6. Epilogue
Celestia sat at the table and watched her student leave.
Luna trotted up to the table, her expression dour. Her eyes followed the dejected young princess winding through the gardens to her tower. “I believe you may have broken her heart.”
“I have no doubt that I did,” said Celestia with a sigh, allowing her façade to fall and dropping her head in dejection.
“Was that strictly necessary? You realise that her nightmares will only get worse now.”
“For a few short years, yes. And some of them will inevitably contain myself, cast as an agent of destruction. I shall have to entrust the care of her during those times to you, dear sister. But some day, when the time comes for her to defend this land against a true threat, one beyond the reach of mercy, she will be better prepared for it.” She turned to look into Luna’s eyes. “More prepared than we ever were.”
“You would inflict such hardship on her now to save her from worse in the future?”
“I would do what a princess must.”
“’Tis a ruthless gamble. You realise that the repercussions of this choice will affect to the other five bearers of the Elements, and through them countless other ponies. Though they may never understand why, they shan’t be the same again.”
“Even so, dear sister. As before, as always, I will do whatever I must to safeguard the future of my children.”
“Even at the cost of Twilight's heart?”
“Even so.”
Luna sat down in the adjacent seat. “You have become altogether too cunning in your dotage, sister. I cannot say that I approve. But tell me something.” She leaned close to her sister's ear. “What truly happened on the field of battle that day?”
A small smile returned to Celestia's downcast features. “I reminded Prince Nebula of his embarrassing infatuation with one of my hoofmaidens some years previously, and General White Rainbow of the quite substantial amount of money she owed me. Under the circumstances, they both reluctantly agreed to stand down. No battle was fought, and nopony died on that field.”
Luna released the nervous breath she was holding. “I am much relieved to hear it. I remember young Nebula as a colt, chasing butterflies amid our legs.” They shared a nostalgic smile.
“He went on to chair the reformed Equestrian Council, which helped to restore peace to the land.”
“And why did you choose to relate to her a false incident, when there are enough real ones you could have used? For example, during the gryphon war you mentioned. Some day she is sure to realise your deceit.”
“That is precisely why. When that day comes, her fear of me will be shaken, allowing us to gain a degree of reconciliation.”
“You are ever optimistic, sister.”
Celestia nodded, her expression serious. “I do believe in ponies. And particularly, I believe in her.”
“I can see why. Still, I fear your memory may have betrayed you over one trifling matter.”
“Oh?”
“’Twas one of my hoofmaidens with whom he was enamoured, not thine,” replied Luna playfully.
“I think not,” cautioned Celestia.
“Ah, ’tis such a shame when an old nag’s memory fails her,” lamented Luna.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Equimorto · 1000 words · 32 0 · 709 views
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
601 users online
1,271,558 hits today, 2,139,894 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Very interesting. I kept wondering whether the last chapter was another dream or actually happening, but I guess this answers that.
7713624
Thanks. I tried to be as clear as I could that the ending two chapters are real.
It looks like people don't really like this story. Which is fair - it's not one of my best, just something I had stuck in my head that needed to go somewhere. But I'd love to hear people say why they dislike it, specifically.
7713814
I enjoyed it. I'm a fan of disjointed, surreal dream sequences. They're a place where anything can happen, where physics cease, everything is intense as the imagination, and death tends to be more gruesome yet not have as much impact. I guess one might not like it for that very reason, too. Suspension of disbelief thresholds might be lower, the believability thrown out the window, and consequences have little weight in a dream. Like, it's for some people and not for others. I don't know if there's much to mitigate that other than write well?
I guess in that chapter with the Ursa and Trixie, before Twilight reaches the cave and is flying/swimming, I guess the pacing felt a bit off. Like, I was getting a bit bored with the amount of description but that's just me.
The chapter with the changelings had a slow gruesome buildup that made me wonder what was going on until there was enough details to figure it out myself. For a sec I was thinking they were Breezies since indifferent maiming disaster seems to hit them often enough, right until Twi finds that one shapeshifting. The implication I got was that this is what happened to them immediately after Cadance and Shinings love explosion sent the changelings flying. Still don't really get why Chrysalis mentioned 'Shy. Chalk it up to dream?
Really enjoyed Celestia's character here. Manipulative, yet caring, and planning things out for the long term.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you appreciated it.
Ultimately, I suspect this fic was too much concept, not enough story. The conflict facing Twilight, her dilemma between guilt and correctness, didn't come out until the penultimate chapter (the first non-dream), and then it was dealt with quickly. There wasn't any space given for it to actually develop. I wonder if adding real-world chapters in between each of the dreams might have helped?
7720887 Forgot to tag you on my reply.
7720887
She doesn't; she's trying to say "Shining Armor", and I think the implication is that for all of her claims that she doesn't love the groom and just used Shining as a tool, there may have been a deeper connection.
Or so, at least, I think Twilight's dream is suggesting.
Also, that was one cunning Celestia. I like her as a well-meaning, benevolent manipulative mastermind, and she's excellent here!
Oh, I do like this one. It really could use a few more coats of polish (you mention hot, underground manga casting a reddish glow at one point which was an image that amused me far more than it should), but I like the concept very much. I've been thinking about a similar idea since Twilight Sparkle Makes a Cup of Tea, actually, in which the horror is seen from Celestia's side.
You can has review!