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// Peace at last 
// Story: The Force of the Elements 
// by LuminousRabbit 
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Epilogue: Peace at last 
AN: The story of Shadow's life is based on This is Gallifrey, from the Doctor Who series three soundtrack. I hope you enjoy it, I put a lot of thought into this one. Please let me know what you thought! Anyway epilogue now. 
Shadow was actually happy. She had seen the sun rise, a glorious sunrise, on the fourth day after Nightmare Moon's defeat, and it gave her a sense of pleasure she hadn't felt in years. Shadow, a pony with no cutie mark, had done something extraordinary that made everypony in Equestria happy. 
She could hardly believe it. Yet there it was, her deed, her first deed that served the greater good. And now she lived luxuriously. Ponies looked at her with admiration. It was glorious, trying new things, and for three days having a life. A proper one, like most ponies must have every day. 
She envied them. 
But the scars of her past life were still there, and though Shadow walked in a new way, with a smile on her face and a spring in her step, the weight in her heart was too much to ignore. 
On the fifth day, the sunrise was the most beautiful she'd ever seen. The golden rays illuminated the sky, creating sunlight over all of Equestria. The pegasus ponies flitted about the sky, taking the clouds and placing them across the horizon, creating beautiful bright colours across the fields and mountains. 
Shadow looked at the trees, and she saw every one as it was, not a collective unimportance. 
A rainbow shot from one of the clouds, and Shadow could almost see the tiny foals going to find the pot of gold. Shadow left her room and walked along the castle walls, nodding to the guards as she passed them. 
The smooth stone was cool under her hooves, and the air was rather tropical today. It was spring, and the trees were pink and white with tiny blossoms. Apples were starting to grow, still green. Earth ponies planted their crops and watered the tiny seeds. 
Everypony seemed to have something to do, to bring about this new spring. 
It was the beginning of a new era. 
Princess Celestia now raised the sun and the moon. She had modestly offered to step down from her role as princess, thinking ponies resented her power, but there was an overwhelming motion from Equestria to keep her in office. All the major newspapers wrote articles about her outstanding feats saving Equestria, and demanded she remained princess. She had accepted gratefully, of course. 
How could the princess refuse such a notion from her people? 
Shadow walked to the princess' rooms, and was greeted by two guards. 
She named them Fred and Jerry, cordially smiling to them. She spoke, lighter, feeling the repercussions of her words, knowing it was the right thing to do. 
'I need to speak to Celestia,' Shadow said. Fred disappeared into Celestia's room. He came back out twenty seconds later, with so much dignity. What was he thinking? Nobody knew. 
But that was rather the point of the guards. 'The princess will see you,' he said, nodding for her to pass. Shadow thanked them, and walked past into Celestia's chamber. 
'Hello, Shadow,' Celestia said. 'How can I help you?' 
'I'm here to claim my condition,' Shadow said, feeling the finality of what she had said. She looked up, and found Celestia's pale eyes looking sympathetically into her own sadly. 
'Let's take a walk,' Celestia said calmly. 'It's a nice day.' Shadow complied. 
They walked into the gardens, their hoofs treading lightly on the mossy stone paths. Shadow looked around her, knowing that this would be a fine place to drift away. Butterflies flew around her, but instead of pink, they were a pale blue, just like the sky. 
Birds twittered a nice song in the trees, and she heard the beauty of it, for the first time in years. Yes, this was the place. 
She slowed down and stopped walking. 
'Nopony will think any less of you if you just walk away today,' Celestia said. 
'I've made enough of a mark on Equestria. My time is up, and I think I'd like to end it on a beautiful day like this one.' 
'Why today? I've talked to the pegasus ponies, and there are plenty of fine days coming up.' 
'I finally found out who I am,' Shadow said. 'And I've decided that Equestria doesn't need my assistance with it.' She turned, and Celestia saw the single pink heart on Shadow's dark flank. 
'Oh...' Celestia breathed in respect. Not only had Shadow found her cutie mark, but it was a brilliant one. Even Celestia herself doubted she could match it. 
'It took me long enough, but I found it,' Shadow said proudly. The mark was her salvation, the sign that she had found her time. 
'Does anypony know?' 
'No, I haven't told anypony. Mr Tux might have seen it, I don't know.' 
'When did you get it?' Celestia asked her, still barely believeing what she saw. 
'When I saw Dragonsilver and Silver, the day after we beat Nightmare Moon. I... I was happy for them,' Shadow said. 
'You finally found it,' Celestia murmured. 
'Yes. Now I feel complete. I don't really have anything left to live for, and Equestria is so full of love that I doubt I could make much of a difference.' 'What if something happens? What if we need the Elements of Harmony again?' 'You won't. I know you'll make sure of it,' Shadow told her. 
'I know I promised this, but it doesn't mean you have to go through with it,' Celestia said. 
'Yes it does. Well, even if I didn't have to, I would.' 
'Now?' 'Yes. Delaying any longer would just attract attention,' Shadow told her. 
'Okay. If you're sure.' Celestia conjured a knife with her magic. Her horn glowed, levitating it towards Shadow. 
'Do it,' Shadow insisted. Celestia paused, then plunged the knife into Shadow's chest. Celestia was shocked that she had actually done it. But there it was, the wound. Dark blood against the coal-black coat. Shadow fell back onto the ground, crying. But they were tears of happiness, not pain. 
'You did it,' Shadow said, her voice soft, barely more than a whisper. Her eyes were so old, but they finally looked peaceful. 
'I'm so sorry,' Celestia said. 
'No... It's what I wanted, what I want. Don't be sorry.' Tears streaked down Shadow's face, and blood soaked out of the wound. 
'I didn't mean that. I was talking about when we were fillies,' Celestia said, knowing she could never give back what she had taken from this pony. 
'I forgive you. You were just a foal, after all.' Shadow's turquoise eyes looked up at Celestia. They were like the sea, waters that had finally become calm. 
'I'm so, so sorry. I can never make up for what happened to you. You didn't deserve it.' 
'You just did make up for it.' Shadow closed her eyes. 
'I don't hate you, Celestia.' Celestia sat by the pony as she died. 
Shadow was asleep now, and there wasn't long left. The curious thing was, Celestia didn't feel bad about her act. It was... Cleansing. Purifying. She had brought a pony a drifting sleep, and was safe knowing that she had done the right thing. 
Shadow sighed, her last breath, and it was the breath of a pony who was finally at peace.