A Glimmer of Hope: Reborn

“Well, he certainly is … striking in that pose,” Tempest took in the statue in front of her. During her travels across Equestria, she had seen similar art forms but this… as Pinkie would say… took the cake. The size alone stood out, almost as tall as a house, and if the forest hadn’t blocked the view, it could be seen a mile away, thanks to the second features. Pure crystal, similar to Twilight’s castle, and the Tree of Harmony behind the monument. One final feature of note was the green gem that was embedded into the wolf’s chest acting like the heart of the statue.

“Yeah,” Twilight had paused, just blinking at her lover. Everytime she came to this place, she could feel him, whether she was going crazy because of the grief or that maybe a part of him remained with her she didn’t know. Being in his presence was helpful, soothing her nerves.

“Happy second anniversary my love,” she laid the bouquet of flowers by his paws, gently touching them with a hoof. Warm, probably because of the sun or something.

She wished Luna still came with her to see him. His death took a harder toll on the older mare than her it seemed. The first few months were bearable for both of them, trying to find someway to bring their wolf back. But as time went on, Luna’s hope began to fade. They still remained close friends but it seemed they had grown apart, Luna opting to stay in Canterlot. Maybe because this was Twilight’s first love and significant loss that she remained steadfast and loyal to Nick, tending to the memorial.

“This here is Tempest Shadow, the captain of my guard,” she smiled to the mare as she beckoned her to her side. “If you were here, I’m sure the two of you would have gotten along well.” That brought a smile to Tempest’s face, that Twilight would speak so highly of her. “Plus she’s now protecting me just like you did,” another tear formed.

Tempest went to Twilight’s side and rubbed her back. “Care to say anything?” the princess softly smiled, looking between Tempest and her wolfriend.

The dusky mare took in a deep breath. “It’s an honor to finally meet you, Nick,” Tempest started, looking up at his eyes. “The way Twilight has talked so highly about you, the stories I’ve heard of your heroics and sacrifice,” she paused, actually talking to the statue… she felt he was actually listening, judging her words. It was a bizarre feeling, but then she felt something soothing pass over her, a warm breeze she rationed, and her nerves were calmed. “It would have been an opportunity of a lifetime to meet you, even call you friend.”

Twilight smiled, wiping away a tear. “Thank you Tempest.”

“Anything for my princess,” she smiled. They both sat, talking to each other about anything that came to mind.

“Oh brother,” Matt huffed for the twenty fourth time that Twilight mentioned how she loved Nick, Ivy was keeping count. He was leaning against a tree, waiting for some useful information the purple pony had.

“Aww, she loved him,” she smiled, hugging herself, touched by the emotional pain she could hear in Twilight’s voice. “And such a hottie, don’t you think Matt?”

“I’m not gonna answer that…” he grumbled, crossing his arms. “I still don’t get who that other unicorn is with her. Was this ‘Storm King’ the ‘darkness’ we were told to fight? It can’t be, apparently crazy magic purple butt met her after Nick finished his mission. God, how come HE had to make the rest of us look bad.”

“Jealous,” she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hardly, he’s still dead,” he smiled. “Maybe we just get to have this whole world to ourselves. Maybe I can bang the princesses...” his smile turned into a devious grin.

Ivy, annoyed by his insensitivity, smacked him with her tail, eliciting a yelp of pain from him, briefly grabbing the attention of the two mares. He covered his mouth to stifle a curse, and they waited in silence. He glared at her for being so careless while she froze, watching the mares closely and looking for any possible escape routes if they were discovered.

“Did you hear something?” they said in unison, pausing to listen for any more sounds and scanning the immediate area. A few minutes passed before their eyes met and they both jumped from the tension. Realizing it was just each other, they both found themselves giggling, from embarrassment and to calm their nerves.

“I guess the Everfree still has some eerie parts to it,” Twilight’s laughter subsided as she looked around, the feeling of joy replaced with that of being watched now falling over her. Tempest let out a shiver as well, her horn softly glowing, preparing defensive measures. She scanned the forest around them again, trying to pick up any signs of life. Her magic died down after she was satisfied with her search, smiling gently to Twilight.

“Well whatever it was, it would be wise to know better than to mess with the Princess of Friendship and the former commander of the Storm King’s army!!” she yelled out for all the forest to hear, eliciting another giggle from Twilight.

“Maybe that’s a sign we should be going,” she got up, stretching a bit. “We do have important things to do.”

“Like discussing how anypony I interview is intimidated by me?” Tempest smirked while Twilight frowned a little. “Just because I’m ‘reformed’ doesn’t mean I’m going to change my appearance,” the darker mare shrugged. “I’m your protector and … friend. Ponies must know you are not an easy target, and if any potential guard wants to serve under you, they need to get used to my presence.”

“I - I guess so,” Twilight tried to counter. The whole Storm King invasion really exposed how vulnerable Equestria was. Even after Nick’s arrival and sacrifice, their defenses weren’t prepared. She shook her head. That’s why she made Tempest the captain of her guard. “But I still am the Princess of Friendship, ponies shouldn’t be afraid to talk to me.”

“And they won’t,” Tempest joined her in standing, shaking her hooves out. “If they don’t pose a threat, they’re free to talk to you. I don’t see too many incidents occurring honestly, but in light of what has happened so far, we can’t be too unprepared. The power of friendship is strong, but it’s not enough in some extreme cases. I mean if it didn’t work for me, the Storm King would still be here, right?”

Twilight was silent recalling the memory. Had Tempest not intervened…

A hoof on her shoulder brought her off that train of thought. She saw her captain, her friend, smiling at her. “You sometimes worry too much Twilight. And as cu... admirable as that is, you are going to be an old mare before you get to the age of the princesses,” she chuckled, glad she didn’t let her other choice slip out.

“Well I guess we can’t have that now can we?” Twilight smiled at her praise. “Alright, maybe we can come to some compromise for the new guards?”

“Fine I guess - “ she was cut off as the ground began to shake. They could then feel, something behind them, and quickly turned around to see the statue of Nick glowing. Twilight could hardly believe her eyes as a green aura wrapped the statue.

“What’s happening???” she yelled to Tempest, who gave her a look of concern, not too sure what to do in this situation. She cast a shield around them just in case, hopefully prepared for what would happen next.

“What did you do???” Matt kept his voice down just in case they could still be heard while he was frantically trying to grab radiating amethyst from Ivy’s hands.

“I just saw the gem Nick had on the statue and it made me admire my own,” she held it protectively. This was her ticket to this whole world, her new body. “Yours is glowing too!!”

He turned around and noticed that his bag was glowing red. He reached behind him and attempted to grab it out.

“Why don’t you take that silly thing off?? Even when we ‘fought’, you went insane when I managed to knock it off your back” she created some distance between him and her gem.

“Don’t change the subject!” he finally was able to extract his own gem, a star cut ruby from the depths of his pack. It radiated light and warmth as he gazed upon it. “Why are these things acting up anyway??”

As if in response to his question, the gem in front of him leapt out of his hands, and surrounded him in magic. The same action happened to Ivy, surrounded by purple magic. The gem on the statue flashed, along with the other two gems. The two were flung towards the statue, leaving barely any time for Tempest and Twilight to duck out of the way. The odd pair crashed into the object and there was an explosion caused by the three gems interacting with each other. A flash of light later, Tempest threw herself between the commotion and Twilight, shielding their eyes.

Once the two heard the rubble start to settle they cautiously opened their eyes, scanning the damage. Where the statue stood was now dust, the two foreigners dazed by the impact. The mares looked at them quizzically, they certainly weren’t like any creature they’ve seen, except for Twilight, who looking upon Matt, gasped.

“A-a human?” she stammered, blinking to make sure her eyes didn’t deceive her. She ran over, despite Tempest’s protests and gave him a closer look. She sighed in disappointment upon realization that this wasn’t Nick, at least from what she had seen from the dream he had. She then looked to the human’s “counterpart”. Her, based on the form and features, top half was human, based on Sabrina’s appearances, but the lower portion was astounding. A continuous tail, covered in red scales, her underside transitioning into a sunflower yellow hue. “Wh-what is that?” she gawked at the creature.

Tempest rushed between Twilight and the creatures. “Whatever these things are, and I think you need to fill me in on this who-man thing,” she cast a spell creating a cage of magic for each dazed intruder. “We’re taking these back to the castle for interrogation.” She noticed the three gems on the ground as well and picked them up. “These too.”

Twilight was still dazed by what happened, that there was ANOTHER human here in Equestria. She looked at where the statue was and another wave of shock hit her once she realized that it was completely destroyed, her one physical link to him.

“Princess, it’s not safe here, especially if these two were not alone,” Tempest tried to snap Twilight out of her daze, constantly scanning the forest around them. “Let’s go.”

Twilight, realizing she was right, helped transform a nearby rock into a cart, lifting Ivy then Matt onto it. Tempest strapped herself to the yoke and began to cart the prisoners away while Twilight felt a twinge of anger run through her. How dare these two creatures destroy something so dear to her. However this anger conflicted with her strong curiosity. What had brought these two here? As far as she knew, humans and sub human species would only reside in Nick’s world, Earth. Maybe they were related to him somehow?

As they were being taken away to the castle, thankfully for the two mares the path avoided town altogether, Matt was just beginning to stir from his unconscious state and grumbled.

“Yep, I knew I was going to regret this.”