Princess Twilight stood anxiously outside of Canterlot Castle's throne room, alongside Prince Sunburst and Princess Starlight, as they all waited for Chipcutter to be 'officially' done with the final check and placement of his memorial statues before the dedication ceremony began. Even through the closed doors, they heard the chatter of the crowd down in the courtyard, who were also eager for things to get started.
The Princess of Friendship stared at the doors to the throne room. The last time she was here under any semblance of normalcy was four months ago, asking Celestia, Luna, and Cadance for some tweaking of the sun and moon for some special effects for a musical performance. It had felt like forever ago. Now the room beyond those doors was where her nine closest friends and mentors had met their end.
After hearing all of her brother's glowing praise for what Chipcutter had done in the Crystal Empire, as well as seeing his statue in Ponyville, she had specifically asked for no further updates on the Canterlot memorial, and just let the colt work his craft, and decided that she would see it when it was finished. With how her heart still crept up to her throat when she saw Cadance's memorial in Ponyville, she wasn't going to try fooling herself into thinking she could keep it together when the time came to see what had been done to the throne room, which had been removed from all day-to-day official activity, and the unveiling was now just moments away.
She swallowed when she heard hoofsteps coming towards the other side of the door, and it was slowly pushed open, and a grey pegasus colt with an off-white mohawk and tail came through, and gave a bow, barely standing to half her height.
"Your majesties. Everything is ready. Please, come in." He said respectfully, before stepping back in. The door didn't close all the way before Twilight grabbed the handle with her magic. She took a deep breath, let it out, and opened both doors for the three of them, and her second breath was immediately taken away as her throat tightened, and her eyes threatened to spill over with tears as she shakily stepped into the throne room.
The young and talented Chipcutter was just one of dozens of ponies that had been working in here the past three months. It was so much to take in all at once. The first thing she noticed was the red velvet carpet, or rather the absence of it. It now ended at the doorway, and gave way to the white marble floor. The scattered blast marks from the Staff of Sacanas had been repaired from when she, Starlight, Thorax, and his changeling strike force had retaken the throne room and defeated the Storm King.
What she noticed second was how the entire room was considerably brighter, which was due to the vastly increased natural light that entered through the hole that had been blasted in the roof. Immense sheets of iridescent glass had been very carefully fit around the gap in the stone and marble archways that made up the roof. Soft multicolored beams of rainbow shone downward as sunlight passed through the glass.
Returning her gaze to the floor, she saw what had been done with the aetherium-laced portion of the floor, which had been entirely destroyed in Twilight's counter-attack in the Storm King's desperate attempt to keep the stolen magic in the staff. Instead of reapplying aetherial dust, the circle and four-petaled symbol was now pearl, and the darkened sections were black granite.
There had been no damage done to the throne room in the initial attack during the Friendship Festival. In fact, in addition to the roof, the only physical damage done was to Celestia's throne, and the stone wall and stain glass sun window behind it, when the invading satyr had tested the focused energy of the staff by blasting her out onto the balcony. Whatever happened to the roof had occurred after Twilight had begun her exhausted retreat down the mountain. Now, her emotions began to overflow as she approached the multi-tiered throne pedestal, and saw what the team had done.
The six small fountain pools had been repaired, and crystal clear water ran through each of them, falling into the two artificial streams that ran down either side of the room. Standing in each fountain, there was a statue; a unicorn, two pegasi, two earth ponies, and a young dragon. Twilight instantly recognized them as her very best and dearest friends.
The marble each statue was carved from had each been carefully selected to closely match their coats. After carving was complete, their mane and tail sections had been painstakingly sanded down so they could be painted to match their mane and scale colors. The effect was astounding. Their names had been beautifully carved into the side of the fountain. Each one stood proud and timeless, soft but determined expressions on their faces, hoof deep in the water that would flow out of the throne room, through the city's aqueducts, and down the mountain into the central region's many rivers and streams.
As she began to silently cry, Twilight's gaze met each statue, and continued onward, taking in the changes.
The central ramp up to the top pedestal where the thrones had previously sat had been removed entirely, limiting access to the top considerably. Luna's throne had been removed, as had the remnants of Celestia's. Where they had previously been set, three marble statues of the fallen alicorns stood watch, wings spread. Celestia was center, with her slightly smaller younger sister and niece standing to her right and left, respectively.
Reaching where the ramp had started previously, she turned and saw that Starlight and Sunburst had been likewise touched, and she knelt down and embraced the young Chipcutter.
"There are almost no words, Chipcutter. They're absolutely beautiful. Your skills will take you as far as you want them to." Twilight told him just above a whisper, knowing it would be fruitless to wipe her eyes. The young pegasus returned the embrace.
"Thank you, Princess. I'm glad I could put them to use. These ponies deserve to be remembered for everything they've done."
As Twilight released him from the embrace, she heard the throne room doors open again, and a familiar amber unicorn stepped in, her cyan eyes immediately widening at her surroundings. Sunburst and Starlight offered Chipcutter their hushed gratitude as Twilight retraced her steps towards her first student.
Sunset Shimmer managed a weak smile as she stepped up and hugged her friend and teacher.
"Sorry I'm late," Sunset whispered. They released each other, and the unicorn took in the memorial just as Twilight had moments earlier as they made their way towards the statues. Sunburst, Starlight, and Chipcutter gave them some space.
"I'm sorry for not keeping in touch lately. Ever since you wrote to me and told me what happened, I..." Sunset trailed off, her eyes falling to the marble floor as they approached the throne pedestal.
"Sunset, it's alright." Twilight assured her.
"No, no it's not. You've lost enough loved ones without me being distant. Even if I..." Sunset drew in a deep breath, and risked looking up into the eyes of the statue of Princess Celestia. Her shoulders heaved, and her legs began to quake.
"Even if I wanted to ignore the fact that something like this happened." She finished as she began to cry.
Twilight put a leg around her as tears began to fall.
"Honestly, part of me didn't want to come back here. Part of me didn't want to have to see this. She was always there for me. Day or night, even for the most simple question or problem. She was overly patient with me even when I was overly snide or selfish. It's hard to imagine an Equestria without her."
"Believe me, I get it. It hasn't been easy, for anypony. We're the last two in a long line of lives that she touched. I can't say I envy you. When you go back, you'll have to see all of them again. I don't know if I could do that, even with interdimensional rifts and multiverses at play." Twilight said as she squeezed Sunset reassuringly. The unicorn took a few breaths and got herself mostly under control.
"So, what's the next step for you?" Sunset asked.
"The official dedication is in about 30 minutes. After that, this throne room will be available to anypony to reflect or pay their respects, day or night."
"I meant, you know, after all that. Any idea what you're going to do next?" Sunset asked.
"You know, I've tried pretty hard to not think about it these past couple months. To quote Celestia right after my castle popped out of the ground, 'What is the Princess of Friendship without her friends?'. I've been constantly distracting myself with helping Ponyville rebuild, and now that that's nearly done... I'm scared, Sunset. What am I supposed to do without them? What am I without them?"
Sunset put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"Twilight, you are the pony you are today because of your friends. As am I, because of you. If you weren't meant to carry on somehow, then you might as well have not survived. Twilight, don't you see? They live in you. Grieve and mourn them, yes. But also find a way to carry their legacy forward. What is their legacy? Personally, I'd say it's you, Twilight. Celestia and your friends made you what you are today, and now you can be the leader and teacher they knew you could be."
Twilight managed a smile at her student.
"Thanks, Sunset. I'll find a way. I swear it."