The lift slowly descended, and Hitch let out a long breath as the sight of what lay below came into view.
"Whoah, there's a lot more space down here than I thought," Hitch said as he gazed around in amazement.
Upon reaching the bottom, he exited the lift and coughed slightly due to all the dust. "Sunny? What are you doing down here?"
His foalhood friend sat, staring up at a collection of glass panes. Her glowing horn lit brightly, and Hitch scuttled backward as hundreds of pieces of glass scattered along the floor suddenly started to glow. A few seconds later, they floated into the air and moved towards the opening at the bottom center of the tremendous stained-glass decoration. They flashed brightly as they assembled themselves like puzzle pieces. A moment later, there was a picture of an earth pony with the earth pony crystal joining the unicorn and pegasus underneath the great magic star.
He stepped next to his friend, gaping in wonder at the completed work. "Wow… you know…" he began as he gave his magical friend a sheepish grin. "Not gonna lie, I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that."
Sunny wasn't smiling. She wasn't even looking at the restored portion of the work of art. Her eyes were instead focused on the star on top. At her hooves were all her foalhood figurines, her father's notebook, and several other dusty tomes that he didn't recognize.
Hitch's smile faded into worry as he took in his friend's mood. "What's got you looking so gloomy? I'd have thought that you'd be thrilled to see all this old stuff restored. It's what you always wanted." He looked down at the books and then back at the panes of glass. "Is there a problem? Something else that has gone wrong?"
Sunny floated one of her figurines in front of him, and he grabbed it out of the air and looked at it in confusion. It was the lavender one that had wings and a horn like Sunny did now. The one she was always telling stories about as a filly. Before he could ask for clarification, his eyes passed over the figurine's flank. It was the same mark there as on the stained-glass window and Sunny's notebook.
He looked towards his friend. "Your hero? I don't understand the significance."
The figurine started to glow, and he yelped out of habit as it floated away from him and back to Sunny. She cradled the toy gently in her hooves as she gazed upon it with tearful eyes.
"I know her name," Sunny whispered. "Her name was Twilight—Twilight Sparkle. She once ruled over all the ponies. There's a lot of things in these old books. Things ponies tried to forget. If my dad could have had access to all these books when he was…."
Hitch placed a hoof on Sunny's shoulder. "I know you miss him, but you accomplished everything he could have ever wanted. It's funny; it was like he knew from the start about what you would become. He dressed you up with wings and horn. Guy definitely was smarter than the rest of us, and I know he would be proud to see what you have accomplished."
"What we accomplished," Sunny corrected with a half-smile. Her smile dropped. "I know he would be happy, and yes, I'm sad he didn't get to be here for this, but that isn't why I'm sad right now."
Hitch blinked in confusion. "Then...why?"
Her hoof pointed up at the star high up in the glass. "Twilight Sparkle was the source of the crystals. Ponies like her—and I guess like me now—are very long-lived, but they aren't immortal. When she got old, she had no definite heir to take her place, but she had faith in the friendship that she had taught all our ancestors. She took her power and divided it up into the crystals, giving each to a different type of pony. She trusted them to rule the land in harmony with the lessons that she taught them, and look at what happened."
Hitch's ears sagged as he looked around at the ruined station, remembering how recently all the different types of ponies feared and distrusted one another.
"I don't know how long it took, but friendship failed," Sunny whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "She trusted us, and we failed her."
As she began to weep loudly, Hitch did the only thing he could think to do at the moment; he gathered his oldest friend into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder. While he held her, he looked at the picture in the window again and then at a picture advertising their home that had the now-destroyed lighthouse prominently displayed.
"Friendship didn't fail," Hitch said as he stared at the lighthouse.
Sunny pulled back from him and looked at him like he was insane. "How could you say that?! You saw… you lived in a world where we all hated each other. We failed so badly it cost us our magic."
He shook his head. "No, there were still ponies that kept up hope. Your dad did. You did. You two weren't the only ones. Zipp had hope. Izzy had hope. The ones your hero trusted never completely lost the faith or forgot."
"But—" Sunny began to protest.
"The earth pony crystal was entrusted to your family, Sunny," Hitch said firmly, pointing a hoof at the now restored image. "Your family never stopped believing in friendship. The pegasus crystal clearly was entrusted to Zipp and Pipp's family, and I already told you that Zipp was as ready as you to re-embrace the other tribes. I don't know about the history of the unicorn crystal, but we know for a fact that there was at least one unicorn that still believed in friendship."
Sunny shook her head. "But, everypony else—"
Hitch set a hoof on her shoulder. "Needed to be reminded, and you did that. You three spread your lessons to Pipp and me, and then onto everypony else. Friendship didn't fail because friendship still had those who were willing to try—those who were willing to hope. You taught us all to hope again."
He turned his gaze back to the star high above them. "Believe me, As a pony that always had to struggle with what it meant to be your friend—"
"Sorry," Sunny said as she looked down.
"Don't apologize," Hitch said quickly. "One thing I learned from being your friend is that friendship is something you don't just learn, and then it is done. It is something you have to work at constantly. It's so easy to let it slip away. We didn't forget her lessons. We stopped working at it. Friendship can be a chore sometimes, but it's one worth the effort. That's your lesson to us. I know how hard you worked at it from when you were a foal, even when it seemed fruitless, you kept trying, and it paid off."
Sunny smiled through her tears and hugged him tightly. "It still seems like we failed her with how far we strayed before we corrected it."
"I think that is just part of the process," he answered. "If you never realize what you stand to lose, how can you come to value it? If she was as smart and great as you say. I think she knew that. I think she expected there to be… hiccups along the way. I also think she had faith we would figure out how to resolve them. It looks like we did."
Sunny choked out a half-cry half-laugh as she continued to hug him. "Hitch, thanks for always being my friend."
Hitch leaned into her. "Thank you for showing me how magical it can be."
Author's Note
I literally woke up after a late-night watching the movie and decided to do a quick one-shot. I expect it will be soon buried under similar stories, but I wanted to get the idea out there. I hope everyone enjoyed the movie and hope to see these characters grow through the new series.