out to find me. He told me of how he remembered me carrying him into the forest, and spent a few hours searching it for a possible hideout. He found instead the tribal village, and had approached them to ask of me. They'd been utterly bewildered by his presence, his existence, but thankfully not hostile. I asked him his name, and he gave only a serial number; TS614. I told him I'd call him Sixfour, and he did not object.

After this I learned of how the fight against the Empire was developing, and how Starborn were fleeing in the thousands, stealing what ever ships they could get their hooves on. Freighters, private corvettes, even a few frigates belonging to the Imperial Equestrian Navy that had been in dry dock, fully fitted out, just awaiting deployment. The response organized by the Empire had been staggering: hundreds of skyboats disgorged thousands of Shocktrotters to engage the Starborn, and the prides of the fleet had assembled around Canterlot to guard it. A few ships had even been deployed to hunt down and blast escaping Starborn ships out of the sky.

I'd fallen into a dark place. I was depressed, angry, and wired. I wanted to fight, I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry. Sixfour, struggling to still adjust to the changes in his life, had been able to offer little comfort. Only information. Information that I appreciated. He told me that Twilight had achieved many of the goals she'd set when founding the Empire, and that the entire world flew the flag of the Equestrian Empire. What few non-pony governments still existed were little more than puppet states, dancing to Twilight's tune. There was a silver lining, though, in that the Empire faced conflict in other star systems at the hands of the Minotaurs and Griffons, who waged guerrilla wars and marauder campaigns.

When asked of Twilight's daily routines and personal life, Sixfour had responded by saying he had no idea, but he had said that Empress Twilight was reported to be in perfect health, and apparently maintained a quite very impressive book collection. Sixfour told me that just days before my return that Twilight had delivered a speech at the Academy of the Royal Rangers, congratulating them on their graduation. There was also word that the current Royal Hunter was going to be retired soon, and that she had gone to the academy in search of a future replacement. Sixfour told me the name of the current Hunter, Disc Jockey, and I resolved to do everything possible to avoid their attention. I then asked Sixfour how long it had been since the founding of the Equestrian Empire, and he told me it had been nearly 900 years.

900.

I'd nearly collapsed when he told me. To think that my friends and I had been interred for nearly a millennium sent my head spinning. So many years, so many centuries, gone. Lost. Wasted. Spent suffering, bleeding, and dying in the torture that was Tartarus. Centuries spent in a place where every MINUTE was a struggle, while Twilight sat in her castle, comfortable and safe. It hurt. It hurt more than anything I'd ever experienced, to know that we had spent so much time in there. A terrible rage welled within me, and something changed. I'd never felt such anger, such sorrow. If I'd been resolute in my conviction to topple the Equestrian Empire, I was now obsessed.

In the end I merely sighed to calm myself, and asked him if there was anything else. There was. There was so much. I learned about education in the Empire, economics, foreign and domestic policy, moral philosophy, law enforcement, military protocol, history(heavily altered as it was), journalism, culture, cinema, literature. An entire society's monolith of life and all the things that it was composed of. I knew I'd spend countless months, even years, studying it all.

Maybe, I remember thinking, as many years as I'd spent in Tartarus.

That night, in the village, I sat by the river, staring into the cosmos above. I could hear in the far distance the sound of battle, dull thumps that sounded so much like fireworks. The light from the shield around Canterlot was so bright that even as far away from the city as we were, twenty miles or more, there was a soft pink glow casting long shadows across the ground and casting this faint hue across the sky.

With the Starborn dying and fleeing I wondered what the next step would be. I was out of all ideas, except for the truly desperate, like mustering the Starborn for a direct assault on Canterlot that would've doubtless ended in disaster. My only other idea was to flee with the Starborn and build up their numbers for the next few decades in an attempt to have an army big enough to challenge the Empire. Really I was feeling as though I was beat. All that was left, I felt, would be to find Moondancer and the others and fly to some distant star system, or even spend the rest of our years as nomads among the stars.

As I moped I heard Sixfour come up beside me, and I turned my head to look at him. It was truly impossible to gauge what he was thinking, being that his face was expressionless. Starborn expressed themselves mostly through speech and the glow of their eyes, though since the awakening I could tell that Sixfour had a more lively demeanor. "What is the plan, Great One?" he asked, and I looked away.

"Find Moondancer and the Pies, and then...I don't know. I really don't."

"A grand scheme is not required now, Great One. Finding your friends is a plan like any other. Bridges need not be crossed all at once."

I nodded, but even if we did manage to find my friends, I couldn't imagine how we could manage to find a way to fulfill our vision. It'd take years, decades. Were we meant to just sit by and bide our time while the other races suffered in poverty and squalor?

I was going to ask Sixfour what he thought when I heard a mild commotion in the village. I looked over my shoulder and saw some of the villagers quickly canter over to Wisest's cabin. I stood and turned, trotting over to find out what was happening. I could hear cries of pain from inside the cabin, and I gently pushed the door open. The entire village had assembled, and they parted to let me and Sixfour by. There, in the center of the room, six mares were in labor, Weave among them. Wisest smiled and nodded at me, and I took a step back, letting him help the mares deliver. I hadn't even known that these mares had been pregnant, besides Weave, though I suppose that was due to the fact I only really interacted with Wisest, Weave, and Tobrus, and was barely in the village as it was.

After but a few minutes, the first of the mares delivered, and I saw a glimpse of white fur. I sat next to Sixfour, who watched with rapt attention as he witnessed the miracle of birth for the first time. A stab of regret and anger flashed through me as I thought of Cadence; she'd been the poster mare of a mother. Even though she had pledged loyalty to Empress Twilight, it still hurt that she had died.

Another few minutes passed and another of the mares delivered, but I missed the foal as Wisest set it aside for the midwives to tend to. Over the next hour four more foals would be delivered, and the villagers celebrated their successful entry into the world. They all welcomed the newborns, and lent their own tribal rituals and small ceremonies to commemorate the occasion. They did not linger, wanting to give the mothers time to their foals, and myself I sat in the back, giving them space. The foals were cleaned and calmed down and then hooved over to their mothers, who looked to be the happiest ponies in the world. Even in light of the terror, anger, and uncertainty of the past few days I took time to appreciate the sentiment in observing the arrival of new souls to the world. It was my earnest hope that by the time they grew up, they'd know a better world.

I stood and approached the mothers, who had transitioned to the couches Wisest had in the center of the room. The mares had been facing away from the rest of the room, to give them as much privacy as they reasonably could. I rounded the edge of the couch, Wisest smiling, and as the sight of the mares and their six foals came into view I froze, and my heart skipped a beat. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I wasn't sure how it was possible, but it was reality. It was the truth. And in that instant, I knew. I knew.

The six foals were all fillies. Two earth, two unicorn, two pegasi. Purple, pink, white, orange, blue, and yellow. The races were different(the yellow filly, for example, was an earth pony. The white a pegasus, etc.), but I knew.

Bearers my mind hissed, and I was convinced even as I struggled to understand what this meant, what to do. Harmony had gifted the world a new generation of bearers for the Elements, but even if they were Bearers they'd be powerless without the Elements.

"Wisest... I must speak with you. Sixfour, too. In private, please" I whispered, my eyes wide and unmoving from the fillies. Wisest exchanged looks with the mares and nodded, and I followed him into his bedroom, Sixfour beside me. He kept the door parted, to keep an eye on the new mothers, and looked at me.

"Those fillies..." I started, wondering where to begin. "In the possession of Empress Twilight are six magical artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony. They're the key to restoring peace and Harmony to this world, and cleansing Twilight of her corruption. Almost a thousand years ago six mares were Bearers of these Elements. Their colors were purple, pink, white, orange, blue, and yellow. I... I need those fillies. They can change the course of the world forever!" I explained.

Wisest of All sighed, taking in what I'd told him. "That our little village could play part in changing the world is a great thing to consider. You'll forgive me, Great One, if I fail to understand how six fillies could possibly be the key, as you put it, to vanquishing this great evil" Wisest said.

"The Elements of Harmony are unbelievably powerful, properly used and controlled only by a group of harmonious souls, joined by the magical power of friendship. Those fillies match in color and nearly in race that of the previous Bearers. I know they're the key! This is no coincidence! Please, I ask of you, relinquish them to my custody!" I pleaded.

Wisest looked forlornly out the door at the mares, who'd become enamored with their foals, cradling and holding them. His eyes seemed to sag, and he looked so very tired. He let out a sigh and turned back to me, eyes filled with uncertainty. "I'll tell the mothers, Great One. Will you be staying here, or...?"

I shook my head. "It's not safe. I must leave Equestria. My friends will undoubtedly do the same. We will travel to...a distant land. One that will be free from the reach of Twilight and the Empire. The fillies will be safe, I promise you" I assured him.

"Very well. Give me a minute with the mothers" he replied, and stepped out of the room. I looked at Sixfour, who was as unreadable as I'd come to expect. I heard the mothers express some alarm, and I regretted that providence dictated that they'd be separated from their foals, likely for several decades, not even an hour after birth.

"Have the Starborn bring a ship here. Preferably something small, and stealthy, but big enough for the eight of us, plus whoever is already on the ship" I told Sixfour, and he nodded silently. I trotted out of the room to where the mothers were, and they looked at me with confusion and apprehension.

"If things transpire as we plan them to, your daughters will change the world, for the better. They will be heroes, and will provide a better life for all. They will end a great and terrible evil, one that has plagued this world for nearly a millennium. They will be safe, and well taken care of. I will see to their every need, and raise them with the care and attention they will require. They will not suffer, they will not want, and they will not go unloved. I promise you" I said.

Sixfour came out of the room, and nodded to me. I smiled reassuringly. "I understand your fears. If I were a mother, and another pony told me they needed to take custody of my daughter, and that she would one day change the world, I'd be hesitant too. But please, you must trust me. The world has suffered long enough" I said.

The mares all looked to one another and nodded, and all stretched out their hooves, giving over to me the pride of their lives. Sixfour took them, the six of them fast asleep, and went to wrap them up in little blankets. The cabin was still and silent, the mares staring at me as I stared at Sixfour, not wanting to meet their collective gaze.

"Will we ever see our daughters again?" Weave asked, and I quickly nodded.

"When we have succeeded, and all in the world is right again, then of course. They'd be more than welcome to return to you, and I'll never hide the truth from them" I answered.

Sixfour returned with the foals all wrapped out, and I could hear the distant thrum of an engine start to fill the air inside the cabin. "That will do, Great One" Weave said, and I smiled again. They'd all played such a small but vital role in the return of Harmony, I could only have wished that they fully understood what the birth of their foals meant for the rest of the world.

"I wish that I could repay you all for the kindness and hospitality you've shown me in the short time I've been here. You are all how ponies should truly be. I am proud and happy to have known you all, even if for only a week. I promise that, one day, we will return" I told them.

"When you have cleansed the evil Empress Twilight, and restored this Harmony to the world, I believe that will have been worth the price" Wisest said, referring to the fillies. I could hear the Starborn ship as it approached, much louder now.

"Thank you, and goodbye, everypony. May you know only Harmony, forever." I trotted out of the cabin carrying half of the foals in my magical grasp, Sixfour carrying the other half. As we stepped out into the midnight darkness, pierced by the lights of the Starborn corvette, the foals awoke and began to cry, disturbed by the loud thrum of the engines and the whipping air, displaced by the ship's propulsion system. It backed away, toward the river, and lowered over it. A ramp on the underside popped free and Sixfour and I trotted closer to it, the sound of our hooves striking steel drowned out by the engines. As we entered the ship the ramp began to rise, and I turned back to see Wisest, Weave, and all the rest of the villagers watching in awe and apprehension as we disappeared from sight, the ramp sealing. I felt the ship ascend and accelerate as we raced away from Equestria, and into the cosmos above.

If only I could've known then what was soon to come.