Ponyville
November 12th

For the first time in far too long, the morning air felt perfectly calm.

The sun had not yet been risen, but the view over Ponyville was once again one of peace. While the fear that had plagued the town since it had been attacked was far from dissipated, it no longer had a harsh edge to it. The feeling that it would never end. Now ponies would wake up to an Equestria that had been returned to its usual calm state, though so many were also unaware that it was an Equestria without Twilight. That single fact hurt Celestia more than anything. Many things about the past month hurt her. The number of ponies who had lost their lives. The potentially irreparable damage done to Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Even the knowledge that the alicorn race had effectively been condemned to extinction.

And yet, being unable to speak to her most faithful student one more time cut to her very core. The loss was a wound she was unsure would ever heal.

Celestia stood silently as she took in the view from the castle balcony, trying not to dwell on the thought. Although the town was still shrouded in the darkness just before the dawn, there was an extra sense of serenity. Thanks in large part to the special request she had put in to Ponyville's weather team the night before. The ground was coated in the first snow of winter, a light fall on going and helping lighten everything in sight. A small sign that some things had remained the same throughout all this, as Weather Lead Flitter had outdone herself to make sure that everything was ready. The weather pegasi had retired home now though, and no life stirred wherever Celestia looked.

She slowly opened her wings and spread them to their full width as her horn was surrounded by her magic aura. As the sun began to crest the horizon, its first rays quickly reflecting off the snow, all of Ponyville began to glow. The reflected light caught against lingering strips of metal, chunks of crystal not yet recovered, any bright surface that would take it in and send it onward. By the time the sun had cleared the ground, all of Ponyville was bathed in myriad colours, shining brightly and warmly, the glow visible for miles around. This was her final gift to Twilight. To make Ponyville a shining beacon once again. The view would remind others, and herself, that the core of friendship and harmony in Equestria remained intact. In time, the town itself would be rebuilt, every bit as harmonious as before, and reflect that feeling as well.

At least, she hoped it would.

Once the sun had settled into place in the sky, Celestia let her magic fade as she watched it. The traces of her magic would keep it moving throughout the day and then Luna would take over to lower it in the evening. For now, there was one last duty she had to oversee before she could fully commit to returning life to normal for everypony in Equestria.

She lifted off from the balcony and brought herself into a graceful landing in front of the steps of Twilight's castle. Everypony that had been gathered in the throne room last night was waiting for her there. They had had time to get their thoughts in order and come to terms with their loss as best they could. Some better than others.

Aurora was at the front, staring absent minded at the ground and looking like he'd attempted to freshen up after a long, sleepless night. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were behind him, their eyes still betraying their sadness but managing to remain composed, more focused on supporting the stallion in front of them. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were off to one side, keeping rather fixated on Celestia as she landed. Likely using any distraction to keep their minds off things. Peace Walker and Deep Note were on the other side, expressions unreadable, going through their own ways of coping. Luna and Spike were at the back, the latter's eyes shut as he took a few moments to keep himself together. He was also holding a familiar blue lockbox, gold trimmed and with a number of multi-coloured gems encrusted into its front.

"Sister. We are ready." Luna told Celestia as she stepped forward.

The others all nodded or voiced their agreement. Even Aurora was shaken out of his stupor by the sound and nodded quickly.

The two alicorns moved into the center of the group, making sure everyone was within range of their spells, before teleporting them out. As she was momentarily blinded by the flash of magic, Celestia wondered for a moment if something like this view was what had awaited Twilight. An eternal nothingness, filled with either light or dark. Even with her millennia of experience, knowing what lay in life after death still eluded her. At the same time, part of her felt that she might prefer not to know. Then the flash faded and she was back in reality.

Although she was prepared for the view, her heart still sank slightly at seeing it in the flesh. The cave was just as scarred as Deep had described, though the bloodstains that had apparently been scattered across the area had mysteriously vanished. It looked as though a pitched battle between a whole group of ponies had been waged here, rather than merely Applejack and Tantabus. Celestia silently gave more thanks to the earth mare and her unrelenting efforts. Though Applejack currently remained in critical condition, her sacrifices may well have bought Twilight the time she needed. The Tree of Harmony remained the one unaffected thing in the cave, standing proudly as ever. Its glow was slightly weaker than usual, almost imperceptibly so, but the fact it was undamaged brought her a measure of calm.

"Woah..." Scootaloo said quietly as they took in the sight. Quite a few of the others were similarly distracted by the state of the cave.

"Yeah. AJ put up a heck of a fight." Deep added, his voice a mix of pride and remorse.

"And her efforts will be honoured, as will all those who stood up and did their duty." Luna told him as she stepped forward, a faint smile on her face.

"Indeed. For all the parts you played, we cannot thank you enough," Celestia said to everypony as she joined her sister. "There is only one thing left to do before we can say this crisis is truly over."

She nodded to Spike, watching as everypony turned to him as he opened the lockbox. Settled inside, as they should have been when she opened it decades ago, sat the elements of harmony. Nopony had seen them since they had been moved into Twilight's care, the dragon the only one remaining that had known their location. The six precious artefacts looked as pristine as they had on the day they had been found, possibly more so without any of the jewellery they used to adorn. Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle gave an involuntary whimper at the sight. None of the others could blame them. Seeing Twilight's cutie mark after all this was hard on everypony.

Rainbow Dash was the first to move, sighing sadly as she lifted the element of loyalty up and held it close to her chest. Normally she could have just hovered and held it in her front hooves. It was clearly taking a lot for her not to look at her bandaged back again. The action stirred Fluttershy into moving though, reaching in and retrieving the element of kindness once Rainbow had stepped back. No sooner had she got a secure hold on it than everypony realised one last problem they were facing. Although the Tree of Harmony had proven in the past that it had no issues with who returned what element, the fact four element bearers were missing left the question of who would carry what.

After several seconds of looking among the ponies present, a silent agreement was reached.

Sweetie Belle stepped up to the lockbox and lifted the element of generosity up, slightly misty-eyed as she studied it. Apple Bloom stepped up to her side and placed a hoof on her shoulder, the unicorn leaning into the support for a few moments. Deep Note moved up on Bloom's other side, looking a little unsure. She looked over to him and gave a reassuring nod, silently telling him that he had just as much right to do this as anypony. He nodded back at her but still hesitated before picking up the element of honesty. With the other two done, Bloom bit her lip slightly as she gently brought the element of laughter up to her face. She gently touched her forehead against it before looking back. There was one pony left, one who hadn't moved at all in the time they'd been here.

"Hey, you okay?" Peace Walker asked as she stepped up next to Aurora. He was staring forward at the tree, blinking slowly. It took her a moment to realise that he was focused on the cutie marks upon its trunk. Staring at Twilight's.

"I...No." He admitted quietly, taking a shuddering breath. Despite everything he had been through in the past year, being forged into a future leader who knew just what it took, he suddenly looked fragile. Peace noticed a glint in his eyes, a sign of uncertainty. Of if he could let go.

"It's okay, Aurora. I get it. I can take this one if you'd prefer."

The glint vanished as he looked over to her.

"Thanks but, I need to face this. Make this farewell my own way. I owe it to her."

Aurora straightened up as Peace patted his shoulder before she turned and stepped up to the lockbox. He looked back to thank her properly, only to realise he had no idea what exactly he wanted to say. He instead shared a long, knowing look with Spike as she picked up the element of magic and brought it over to him. His expression was unreadable as he took it in his magic, bringing it up to eye level. But as he stared at it silently, there was a new look in his eyes. An air of closure.

"It's okay," Spike told him quietly as he closed the lockbox. "I know it'll feel weird, but I can't imagine Twi wanting anypony else to do this."

He nodded after several seconds and looked round at everypony else. They were all looking back at him, a mix of understanding and hesitance on their faces. Some of them still seemed to be struggling with the fact this was really happening. The thought was still a heavy weight upon him too. Celestia was right though. They needed to bring this whole sorry affair to an end, once and for all.

Aurora took a last moment to compose himself and walked toward the tree, those carrying elements at his side. This would be his way of truly saying goodbye, returning his aunt's element to its resting place. He slowly looked among the group and could tell they were thinking the same thing. Fluttershy and Deep gently took off and hovered near the branches, while the others raised theirs up toward the tree. He stared up at it for several moments, eyes twinkling from its reflections, before focusing on the element in his grasp.

"Well...I'll see you again one day, Twilight. This is for everypony..." He said quietly as he took the elements of loyalty, generosity and laughter in his magic as well. Part of him couldn't help but feel like he was stealing the thunder from the others, but none of them would be able to reach on their own.

The four elements slowly rose toward their positions, waiting as the last two were brought into place. Aurora looked up at the flyers and nodded, all of them placing the elements back into position at once. A soothing humming sound resonated throughout the cave as the tree locked its fruits back into place, glowing brighter with every passing moment. Everypony stepped back to watch as the tree started shining, its power restored. Wispy tendrils of white began to rise up from its roots and curled around its trunk, its magic growing stronger.

"Wow. That's, wow." Deep said as he watched in wonder.

"Err...Is it supposed to be doing that?" Rainbow asked Celestia warily, backing up further.

Now that she'd mentioned it, Aurora realised that nothing he'd heard about the Tree of Harmony matched what it was doing right now. A quick glance back showed that Celestia, Luna and Spike were similarly on edge, though none of them seemed actively concerned. As he looked back to it, the tendrils had spread out to each branch that carried an element. A sixth was spiralling around the element of magic in the center. Then each of the elements began shining brightly, the glow enveloping the whole tree. Before anypony could react, a beam of light shot out from the middle of the truck and struck Deep in the chest. Everypony recoiled and braced themselves for trouble, some last complication that they had overlooked. Then they realised that he was still hovering in place, seemingly unaffected by the beam.

"You okay!?" Apple Bloom called up to him.

"Yeah. It's actually kind of nice." Deep replied, though he was rather still in the hold of the tree's magic. He didn't look to be in any discomfort though, enough to make the others relax somewhat.

A second beam shot out moments later and hit Scootaloo, bathing her in the same glow. Three more followed in rapid succession, engulfing Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Peace Walker. Aurora had enough time to see that the beams were managing to avoid touching anypony else before a sixth came straight for him. As the world around him went white he could feel his hooves lifting off the ground slightly, the magic taking him in it's hold. All of a sudden he felt...Rejuvenated. It was difficult to find a better fitting word. While he didn't feel any different mentally, it was like all his physical needs had been filled at once. There was something more underneath it though. He could tell he was part of a conduit of magic, the power of Harmony itself filtering through him and back out again. The tree, the gift behind it, could feel his essence, and he could feel its.

To what end though?

After several seconds the glow faded and the world returned to normal, his hooves making solid contact with the ground. He had just enough time to see all six beams retract into the tree before the others did the same. Deep actually dropped out of the air, caught out by the sudden change, though Peace managed to catch him before he hit the floor.

"Are you all alright?" Celestia asked with concern as she and Luna moved between them. None of them looked any worse for wear though, and were quickly able to voice confirmation.

"Yeah. Possibly better than before." Peace commented as she let Deep get off her back, quickly trotting round him to double check.

"Though, just what in tarnation was that about?" Bloom asked in confusion, shaking her head slightly.

Before anypony could wonder further, a shocked gasp from Rainbow Dash drew their attention. She was pointing toward the tree, jaw dropped. It took only a moment to see why.

The Tree of Harmony had returned to its usual appearance, majestic and inspiring. The elements though...The resting place of loyalty no longer contained a red lightning bolt, but a bronze saw. For honesty, a gold clef sat in place of an orange apple. Kindness, a deep blue peace symbol had replaced the pink butterfly. Laughter saw the light blue balloon changed into a silver microphone. Generosity's purple diamond was now a lighter purple flight helmet. And the magenta star of magic had vanished. It took a moment to see against the crystalline trunk and shine of the tree, but in its place was a white, spectral outline of a pony. Though some of the colours were different, the six elements matched the cutie marks of six ponies in the cave.

Everypony stood transfixed at the sight, the silence hanging as though daring somepony to break it and speak what they were all thinking.

"...What?!" Sweetie Belle finally exclaimed, her voice cracking slightly.

"The bond between the elements and their bearers has been severed."

That voice, it sounded like...But, it couldn't be Twilight. It was resonating throughout the cave, stronger in front of them. Like it was coming from, the tree...

"There must remain six," It continued, everypony slowly stepping closer. "Six who are able to continue their work. Those touched by the elements. Those connected with past bearers. Those with a bond to each other. Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, Magic. Elements all. You must carry the light forward where it has dimmed. Weather the storm of hardships, and return the magic of friendship back to Equestria."

Each of the elements glowed momentarily as they were mentioned. They were all in the same positions as before their metamorphosis, making it easy to see which corresponded to what. Aurora silently followed the glows, looking toward the ponies with matching marks. If this was true, then the six new bearers of the elements were among them: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Peace Walker, Deep Note, and himself. As the words of the tree faded, they all took several moments to let them sink in.

"....What!?!" Sweetie exclaimed again. The others were in a similar situation, their expressions either doubt, surprise or confusion.

"Wait...Touched by the elements," Peace commented, pacing slightly. "If it means that literally...But, Scootaloo didn't lay a hoof on them just now."

"Not now, but I did when we actually got them," Scootaloo countered, looking back at her with a raised eyebrow. "What about you? You don't exactly have the same bond with the others that was suggested."

"Umm..." Fluttershy quietly interjected. Though she was electing not to say anything fully, it drew their attention and silently made the point. Peace had helped her through one of the most traumatic moments of her life. She had usually been one of the first to support others in the group too, no matter their background or circumstance.

The more they all thought about it, the more they realised the connections were there. While why each of them was specifically which element eluded them, the rest was there. Each of them had been in physical or magical contact with the elements themselves. Their connections with those that had carried them previously were laid clear. Their connections to each other were a little less established, but Twilight and the others had barely been friends when they defeated Tantabus the first time. The parallels were not lost on them.

"It would seem that the Elements of Harmony have been trusted to good hooves." Luna said to Celestia, a gentle smile on her face.

"Indeed," Celestia replied, moving around with a warmer smile. "If the Tree of Harmony believes that you six are fit to be the Elements, then I have every faith that it is the right choice!"

As the words sunk in, Aurora looked down in disbelief. Not only had his error of judgement potentially cost Twilight her life, but now he was expected to fill her horseshoes? The prospect was enough to make his head spin, except for one detail he was able to keep in mind. He wouldn't be dealing with this alone. The other five were in the same boat, and Twilight had never been alone in this role. He steadied his breathing and shifted into his sensory magic, feeling out how everypony was feeling around him.

Unsurprisingly, confusion was the most prevalent feeling around him. There were a few others filtered throughout though. Pride from Celestia. Satisfaction from Luna. Relief from Fluttershy. Regret from Spike. Some of those he wanted to ask about. Later, when the time was right. Of more immediate concern was how the other...Other element bearers, were feeling.

Deep Note was deeply uncertain, hesitance born of worry. He must have learned just what this would involve from Applejack, so such concern was understandable. Apple Bloom was similarly concerned, though the presence of her closest friends was providing some comfort. Sweetie Belle was surprisingly calm, curiosity slightly outweighing her underlying sadness. Scootaloo was looking toward Rainbow Dash, the two of them sharing a moment of understanding. Silently passing the torch to the next generation. The younger pegasus was the only one he couldn't sense any reservations from. Peace Walker was an enigma, either highly adept at hiding her feelings or completely overwhelmed by them.

None of them felt like they were going to break the moment though. It would have to be him. All he had to do was make sure all of them at least accepted the idea. The rest, they could work through once everything had settled down slightly.

"Well...I don't think any of us expected this when we arrived," Aurora started, drawing everypony's attention. "And I know it sounds crazy. But, Rainbow, Fluttershy, it probably sounded crazy when you were going through it too."

"Yeah it was. I'd never actually met Twi, AJ or Rarity before that day." Rainbow confirmed, Fluttershy nodding in support.

"And yet here we are," He continued, the others focused on him now. "If anything, we've been given an even better place to start. We know each other somewhat, we have all our friends that actually know what happens and, with any luck, we won't have quite so many 'End of Equestria' scale threats as they did. I don't know if we can quite live up to the legacy our predecessors set...But I'm going to make sure I follow their example. Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle. Scooaloo. Peace Walker. Deep Note. What'd you think? Up for helping make Equestria a land of harmony again?"

He smiled and stretched a hoof out in front of him. For a few moments they just stared back at him, long enough to wonder if he'd only managed to dissuade them further.

"...Wow, even Twilight's speeches rubbed off on you!" Scootaloo chuckled, before stepping forward and placing her hoof against Aurora's. "I get it though. We'll make them proud."

"Darn tootin!'" Apple Bloom added, coming in and bringing her own hoof up next to Scootaloo's. "Still ain't sure how I fit in all this, but that don't mean I wont give it mah all."

"I almost feel like I should have seen this coming," Sweetie Belle said happily as she brought her hoof in by Aurora's. "I've been trying to keep everypony's spirits up since the start. I don't plan on stopping now!"

"You all make it sound so easy..." Deep Note commented as he walked over, looking notably uncomfortable. "Are we really ready for something like this?"

"I don't think anypony's ever ready for something like this." Sweetie replied gently.

"Nopony's going to make you either," Aurora added. "Just know that we're all going to have your back, whichever way you choose."

Deep closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, silently weighing it up in his mind. On the exhale he opened his eyes and looked much more confident. Without further hesitation he brought his hoof in between Sweetie and Scootaloo's. With five in, they all looked toward Peace Walker. She had been standing by, silently watching the developments. Now everypony was looking her way, she shook her head slightly and put on an ever so slightly forced smile.

"What can I say? I like you all." She said as she stepped up and put her hoof in the last gap between Bloom and Aurora's.

In a way, each of them knew this was the moment. The atmosphere in the cave was one of change and finality. With the glow of the tree on one side, the four ponies and one dragon watching on the other, the six of them looked among themselves and saw themselves as what they now were. The Elements of Harmony. The crisis Tantabus had wrought was finally over. Now they would be the ones who would be at the frontline of helping Equestria through the aftermath. They would rebuild, they would spread peace back into ponies' hearts, they would help ensue the magic of friendship remained strong long into the future.

And perhaps, one day, they would be able to see the day when they would be free to step back and take in their done duties.

Perhaps.

Author's Note

I'll admit...It feels weird to be at this point now. Three years ago when I was starting to write Rising Above, it was intended to just be a near-future one-shot, based on what could happen based on what we knew in mid-season 5. Then Crusaders of the Lost Mark aired and I decided to make it an AU. I realised I was no longer strictly bound by canon, started having ideas for the Quickverse and, here we are. Looking back on it all, I'd say I'm happy with my progress and most of the results.

One more chapter to go, coming out tomorrow as a treat for us all. See you there!

Oh, and over 150k words, awesome!