Celestia sighed as she looked over the news her guards had given her. Another bunch of outlaws, just great.
Daniel had been true to his word. Once the worlds merged, the monsters disappeared, and everypony was allowed to return to their lives. However, the destruction left in the wake of the catastrophe left massive repercussions, irrevocably changing everypony's lives as they struggled to adapt to this new world. So many ponies had lost their lives, and even with the influx of ponies from Sombra's world, Equestria's population was reduced to a fraction of what it used to be. Almost every family was left mourning the loss of their loved ones, and as their ruler, it was Celestia's job to console the populace. To make matters worse, the ponies from Sombra's world weren't morally sound, and she was constantly getting news of another band of outlaws causing trouble in this delicate time. Even in all her years as the princess of the sun, Celestia had never had to deal with anything of this magnitude, and the pressure was getting to her.
"More bandits?" Sombra asked as he entered the throne room. "Allow my guards to take care of them."
Celestia looked up at her long lost love. For all the trouble this merging had caused, Sombra was a very big positive. His guards were far more capable than her own, having had to deal with outlaws on a regular basis. Even more than that, seeing him again after all this time was a joy Celestia thought she'd never experience again. She was happy...but this joy came at such a cost...
Sombra noticed her sorrow. "Why don't I take over the court for now?" he offered. "You should rest. You've been trying to clean up this mess for so long, but you shouldn't push yourself. You're suffering, too."
Celestia simply gave a sorrowful nod and left. As she left the room, she noticed it was almost time for sunset. Time to raise the moon. She looked out a hallway window, then closed her eyes as she reached out with her magic, lowering the sun below the horizon and raising the moon to take its place. When she opened her eyes, the Mare in the Moon stared back at her. That pattern...at one point, it was a prison for her sister after she'd gone off the deep end. Now it was the only thing keeping Luna alive...but to Celestia, her sister was still gone. A thousand years, she thought. We have a thousand years to find some way to save you. Will it be enough?
She silently bade her sister good night, and proceeded to her bedchambers. As she passed through the halls, however, she came across Twilight Sparkle. Her bloodstained coat still unnerved the princess of the sun. It marked her as one of the undead, yet another pony who was left to suffer in the wake of this disaster. She would never be allowed to die, as everypony she knew grew old and died around her. Celestia understood the feeling.
"Oh, there you are!" Twilight exclaimed. "You weren't in the throne room, so I thought I'd go looking for you."
"Is there something you need, Twilight?" Celestia asked, even her normal motherly tone weighed down by weariness.
"Well, I figured you and Sombra should know," Twilight began. "Daniel's been...off ever since the merging. Today I thought I'd ask him what was wrong, but I couldn't find him. Then I went to the council room. The mirror to Sunset Shimmer's world had been activated, and this letter was left nearby. I could've had Spike send this to you, but...I felt I should give you this personally." She reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a scroll. Celestia grabbed it with her magic, rolled it open, and began to read:
To everypony I've come to know,
I hope you can forgive me. My place in your world was lost long ago. All I've done since I came here was bring suffering down upon you all. And I have suffered dearly here, myself. As things are, staying in this world is far too painful for me to bear. I feel tht I'll only cause you more pain if I stay, and the longer I'm here, the longer my own wounds take to heal.
So I'm leaving Equestria. I'm off to search for some semblance of peace in another world. I have no right to do this after all I've done to hurt you, but I need to leave. Maybe one day, when I can finally look back on my life with something resembling happiness, I can return here. But for now, this is goodbye.
Daniel Hayes
Celestia brought the letter down from her face...and smiled.
"You're not worried about him?" Twilight asked.
"No, I'm not," Celestia answered, "because I'm sure that, one day, he'll finally find the peace he's looking for. And when he does, we'll see him again. For now, we focus on our new home. We will restore Equestria to its former glory, so that, when he finally returns...he will find true happiness. He fought so hard to keep our world alive. The least we can do is build a world where he doesn't have to fight any longer." She took one last look at the moon. Somehow, it looked even brighter than before. Celestia's smile widened slightly. Maybe things were looking bleak...but Equestria still had a future, and so long as it had that, everypony could persevere and flourish.
Here's to a new world, dear sister. Let's make the best of it.
-- THE END --