Verve

With the souls leaving, and Death no longer needed - Arin found it incredibly quick and simple to resurrect the duo before him. The charms were like… spiritual vouchers, that acted as thousands of bits worth of material components, and as bodies for the Queen and Vee - who once again stood fresh faced and cheery before them.

Instantly, Astra was pinned to the snow in a mighty hug from her daughters, as Vee was scooped up by Umbra, Tempest, Arin, and especially Pumpkin - who locked on like a little sister piranha. But instead of hungry nibbles, she gave soft, sweet, happy nuzzles and sobs.

Falon stood by Arins side, Glimmergale’s tiny snores following from his little pouch on the back of his hat. “I’m proud of you, son,” he said, after Arin wrenched himself free of the tight hug.

“Who was that deer you were talking to?...” Arin asked, as the General gave a small laugh.

“The buck who adopted me, Arin. General Tanon. I asked for a chance to say goodbye, and… well, Death obliged.”

From that point on, things just happened too fast to recount - the party had nowhere to go, as the castle was completely leveled - so of course, they decided to march through the streets of Canterlot, leaving Twilight to her frenzied quest for knowledge. Despite the fact that nearly every soldier and guard had ended up there, on top of thousands of formerly brainwashed ponies. In seconds, they were swarmed by crowds of commoners, warriors, and reporters alike - cameras flashing, voices calling, shouts of delight and mirth at the hero’s appearance.

The list of questions that were asked were entirely ignored, as Celestia - confused for a new alicorn at first due to her pink mane - simply responded to the tidal wave of demands with an upturned snout.

And for now, the only answer they could get from her was one cursed word: ‘Neigh’. And then, a scroll would clatter on her head in a puff of smoke - which she would stuff in her bag for later. Not just one scroll. Dozens. More than dozens. At one point, Arin nearly tripped over several that fell all at once.

Their first stop was a nearby doughnut shop. In which the incredibly strange party decided to just… have a sugary meal, despite the fact that they were covered in blood, sweat, and Entity gore. And with the endless stream of souls still swirling up into the stars outside, it was hard to get the shop owner - Joe - to serve them.

“Just put every eclair on the table and nopony gets horn poked,” Celestia joked, as she pointed a hoof at the absolutely overwhelmed shopkeeper.

“O-Of course, Princess Celestia, I’ll uh… get right on that. And… put it on your… tab. After I wake up from this dream.”

Despite the fact that a hoard of reporters, bystanders, and nobles had taken to the street to see the solar Princess once more, along with… pretty much all the other strangeness of the group, some royal guards managed to snap back to their senses long enough to break up the mess, as a single familiar mare bucked down the door to the donut joint.

“ARIN!” Honey Rose called, the still body of Vapor Cloud resting on her back. The Seraph was neatly ripped from his bar stool, tumbling to the floor as Honey Rose stood over him with a glare.

“FIX! HUSBAND! NOW!” she howled, gently dumping the still shape of the Guard Captain onto the floor. The necklace Pumpkin left still shined, as Arin curiously inspected the wound.

Oh. Right. Nightmare Moon’s freezing horn. With a flash of Blessing, he followed the spell with a swift cast of Antithesis - forcing the stallion to shudder and gasp in pain, shivering on the cold tile.

What followed was a romantic reunion of deep, warming kisses between the two. The party’s tale was quickly shared, moments and dramatic pauses included - a catchup that was simply impossible to cover in a few short sentences. Unfortunately, Celestia and Luna had to break it up as the time turned into hours.

“I’m afraid there’s no castle left to call home, Sir Vapor Cloud. And right now… My Sister and I need personal time to recover from this. All of this. So if you’re still willing to work, I need trusty guards to patrol the ruins for looters - keep the ill wills of others at bay, and-”

“Of course I’ll do it, Celestia! I failed you. Hard. I should have been there from the beginning! I could have kicked that Entity’s ass if I hadn’t been stupid enough to just… charge in. I forgot the number one rule; walk, don’t run. Besides, I’m going to uh… need a paycheck now. To kinda afford a house for Honey and I. Nightmare Moon made some serious cuts to our pay, I don’t suppose you’ll revert that?”

“I will, my Subject. Now, I have one important question to ask. Would you like an eclair?”

And as they finished up their meal, and stiff muscles had a chance to relax - they broke free into the crowd once more, now flanked and guarded by dozens of recovered royal guards. Like a parade through the streets, the shock and awe of the returned Princess caused quite a stir, until they found themselves at a familiar shop once more. The plan was simple; stop by Silversun for a quick chat, establish peace, then steal Twilight’s castle as a temporary base of operations.

She probably wouldn’t mind. Right?

“Hohoho!~ How the coffee is in the other boot! Now wipe your hooves! This is my house!” Vee gave her trademark ‘d’ohoho’ as Onyx flicked the shop back into reality proper. And with a trample of hooves, they reappeared in White Tail Wood - like they never even left.

“Oh? Your father would have loved to see this - he studied interdimensional travel for ages looking for my mother! It really was his passion, and-” Celestia interrupted the more-than-chatty Alicorn with a nuzzle to her neck.

“Mother, we both know. He taught us personally, though… he may not have let on about the full history. For obvious reasons.”

“Yes yes, I get it - I am wise beyond my years, I’m just happy to have family to talk to again. You don’t understand how terrible it is, swirling around in a boring mass of souls. Every astral day, we’d all… reawaken with our effects restored. Meaning if you were absorbed with a deck of cards, you had your cards back - even if you loaned them out. Some of us were lucky, and had toys, or pages of blank paper and quills to write with… there was one creature - an alien of sorts - that had a sandwich. Do you know how many fights broke out over that reappearing sandwich, every day? I lost track. He would trade it for whatever he wanted. He lived a good life. And by the stars it looked so good after a thousand years of nothing. Sure, we did not hunger - but remembering a taste… that was an experience one couldn’t simply buy.”

Umbra gave a chortle, radiant green eyes shining as they trotted casually through the snow-melting woods. “It sounds like you had quite the experience.”

“Experience?! I hated it. Some creature had this weird box, with little hooks you put in your ears - and it would play music. And she would let you listen to it if you had a sword made of magical beams to trade. Ugh, I just… I hate all things sciency and spacey now. It was too much. You know what I crave? I want to stare at like… a pony working a loom. Or making a pie. That sounds great right now; boring simplicity. Something familiar. And water! I miss drinking water so much - the next fresh spring I find, I’m going to throw myself in and roll around in it.”

“Mother, please don’t do so in front of King Aster…” Celestia frowned; she wanted to impress him, not… Well, scare him.

“...About that! I wanted to talk to him about some… strange poems he sent me, before I went ‘nuclear’ as one of those aliens would call it - he did know I was married. Right? I - you know what, I should remain silent. I have been brewing over the last few years of my life over the wrong topics; I should instead focus on you two. Celly, Lulu - how does a vacation sound? The courts are surely delegated well to handle your absence for a month or two - correct?”

When Celestia and Luna didn’t immediately respond with reassurance, the Queen flatlined.

“They are delegated. Right?”

“...Perhaps ‘delegated’ isn’t the right word. You see, Starswirl wasn’t the best at giving… leadership, advice, per say,” Luna chuckled quietly.

“They’re a bucking disaster and a half, I hate it, I hate it, it should all die in a fire - I want to retire,” Celestia stated firmly. When the two other Alicorns gazed at her in shock, she simply rolled her wings. “Sorry, I changed after our little quest. I’m not going to obscure the truth any longer. Ruling is terrible for the feathers, as Vee would say.”

“I…” Luna frowned, nodding; “I agree. Ruling is horrible. I will not suffer another night of it, when I could be happily nestled in my herd. Right, Arin?”

“By the Feathers, PLEASE, wait until later! When we’re alone! I… I need to think about some things, Luna.”

“He loves me,” the Lunar pony stated to nopony in particular. Or… really, she reassured herself on that matter. It almost sounded like denial, to the other two alicorns - but… details, details.

After a few hours of quiet chatter among the Princesses, gentle words being shared, and warmth blossoming anew among the flowers - Falon managed to lead the party back to Silversun, breathing in a saddened sigh of relief.

“Home. But at what cost?” he asked, as Arin rested his hand over his withers.

“Any price is worth paying to say you have a home, dad.”

Umbra pressed her head to Arin’s chest, giving a content sigh. “And a home is where your heart is, my Fledgeling.”

Passing through the beautiful, ornate gates once more of Silversun granted the party a very wide array of emotions. For one, panic - lots of panic. Simply put, the deer did NOT like the wave of… well, everything washing over them. Moonlight, then sunlight, then… souls spiraling off into the sky, on the distant mountain. Really, the only creatures not panicking were the breezies - which clung begrudgingly to antlers and manes, chattering in their usual Faespeak about work conditions and union rights.

Of course, all of the battalions had purpose once again - and that was keeping the peace. A lot of peace. Some deers thought the world was ending, and attempted to break into shops - others were crying in the snow. Really, it was chaos.

Thankfully, King Aster was there - giving orders despite the fact that his antlers were covered in bored, sleeping, or all around annoyed breezies. His coat once again shone a soft white, with thin gold flecks reappearing - but it would be a few days more before he could really enjoy the perks of powerful Feywild magic.

When his green eyes settled on the tall alicorn stepping between Celestia and Luna both, his pose faltered - and he fell back on his flanks. Like he’d seen a ghost. Well, in truth, he wasn’t very far off...

“A-Astra?...” he whispered, as the once again living mare took in the uncontrolled herds around her, approaching after she ran a hoof along her red mane.

“Yep, that’s me, heh… good day, Aster. You look… well?” She smiled, at which point the King jumped forward to catch her in his hooves.

“You’re… alive? Real! This is real! By my boughs, I… I thought you died!”

“I did! But I got better,” she teased, gently wrenching herself free with a none-too-friendly ‘get out of my personal space please’ shove. “I believe we came here for several reasons, though I think first and foremost you should speak with my daughters. And well, not me. Please don’t write to me, either.”

At that, King Aster blushed - hiding his eyes beneath a hoof. “I knew my poems were bad, but… were they really that ill-fated?”

“Yes, and I considered a restraining order against you. Thankfully, I didn’t need it.”

A little heartbroken, the buck picked up his pieces and put the emotions back where they belonged - back inside, as General Falon fell in line next to his king.

“Should I call for the Riot Guard, your majesty?” he asked, giving an encouraging smile to the taller buck. Of course Aster nodded - and from there, it was all bureaucracy.

They rested for a night or so in Silversun, at which point Astra - still filled with donuts - crammed in enough cake to make even Celestia worried, who was very well renown for her syrup drinking habits.

Oarkin and Calia were reunited - the giant Seraph more than happy to have his soon to be daughter by his side. Of course, the Circlet was a living nightmare for Aster; but thankfully, Celestia, Luna, and Astra were there to help it make sense.

It was finally decided after enough back and forth to saw through a log, that the White Tail would not just ally with Equestria - but possibly join together, sometime later, as one united nation. This being mostly due to the fact that Equestria had around seven times the population of White Tail, if not more - and also because King Aster received letters of distant White Tail settlements near the edges of the Everfree appearing next to Ponyville, or even Vanhoover. Keeping some form of border would just be impossible. And with the magic of the Fey now fluttering across the world, the grass seemed just a bit greener. Of course, some lands were keenly unaffected - the Redtail fortress of Goldmoon managed to stay clear of the radar, as their section of the Fey was distant enough to have its own wells and springs of natural magic.

This feat was not done in one day, of course - but dozens of sessions, none of which are worth covering for any sane pony. This was the work of deers, and democrats - nobles and bureaucrats, Circlets and Crowns, and in truth, it’s boring paperwork not worth dictating to the pages.

For now, there were more important things - the Nobles of Canterlot quickly called for an election following Luna’s rule, at which point Celestia was forced to work - alongside her mother, of course, and Luna. And seeing Princess Celestia’s name on the ballot quickly changed their minds - there was no way in Tartarus they could democratically steal the throne with her massive approval rating. Especially as Topaz Jewels, Goldhoof, and Silverbit were brought to trial.

Along with Prince Blueblood - who was revealed to be the figurehead of their operation, after a little prodding from a rebellious ‘Knight Captain’ - and Flash Sentry, for working hoof in hoof with Nightmare Moon himself. Really, it was a mess; but with Umbra’s evidence brought to light, it really became clear just how deep the treachery ran.

Especially when Celestia declared them working to bring about the end of the world, and the return of Nightmare Moon. Publicly, of course. A lawyer would easily dismiss this claim with a lack of evidence - but still, their public opinion tanked so far that it didn’t matter anymore. Especially when the damages began to rack up.

Queen Astra, newly returned, may have also lied a bit saying she saw Nightmare Moon working with them - I mean, who would question her? ‘How did you witness this?’ ‘I was floating around in soul jelly, it was quite the feat to not spot it - prove me wrong’.

So really, the Princesses and Queen ramrodded the blame on these five individuals - which may have prevented more riots. The world was kinda a mess for at least a week or two.

But all of that was irrelevant to the present; the party, after recovering and all thoughts of the future cast aside, needed to celebrate their victory. It had now been three days since Canterlot’s collapse, and Twilight Sparkle - the Princess of Bookworms - er, Friendship, was so kind to offer them the keys to her castle. Mostly for work related reasons - but that didn’t prevent a certain Pink Pony from throwing a ‘WELCOME BACK FROM THE DEAD AND HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY EVERYPONY AND ALSO YOU SAVED THE WORLD’ party.

It… was a bit of a mouthful. And the banner was really long. But, some wind down time was greatly appreciated. Pumpkin and Tempest had birthdays that fell just days apart, too - along with Arin throwing his hat in the ring, declaring his birthday to be ‘Prancetember 30th or whatever works’ - our story continues on this very same night, Cloptober 4th.

Please don’t call it that, Smol-fry.