PLEASE READ
Before I continue, I'd like to apologize to my reviewers for not answering your reviews this week. My reasoning is two-fold, and I think you'll understand the second reason in a minute. The first reason is that I wanted all of my readers to notice and read this banner, so they could know what was happening, and the second is simply that I do not have it in me at the moment to do so. This past weekend, I witnessed a tragic and traumatic event; one of my close friends committed suicide by firearm. I will spare you the worst of the details, but suffice it to say that I was close enough to him when it happened that my clothes became ruined by the act. I want to stress that this is NOT the end of A Second Chance... I just need time to process this and recover from my own trauma. I am taking a short hiatus from writing the story to give myself time to come to terms with everything that's happened. With any luck, I should be back and posting chapters for you guys inside of a month. Thank you all for always being awesome, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Time lost its meaning as I held the lifeless form of my friend close to me, tears flowing freely while I knelt there, my feelings a mix of happiness at her freedom from the curse, and deep sadness at the way it had to end.
"Thanks Blake…" I looked to my side as the voice jolted me back to reality, my blurred vision barely making out the small form of Ruby. "She was so sad after what happened, and you showed her that it wasn't her fault. I stayed behind because I wanted to show her that I wasn't mad at her, but she still blamed herself. Now that she knows that she didn't do it, she can be happy again, and I can go see my Mama and Papa again." She gave me a bright smile, and I watched on as her hooves began to glow with a faint, white light.
The glow spread, moving up her legs to the rest of her body as I looked on, and a moment later, she began to rise up into the sky, her body and the glow fading as she went. "Bye Blake… I'll never forget you. And thanks for being my friend…" Her body faded entirely as she spoke, and her voice carried on the wind as it too faded from existence.
I smiled faintly as the light left me alone in the soft glow of the luminescent crystals of the pool. "Thanks for being such a great filly, Ruby… I won't forget you either."
I looked down to Mitta, still resting in my arms, and I felt the sadness well up again. I began to rise, intent on carrying her to Ponyville for a proper burial, but I was stopped when she refused to budge from her location, save for her forelegs, which gently unwrapped from around me and allowed me to rise.
I took a step back from her, uncertain as to what was happening. A moment later, the ground trembled faintly, and the dagger slid itself from Mitta's side, leaving not a trace of the wound that should have marked her still form. A circle of cerulean light, the same color as Luna's magic, appeared beneath her, suddenly erupting into a pillar that lanced upwards into the night sky.
I took another step back as my friend's body was enveloped by the light, and watched helplessly as it was lifted into the air by some unseen force. Her entire body began to glow faintly, and as I watched, the light somehow began to peel away from her in flakes, wafting lazily upwards like embers from a fire.
As the light dissipated from her, I could see that her fur had been restored to its original color, the plain grey I had seen the first time I met her. Her mane and tail had been restored to their vibrant crimson as well, wafting gently in a breeze that I couldn't feel. When the light that coated her had dissipated, she began floating gently to the ground, coming to rest facing away from me.
Completely clueless as to what I had just witnessed, I took a step towards her, then another. I knelt down and gently rested my hand on her, fully expecting to feel a cold, lifeless corpse beneath my touch. What I felt instead shocked me; not only was I resting my hand on a warm coat of fur, but there was movement! Her heart was beating rhythmically within her chest, and she shifted at my touch.
I felt fresh tears flowing, though these tears were those of joy; Luna's magic had restored her to the way she was before the curse was laid down upon the town. She confirmed this by groaning and lifting her head, opening her sparkling, crimson eyes slowly to look up at me. "Blake? Wh-what happened?" The sound of her voice and the sight of her life-filled eyes, which were no longer glowing, filled my chest with pure joy.
Without a word, I scooped her up and hugged her close to me. You're alright Mitta…" The words were barely a whisper, but they were enough.
A moment later, she wrapped her hooves around me, and I felt my shoulder moisten as she began shedding tears of her own, body heaving slightly as she quietly sobbed.
The moon was high in the sky by the time we released one another, though tears were still streaking down Mitta's face. "I… I don't know how I can ever thank you, Blake."
I smiled warmly and cupped her cheek with a hand. "You don't need to thank me for this… I'm just glad you're finally free of that curse."
She smiled back at me, and then looked around. "Wh-where's Ruby? I would have thought that she'd want to be here for this."
My gaze turned upwards, towards the sky, and my smile faded, becoming more melancholy. "She fulfilled her reason for staying behind… she's finally at peace, with her family."
The tiny glade fell into silence for a moment, and then was filled with the sound of quiet crying. I looked down to Mitta, to see her head drooped, teardrops sparkling in the dim light as they fell from her face. Without a thought, I leaned forward, wrapping her up in my arms once more. "It's alright… she's happy now. And besides, you'll get to see her again, someday."
The newly restored mare in my grasp, sniffled and nodded. "I… I know… I'm just… going to miss her…" She gasped in between sobs. A few minutes later, she calmed down again, and rose to her hooves, with me rising to my feet as well. "What will I do now? I won't go back to Sunny Town… but I don't have anywhere else to go either."
I gestured her in the direction of Ponyville. "You can live in Ponyville. Everyone there is really friendly, and it's pretty quiet, so it should suit you just fine. And don't worry, you can stay at my house if you'd like, or I can set you up with a home of your own to stay in."
Her eyes widened for a moment, and she looked away. "I… I couldn't ask you to do that, Blake… you've done so much more than I can ever repay already."
With a warm smile, I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not a problem Mitta, really; my house is more than big enough, and with how much I've earned as a Knight-Defender, I could probably buy half the houses in Ponyville if I wanted, so it's really no big deal for me."
She slowly looked back up to me, eyes wide in mixed curiosity and wonder. "Y-you're a knight?!"
I nodded with a chuckle. "That's right. First one in almost a thousand years from what I was told. And not only that, but I'm also co-owner of a fairly successful metal shop as well, so I get even more bits from that."
Mitta tilted her head in confusion. "What's a 'metal shop'?"
"It's like a blacksmith shop, but a lot more advanced than that. Maybe I'll introduce you to the owner sometime." I looked around at the dark forest around us, palely illuminated by the teal glow of the crystals in the small pool, and up at the night sky. "We should head back to Ponyville soon, the later it gets, the more dangerous this place becomes." I turned in the direction of Ponyville, and after making sure Mitta was behind me, set off for the no doubt sleeping town.
We made it to the edge of the forest in relatively short order, with hardly a sound between us. I could see the turmoil in Mitta's eyes every time the moon broke through the canopy, and I decided that it would be best to simply allow her to work through this on her own.
I walked out of the forest and onto the snow that covered the soft grass that lay just beyond it, but quickly stopped when I felt that something was off. I looked back behind me and saw the crimson-maned mare standing just at the edge of the forest, looking down uncertainly.
Mitta looked up to me, a mix of confusion and worry in her eyes. "I… I don't know if I can…"
I walked back to her and knelt down, placing a hand on either of her shoulders. "You can do this Mitta, I know you can. Just think of everything you've been through, and remember that this is your salvation from all of that. Just one, single step, and the nightmare will be over forever."
She took a deep breath, and started to step, but quickly pulled her hoof back. "I-I can't… what if… what if I still can't leave?"
I shook my head. "Mitta, you've been restored to how you were; the curse has been lifted from you. Why would Luna go through all the trouble to do all that just to deny you your freedom here?"
The grey and crimson mare took another deep breath, and glanced from me to the snowy ground once more. "I… I don't know…" Tentatively, she reached out and stuck her hoof into the snow.
She pulled it back almost instantly, but set it back down into the same hoofprint as before a moment later. Slowly, she began walking forward, head held low as she watched her hooves make prints in the fresh show below her.
Before long, she had stepped entirely out of the forest, seemingly before she'd even realized it. Her head jerked up suddenly, and she looked around at her surroundings. Her face contorted, and her body began to twitch in a strange way.
Not willing to simply watch what was happening, and worried that something had in fact gone wrong, I took a step towards her. "Mitta? Are you ok?"
If there was any response from her, I hadn't seen it. I was worried that she was having some sort of seizure, but I didn't know what to do if that was the case; I had never dealt with a seizure victim before. Just as I was about to try to reach out to her again, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed.
I closed the distance between us in a single step, and knelt down to check on her. I let out a sigh of mild relief when I found a strong pulse and steady breathing. I was still worried though; I had no idea what was wrong with her, or how I could help her.
"It seems that you were right, my love." I whirled around to see the Princess of the Night, my fiancé, standing in the snow behind me. "I must admit, I didn't expect the spell to restore your friend like this, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't glad that it did."
I looked between my Lunar love and Mitta's prone form. "Lulu… what's wrong with her? Is this some sort of side-effect of the spell?"
Luna walked over to us, leaving the first hoofprints in the snow behind her, indicating that she had flown out here, and landed in that spot. She inspected Mitta for a moment, even lighting her horn. A gentle smile creased her lips as the glow faded. "That would be one way to describe what's happened." She looked to me with relief in her eyes. "She is merely over-stimulated; the curse was in effect for so long that her mind wasn't able to immediately process the fact that it's been lifted, and so it's taken her into an unconscious state to cope with the flood of new information and emotions."
I looked back to Mitta, and rested a hand on her side. "I'm glad to hear that… I was worried that something had gone wrong with her." I returned Luna's gaze, and sighed. "After everything else that happened tonight… I really needed some good news."
The beautiful mare nodded. "I would like to hear of what happened tonight, as would my sister."
I looked up to her, uncertain if I wanted to recount the tale so soon. "Alright." I said eventually. "But first, let's get her out of the snow and into a warm bed."
Luna nodded. "Agreed." I scooped the unconscious mare off of the ground and into my arms, and the two of us walked back into the house.
After tucking her into one of the dwindling number of spare beds, Luna and I headed back downstairs, where we found Celestia waiting for us. "You're back!" She rushed up and hugged me. "I'm glad to see that you're alright."
I gave her my best smile, which wasn't much at that point. "Yeah, I'm ok." As Celestia hopped down, her hoof caught on my shoulder, and the jerking motion sent a sudden flare of pain through my ribcage, causing me to clutch at it with a hiss.
The two princesses both gasped, and Luna quickly began unbuttoning my shirt with her magic. "My love, you're hurt! What happened?" Both of their eyes went wide as she finished unbuttoning the shirt, revealing a pair of deep purple bruises in the shape of hooves.
Celestia touched one of the bruises gently, causing me to twitch, a hiss escaping from between my teeth at the flare of pain. "Careful, Tia; they're tender."
The Solar Princess sighed, and pulled her hoof back. "Please Blake, tell us what happened out there."
I shook my head. "First, there's something I need to get; I think it will explain things better than I can right now. Besides, I could use a few minutes to myself."
The two looked to one another and nodded. "Very well, my love." Luna replied. "Just please, hurry back."
I kissed both of them tenderly. "Don't worry; I won't be taking any more stupid risks tonight."
The two mares watched with concerned expressions as I left the house, making my way back to the palace in the Everfree. I walked to the edge of the Everfree and summoned my wings again, intent on flying in order to save myself another trip though that accursed forest.
Just as I reached the edge of the forest, and spread my wings once more, a voice rang out from just beyond the snow-covered tree line. "Hey Chief! You looking for something?" I looked through the trees and spotted a familiar green shape standing just beyond it. "I thought you might want these, so I snagged them."
I walked forward to meet the ghostly mare, and saw that there was something at her hooves. The glint of metal in the faint moonlight that pierced the relatively sparse canopy revealed what it was; Nightmare Moon's helmet. I knelt down and picked it up, noticing almost immediately that something was shifting around inside it.
I took the object out of the helmet, and sighed. It was her horn, the one remaining piece of the wicked mare. "Thanks Spring Leaf; I really wasn't looking forward to going back in there again."
The leafy-green mare smiled at me. "Sure thing, boss." She turned to head back into the forest. "Oh, I have a favor to ask… I know it's probably going to be a lot, but could you see if you can find a way to get me out of these woods?"
"Of course. Isabel's people seem to know a thing or two about ghosts, maybe she might know of something."
A wary look came over Spring Leaf. "I dunno… I'm not so sure I trust her yet…" Before I could reply, she turned and walked back into the forest, fading from existence as she went.
With a sigh, I turned as well, heading back towards my house. When I reached the door, I paused for a long moment with my hand on the doorknob, gathering my thoughts and my courage. I had no idea how Luna would react to her darker half being so fully destroyed. I wanted to believe that she would be happy, but I had no way to know for sure. Taking one final breath, I opened the door, and headed inside.
When I entered the living room, I saw both of the princesses, along with Derpy and Applejack, sitting on the various furniture. All eyes turned to me as my boots clunked softly on the wood floor. I looked around at everyone as they stared at me, obviously unsure of what to say.
"Blake? What have you got there?" Celestia finally asked, breaking the silence.
I walked slowly over to the two sisters, who were sitting next to one another, and knelt, proffering the helmet in one hand and the horn in the other. Luna gasped as she recognized the two objects.
My gaze remained on the floor as I began to speak. "Princess Celestia Solaris, Princess Luna Solaris… I present to you the helm and horn of Nightmare Moon…"
The entire room fell deathly silent as I continued to kneel, holding the objects up to the princesses. Eventually, I felt their weight lift from my open palms, and a hoof rest on my shoulder. "You have done well to vanquish this blight from our land." The voice, surprisingly, belonged to Luna. "Please, rise."
I looked up to the two and did as she asked, rising to a standing position in front of them. "How did you do this, Blake? I thought she was destroyed after your fight in Canterlot." Celestia's words came slowly, and her tone was measured.
"No, she was only injured then, not destroyed. This time, she's gone for good; I watched her demise with my own eyes."
Luna stood from the couch, and her horn glowed gently. "May I see what you saw, Blake?"
The answer didn't come immediately, as I was worried about her reaction to what she would see. "Alright… But don't go too far back… You wouldn't like what you see."
She paused for a moment, seeming to consider my request, and then nodded. She walked forward, and touched the tip of her horn to my forehead. A moment later, she broke away, gasping. "Wh-what could cause that…?"
Celestia had a look that was a mix of concern and confusion. "What could cause what, sister? What happened?"
My Lunar marefriend looked to her sister, a strange emotion that I couldn't read covered her face. "Nightmare Moon… she disintegrated… turned to dust before Blake's very eyes."
Celestia's concerned gaze turned to me. "Are you alright, Blake?"
A deep sigh escaped my lips. "I… I don't know… so much happened today… I guess I'm still processing it all." I looked between my gathered marefriends. "Honestly… I think I just want to eat something and sleep."
Celestia nodded and stood. "I understand. Would you like for us to stay with you, or would you prefer some privacy?"
I looked long and deep into her pale, magenta eyes. "Honestly…? I don't think I'd do well alone right now… I… I don't even know how or what I feel at the moment."
The tall, white mare looked to the others gathered in the room, and after some sort of silent conversation, noded to me. "Very well, Blake. If you need our company, then we won't leave your side."
I nodded, and leaned in close, resting my forehead against hers. "Thanks, Tia… all of you… I really need some support right now…"
The words had barely left my mouth before I was surrounded by my loving mares, all of whom wrapped their hooves and wings around me in a comforting hug. "Aww shucks, Sugarcube… Ya know we'll always be here for ya, 'specially when times're tough."
I felt someone, whom I guessed to be Derpy, hug me tighter. "Yeah, Blake! We all love you, and we're always gonna be here for you!"
Luna sighed deeply against me. "That is right, my love. Your station is perhaps one of the most emotionally taxing things we could ask of somepony, and we would be poor lovers indeed if we didn't support you when things were at their most trying."
All I could do was sigh in their loving embrace, already feeling the weight of the day being lifted from my shoulders, as though their love alone was cleansing the weariness of the world from my mind.
I didn't know or care how long we were in that embrace, and I would have been content to remain there forever, but sadly, my stomach grumbled, alerting the others and myself that I needed food; I hadn't eaten since that morning, the small amount of provisions I had toted along with me into the Everfree having been forgotten in the traumatic and even horrifying events that had taken place in the cursed forest less than an hour before.
Luna led me to the dining table and sat me down, and Applejack went into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a bowl of the soup that I had started that morning, still steaming even though it had probably been off of heat for two or three hours.
She set the bowl down in front of me, and I took up the spoon, driving away my bad thoughts and taking a bite of the steaming goodness. I felt my insides almost instantly begin to warm up as the vegetable-laden broth made its way into me, some of my fears and unease melted away as the cold was banished from my body.
I finished the bowl, and at my request, Applejack brought me another. When that bowl too was finished, I looked around. "Where are Scoots and Dinky? I figured they'd be excited to see me."
Applejack chuckled. "Those two're havin' a sleepover at Rarity's house. We thought it might be good if they weren't here today, what with everythin' that was goin' on, so we talked Rare inta watchin' em fer tha night."
I nodded, and let out a small sigh of relief. "Thanks… I think it really was for the best that they weren't here… I don't think it would have been good for them to see me like this."
Celestia wrapped a wing around me, blanketing me in her warmth. "Blake… none of us wish to see you like this. We all worry, and we want you to be healthy and happy. These events that you've been forced into can't be good for you, and we're going to make sure that you come out of them alright."
I leaned against the Solar Diarch. "Thanks, Tia." I whispered as I nuzzled her neck gently.
The warm soup, coupled with Celestia's own warmth and the weariness brought about by the stressful and traumatic day quickly began to lull me to sleep. The Mare of the Sun giggled. "I think we should get you to bed if you're that tired, my dear."
I nodded wearily, and started to stand, though my newfound grogginess made my legs shaky, and I quickly collapsed back into the chair. "Please, allow me, my love." I was too tired to even yelp as I was suddenly lifted from the chair again by Luna's magic.
My mind was too fogged by weariness to even register that the situation I was in should have been an embarrassing one, and in fact all I could do was look around at the walls absentmindedly as I traveled up the stairs. Brief flashes in time seemed to disappear as my eyelids slid closed, only to open a moment later as I would start awake.
Eventually, I felt myself being gently lowered down onto the soft mattress of a bed, and I recognized the room I was in as the master bedroom. Luna's magic unraveled itself from around my body, and I felt it shift, as did my feet. I looked down to see that her cerulean aura was coating my boots.
The Lunar Princess stripped me down until I was either completely naked, or only wearing boxers; I was too tired to know which. When all of my clothes were discarded, and I was safely tucked beneath the sheets, the others crawled up onto the bed with me, including a large, white blob that I vaguely recognized as Celestia.
"Good night my dearest, and may my sister give you the sweetest dreams." She whispered into my ear as I slipped peacefully into the realm of dreams.
