Over the hills and far away

It had been a long war, but the last groups of ponies were finally returning from hospitals, debriefing, the front line or in some cases all three. Ponyville had sent its fair share of stallions off to fight, and many had already returned over the past few weeks. Of course some were not going to return, and the town flag had been flowing at half mast for far too long…

But today was a day for smiles and happiness, its final five heroes, among the most honoured in the entire kingdom, were returning home at last. The town had put on a big display and had done up the town ready for a big party, both in celebration of the end of the war, and the sacrifices everypony had made

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood amongst the rest of the school class, lapping up the sense of national pride the like of which had never been felt before. For months after the start of the war they wanted to prove themselves big ponies and join in the war effort, but the stories from returning injured stallions had changed their minds. Besides, war had been tough enough in the town for the youngsters, with celebrations, sweets and parties replaced by hard work, simple food and memorial wakes.

“They are here!” Scootaloo shouted out to the group of gathered ponies, all casting their eyes to where the filly was pointing into the distance. Four ponies come down the main path into town, to cheers from the whole town. Four fillies that had left the safety of Equestria to fight for her freedom. Four fillies that despite saving the country a few times already felt that they had to step up one more time…

Pinkie looked physically the worst out of the four ponies, even from a distance – she had a long ugly scar down one side, many more across her entire body, half her mane was missing, and one hoof was clearly bent out of shape. That didn’t stop the pony from bouncing as she always had, albeit with a slight limp, but the party pony’s demeanour seemed unchanged.

Rainbow dash was also in a bad shape, not that she would have let on. The Pegasus was flying along fine, but on closer look her right hind leg was missing, and when she landed she stood just on the three remaining legs. Apart from that, she seemed in good form and was clearly enjoying the attention of the welcoming committee.

Fluttershy’s looked physically fine, and strangely she didn’t back away as she would have done in the past from the attention they were attracting. But her eyes told a story all by themselves, the kindness that was always in them seemed to have dulled a little. Her animal friends had met her at the edge of the Everfree forest and whilst they had followed their friend into town, none of them had actually approached the filly.

But Twilights demeanour seemed to be the most changed. Despite being the guest of honour, she wasn’t looking towards anypony and instead seemed to be looking at a non specific point far away. She had a few burns across her body, but apart from that appeared to be unhurt. Spike also looked fine, riding on his guardians back just as he always had done, although his face had lost its youthful grin replaced by a more mature smile.

Applejack and Rarity watched from the front of the congregation as their friends approached, both of them excited at having their friends back, but worried about what they saw…