“You don’t need to die for your friends, you need to live for them, alongside them. That is the only way to bring a happy future.”
Where am I? Twilight thought to herself, surrounded by an infinite white space. What happened... Oh. I used the spell. Twilight sighed. Is this what it feels like to be engulfed by the attack? It feels so peaceful. Like sleep. It can't be it, maybe i'm... No I don't know that for sure. Twilight drifted across the space looking for something. She wasn't sure exactly what, but she felt as if something was calling her.
"We have gathered here today," a voice whispered behind her. The purple mare wasn't scared, or even startled at the sudden arrival of another pony. But she turned to see nopony was there, just the infinite white. Is that..? She went in the direction she heard the voice. She walked slowly trying to pinpoint its location.
"to honour," the same voice continued, this time she noticed the speaker had a depressed tone when it was speaking. Again it sounded as if it came behind her. Immediately she turned around to see the purgatory she was placed in had changed completely.
She was back in Equestria, Canterlot by the looks of it, she was somehow levitating in the air, well above the ground. While looking around she noticed this was somewhere in Canterlot she had never been to. If she hadn't glanced up and seen the castle, she would have assumed it was some other city.
Most of Canterlot was used for various shops, homes, and other buildings. The rest used for roads or walkways. But this part of Canterlot however, was largely vacant of any buildings whatsoever, only a few small businesses a fair distance away. What really caught her attention though, was that there was a large gathering of ponies all dressed in black, standing in the pouring rain, facing in the same direction. Some of the characters seemed to be crying, but most gave respectful, yet saddened expressions, none of them were showing that they were better than everypony else by raising their heads. Instead giving full attention to the one or ones who were before them.
Twilight moved her focus towards the same area everypony else was looking at. There was where she saw both princesses, who governed the night and the day. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, whom were also wearing the dark shades of black, standing before the crowd. Luna was a little behind Celestia as she was giving a speech.
"the passing of one of our own." The princess continued. "Twilight Sparkle was a bright and intelligent young mare whom many of here today knew as the Element of Magic." I was right... I'm really dead.
"We are here to respect and wish her well now that our time is over and all the experiences we had, whether they were positive or not left an impact in all of us. None of us here knows what happens after the soul departures the body but we can only hope that her soul may rest in peace for the rest of eternity." Princess Celestia stopped and beckoned her sister to continue. Luna hesitated slightly before moving forwards, her sister taking her original spot. Luna stood before the crowd, seeing their expecting but patient faces. The princess took a deep breath before starting.
"For Twilight Sparkle, the journey has just started, but for all of us, and the many others who could sadly not make it, the journey has reached an obstacle that causes pain, grief but most of all loss. Every single one of us has had their life changed because of her existence. I personally can say that were it not for her, I would still be the demon that was Nightmare moon. Because of my actions, I caused harm to many and planned to do it again when I returned a few years ago. Twilight brought it upon herself to use the elements of harmony and in the process freed me from my negative side. Later on in the year she helped me become accustomed to today's customs and in gaining the trust in others. If none of us here were not touched by her, we would have not come to pay our respects."
"It is important that none of us here try to deny that we have lost her and accept that nothing we do can bring her back. Life can and never will return to how it was before, nor should it be the same." Luna let a lone tear fall out of her right eye. Quickly she wiped it off before finishing. "After a few words from my sister, if anypony here wishes to give a few words they may do so." Luna turned around to face her sister. Celestia was shocked by her sister's words. The plan was that Celestia would not give a few words, with the exception of the closing remark.
"Luna I-
"Tia." Luna gave her a stern glance. "You have been keeping your feelings to yourself ever since she passed. Your subjects are worried about you. This is the first time you've shown yourself publicly since she passed."
"But they need a leader who can lead them, especially after events like this. Leaders need to be strong, I can't show weakness." Celestia argued.
"Sister. They know you are strong and that you are the only one who can rule over them. Show them that even you of all ponies is still one who has emotions and feelings. None of them will judge you, but they will be happy to know that you are dealing with this properly just like anypony else would." Luna flashed her a quick smile and wrapped her in a small hug.
"Thank you Lulu." Celestia accepted it, embracing her.
"Just speak whatever comes to your mind." She said, slowly releasing herself from her sister. "Your subjects will support you." Celestia nodded weakly before walking up to the podium. She was given the same reaction from the crowd as before.
"Twilight Sparkle, was loved by many and loved us all the same. Her heart was larger than the infinite sky that looms all over Equestria. She was a very knowledgeable mare as many of us know, always wanting to know more about anything and everything. She used her powers to help others in need many times including the fights with Discord, King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon."
"She was always a diligent pony, making sure that every little detail was taken care of early to make sure it was ready when the time came. Twilight Sparkle was my personal student and protégé in magic studies."
"A wise pony once told me that love makes us strong. It can be a reason to keep going even when it seems hopeless. But that pony also said the opposite, that love could make us weak. Sh-she was like the daughter I never had, it filled my heart with joy to see such a young filly grow up to such a wonderful young mare a-and I..." Celestia couldn't continue, her words came out as choked sobs. By now her tears were welling up in her eyes, about to burst the gate open and let loose a torrent of fluids.
"I- I..." She tried once more, only to fail once again. The princess had enough of this. She wanted to go huddle into a corner and let everything out, alone. Out of panic, Princess Celestia flared up her horn and disappeared without a trace.
"Tia!" Luna cried out, a few moments too late. She knew what her sister was doing right now and it was her fault. I should have known she might have tried something like that. The princess thought to herself. She wanted to go, find her sister and comfort her. But Luna couldn't leave now. There were a large group of ponies waiting for her to continue on. Leaving now would be disgraceful to Twilight and her family.
Up until now Twilight was completely absorbed by the scenery and the words spoken by her mentor and had completely forgotten about her family, her friends.
Twilight scanned the crowd and instantly found her family in the front row. Her mom, dad, brother and even sister-in-law were all sitting together, side by side. Fluttershy was also with them, on the other side of Cadence. Twilight Velvet, her mom, was sobbing quietly into her father's shoulder. Twilight's father had her in an embrace, comforting her, one hoof running up and down her back and the other through her mane slowly. He wasn't as expressive as his wife, but Twilight could still see him, even through the rain, wearing a gloomy facial expression, a few tears falling painfully slow down his eyes every few seconds. He was never a very 'showy' stallion in regards to his feelings, usually letting out only a small fraction of what he felt, and today was no different.
Fluttershy was hard to explain. Her expression was like the rest, saddened, but it held more remorse and guilt. She wasn't crying, not even a small tear had formed in the edges of her eyes, but it seemed as if she wanted to terribly. She looked empty or lost.
Her brother gave a reaction she had only seen once before, during the first funeral he went to. He was visibly crying but he had a look of anger in his eyes, as if ready to lash out at anyone who confronted him. Twilight knew that look, and it was one she could never forget even if she wanted to.
Cadence was beside him, trying to do the same as her father and comfort him, but he sat there without any regard for her. Cadence was crying, but wearing a more sympathetic look than a saddened one. The purple mare could hear her trying to quell his anger, but her choice of words were poor.
"It wasn't your fault Shining. Nopony could have known that this would happen." The young princess whispered into his ear, placing her hooves
"Bullshit." He replied angrily, though it was merely a whisper. The captain of the royal guard stood up and started to walk forwards.
"Shining, where are you going?" She asked worriedly. Everypony in the crowd turned their attention to him, but he disregarded their stares.
"Captain." Luna stepped up in front of him, blocking his path. "Please stay seated, you may come up if you are called." He ignored her, and walked around her. She was slightly annoyed by his rude act, but decided against taking any action.
Shiny please, don't do this again. Twilight tried to speak out, for she knew exactly what he was going to do, but all she could do was be a spectator of the scene that was about to unfold.
Without hesitation her brother flared up his horn and the nearest bouquet of white lilies was encased with a light rose aura. The flowers slowly floated towards him. Most of the crowd was confused at his action, other than ignoring the demands of the princess, he was taking one bouquets meant for his sister. It was a mere foot away when he intentionally threw it on the ground as hard as he could.
A few gasps elicited from the crowd as he stomped directly onto the flowers, crushing them instantly. He repeated the action several times to make sure all that remained was bits and pieces.
"SHINING ARMOR!" Luna yelled in the Royal Canterlot voice. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Shining didn't even flinch at her, much less care for what she had to say. He lit up his horn once more, attempting to grab another flowery victim, but this time he spoke while doing so.
"None of this makes sense." He growled, before raising his voice at the princess. "NONE OF IT!"
“ST-
"Princess, I apologize for interrupting but let me handle this.” He turned his attention towards the rage filled stallion. “Stand down sir. You aren't yourself right now." Storm fist, one of the guards who were posted on the sides said, walking up to him. Shining had already encased another bundle of flowers and was bringing them down to his hooves again.
"NO! I WILL NOT STAND DOWN!" He spat out.
"Captain, I know how you must be feeling, but this is a time to pay your respects to your sister. Not crush the small formalities that surround her." He said.
"You know nothing storm, what it feels like to be in my position. I AM THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD THAT PROTECTS EQUESTRIA! BUT I COULDN'T EVEN PROTECT TWO OF WHOM I HELD CLOSEST TO MY HEART!" A few tears had fallen to the ground, camouflaging with the rain. The guard flinched slightly at his words, ears falling back against the back of his head.
"I was mistaken captain, I do not know how you feel, but what will taking out your anger against the flowers that were given for your sister do?" Shining paused. He turned around to face the guard, still his face showed rage, but lessened heavily. He wasn't facing the guard however, he glanced over the front of the crowd, only to rest his eyes upon the butter yellow pegasus.
"No, you’re right.” Shining threw the bouquet back to it’s original place and started to walk towards her. “It’s all your fault that my sister is dead.” He pointed a hoof towards the yellow mare. Fluttershy flinched back at his words and stared back at him. “I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!” Before shining could take another step, storm leaped on top of him, pinning him to the cobbled ground. Shining instantly roared at the guard. “GET OFF ME STORM!”
“I cannot do that Captain. If I do, you would do something nopony needs.” He replied calmly, struggling to keep him down. The other guards noticed Storm’s grip on their captain was faltering and rushed to help him. The ponies who still stood in the crowd were shocked. A stallion of such stature, such rank, such power, was acting like this. Sure it was his sister’s funeral, but he was acting worse than a feral timberwolf. A large portion of those who were closer to the front decided to move back, not wanting to be caught in what he was going to do.
The other guards were too slow to react however as he tossed Storm off of himself, and towards one of the guards, leaving them in a scrambled mess. Without a second thought he galloped towards her, with the intent of ending her life. The last two guards rushed to try and stop him, but being fully clad in armor meant that he was given the advantage, wearing nothing but various fabrics.
Fluttershy was still seated at her position, still staring back at him. On the inside, she was frightened greatly at the sight that lay in front of her. Never before had she ever been one to face another living being, who had such a high level of hate and rage against her. Even with the animals it had always been something she could easily subdue, as it was always something trivial or it wasn't her who caused the problem, but this time she had done something that was nothing short of the worst thing to do to him. She was the reason for the death of his sister, and she had accepted that fact. Fluttershy merely faced him as he was getting closer and closer. In her mind she had no right to do anything against him, it was her fault and he had all the right to be angry at her. In a few seconds he would impact against her, so she closed her eyes, waiting for it to happen.
Still with her eyes closed, three seconds went by, then five, and finally eight. Each second felt like a lifetime to the yellow mare, going by as slow as possible. She had wondered if she was hit so hard that she was killed instantly, but threw away the thought as she could still feel the drops of rain falling onto her mane. Deciding to finally let curiosity take over she opened her eyes to see the back of Princess Cadence in front of her.
“Cadence. Move, now!” Shining growled at his wife, still wanting to deliver his own form of judgement upon the yellow mare.
“I won’t when you want to hurt Fluttershy. She made a mistake and feels guilty enough with you doing all of this.” Cadence stood firm.
“I don’t care if she feels guilty or not, she has to pay for her crimes!” He said, his voice increasing.
“Shining! Listen to yourself right now, you want to hurt somepony because they made a mistake! Somepony we all know well.” She tried to reason but no words could ever hope of stopping his rage.
“That mistake caused my sister’s death! I DON’T CARE!” Shining Armor roared, about to push through her to get to his victim.
“Then i’m sorry honey.” She whispered, a tear falling out of her eye. In the same moment her horn flared up and she lowered her horn onto his forehead. The surge of magic flew out of her horn and into his head, causing him to fall over. A simple knock out spell she learned when she was younger.
“Thank you princess Cadence, I apologize for not stopping him before.” Princess Luna said. "I did not think he would do something so rash." She looked towards the guards whom were beside her. "Take Shining Armor to the nearest jail cell. I will deal with him later.” The guards saluted their princess and started on their duty.
"He's right you know. This is all my fault." Fluttershy sighed. "You shouldn't have stopped him, I deserve to be punished." Both of the princesses faced her, bewildered at the statement she made.
"No Fluttershy, it's not your fault. You are the most kindness and caring pony I've had the pleasure of knowing. You made one mistake because of the things she said but that doesn't mean it's your fault. Nopony could have known that she would go to the forest and be attacked by such evil beings." Cadence explained, trying to grab her into an embrace she most certainly needed. Fluttershy looked up to her with the same accepting eyes as before but not the kind she expected, acceptance that it was her fault.
"Mistake or not if I tried to listen to her, none of this would have happened." Fluttershy stared directly at Twilight’s flying form, as if she knew she were there. She shook her head and sprung her wings up. Without any warning she gave her wings a flap and took off into the air, unsure of her destination.
Is this real? Did I-
"She's fine Rainbow Dash, she's just a little tired is all. By next morning she'll be raring to go." Another, familiar voice interrupted her thoughts, ending its words with a nervous chuckle.
Is that Rainbow? Twilight turned around to see a small bubble with the blue mare inside of it, kicking through clouds and clearing the weather. Many of the ponies beneath her tried to help her, telling her to stop. To anypony with even a sliver of observation skills could notice that she hadn't been her regular enthusiastic self since the incident. Rainbow stop it, please, you’re only hurting yourself. Still her words held nothing as only she could hear herself.
As if on cue another bubble formed beside it, showing her Applejack. She heard yells and screams coming from her. The orange mare was in the middle of the rain, bucking apples in her orchard but without the care and tenderness she gave them when doing so. Instead, each time she would wind up her legs as much as she could and release all the force onto the trees. Most of the trees that she had already taken care of were littered with cracks, scratches and rifts, some unlucky ones nearly toppled over from the low amount of support they had left. Applejack looked even angrier than her brother, but her rage wasn't like his, but the exact opposite. She was angry at herself.
"Is there something you want? Maybe my clothes, or my money, anything for her. Just give me back my friend. You know what, you can have my entire home and business for her. I-I'll go hunt for more gems to give you. Anything! Anything, there isn't anything I can't give you. I'll give you my element of harmony. It's my most valuable possession. Maybe you want my sister?" Rarity said whimpering. "My life,” She smiled greatly. “you can even have my life for all I care, just please give her back."
Rarity? Once again another bubble formed showing her the state of her alabaster friend. What are y-
"I'm sorry Twilight, I never meant any of those things. Please forgive me for my mistake, I would take it back if I could without caring about the problems that come afterward." Pinkie cried through her words. Twilight turned to the separate bubble that surrounded the scene of Pinkie. Pinkie?! No not you too, I don’t blame any of you for this, it was all my fault. I should never have said all those things behind your backs.
All five bubbles fell side by side, showing her exactly what she caused. No! I did this for them. I wanted them to have a future, but not this kind of future. Please just stop! I did all of this for you all to smile for the days to come. I never wanted this kind of future! Stop please, this isn’t… Twilight suddenly felt weaker and weaker, witnessing the scenes took a toll on her current body. The entire white space that she was in quickly changed shades to black, mere seconds before she lost consciousness she completed her sentence. what I wanted…
*Beep*
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