The Goddessy: Hestia's Revenge

Chapter Twenty-Five

All damage was now being slowly restored; Twilight noticed as she watched the sun streak across the sky. She truly didn't remember much when she was under the carnatium. But then again, Hestia only seemed to remember all the problems she'd caused recently. She agreed that they should all work to try and uncover more memories bit by bit, and hopefully find out the truth of how Hades had possessed her.

"So, this was almost exactly how I imagined it," Twilight heard Applejack say. She turned around and saw her and Rainbow Dash sitting on a bench talking.

"I'd rather be thankful they don't know yet," Rainbow said.

"Well, I've been thinking," Applejack twisted her fingers. "I've sorta been wanting to tell them eventually, but I knew that I'd have to wait until you either spilled the beans or they found out themselves. Turns out the latter was true."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn more secrets before we have to go back down," Rainbow shrugged.

"I still don't get why you still have to hide it all," Applejack sighed.

"Well, considering I'm technically in the school system..." Rainbow pointed out.

"Good point," Applejack said.

Twilight quickly turned away before they could notice her eavesdropping.

Athena sighed as she looked out the window. For some strange reason, it felt amazing to finally be on an adventure again, after centuries of just doing nothing. How amazing the story of Hestia's revenge would be if it was written down. But then again, Rainbow Dash was supposed to be hiding her identity, and exposing their journey would cause chaos, as it also revealed that the Greek lore was real.

In a couple of hours, they were going to have a service commemorating Icarus and Blaze, their statue and ashes swept up from the battlefield and ready to be buried. Demeter and Persephone had already dug up the graves.

"Strange being calm again, isn't it?"

Athena turned to find Zeus, a bandage around his forehead where Hestia had singed him once while they were up on the peak.

"I guess so," Athena put her hand on her chin. "To be honest, I remember how much fun it was to have so much going on at once. Helping Heracles-big mistake-and helping Odysseus was fun. Fighting off monsters was fun. And then watching as people read our stories and believed them to be real, then to suddenly have it all disappear as their faith in us was lost."

"That is the nature of humans," Zeus said. "They're fickle."

"And I'm pretty sure those girls are going to be traumatized for the rest of their lives," Athena said. "But I have an idea to help them."

The ceremony for Icarus and Blaze was a short one. Daedalus and Hera quickly said their memories of each of their lost before Paean and Apollo gently set down the statue and jar of ashes into the holes, Persephone sealing the graves shut. Then as usual, flowers bloomed from the graves, a sign that they weren't truly gone. Icarus's bloom was a golden crocus; Blaze's a fire lily.

It was one of the weirdest funerals Twilight had attended, and it didn't help that most everyone was used to it. They had thrown multiple (even though Twilight assumed that Medusa managed to reunite her head and body together later on).

"So... now what?" Fluttershy asked.

"We go home," Rainbow Dash said. "We still have lives down on Earth. And I still have to hide mine."

"That's why we're offering that we let you forget the whole thing," Athena and Zeus walked up to them. "We know keeping this secret's gonna be near impossible. But that would also mean erasing Dashie from everyone. Including you six. Choose now."

"No," Sunset cut in.

"What do you mean?" Athena asked.

"I'm not forgetting this," Sunset said. "I mean, I can keep secrets. So can you guys. And I know Rainbow can; she's been doing it for over two and a half millennia."

"It was hard, though," Rainbow said.

"Okay, that was easy," Athena sighed in relief. "Now, I'm starved. I'm gonna go eat."

Rarity paced along the halls of the palace one last time. How shameful that she had to leave such a glamorous place behind. Plus, she had to hide the existence of an entire mythology from the entire world! How Rainbow Dash did it, she had no idea.

That's when she saw Applejack pacing around.

"Um, are you okay?" Rarity asked, causing Applejack to jump.
"Oh, yeah," Applejack nervously rubbed her neck. "Glad she gave me permission to say this."

"Say what?" Rarity asked, curious.

"Well, you know how Rainbow claims she's hidden her true self from the entire world?" Applejack began. "Like, all seven billion people?"

"Yeah..." Rarity was already lost.

"Well, make that six billion, nine hundred ninety nine million, nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine hundred ninety nine," Applejack said quickly, then seemed to sigh in relief.

"Sorry, I don't get it," Rarity said.

"Well, Rainbow didn't exactly hide from everyone," Applejack twisted her thumbs together. "You see...

Rarity waited for an entire moment, her heart skipping a beat.

"I'd known for ten years."

A/N: MWA-HA-HA! Plot twist! Who be liking this twist, though? You know, with Applejack knowing for the past ten years... come on, I need to transition into the next book with a cliffhanger!