//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: The Garden and a Final Farewell (Ending) // Story: Together Again and Forever // by Wahtiff //------------------------------// Two weeks later, Celestia’s internal clock woke her from a brief nap, and she sat up to find herself in the shade of her favorite tree, in the middle of the Royal Gardens where she had nodded off a short while ago. Not too far away, she could hear the rickety wheels to a carriage coming to a halt outside the entrance.            Right on time… She thought, grimly, running a hoof through her mane a few times in an attempt to erase any form of bedhead from her image. She was just levitating her crown back to the top of her head, from where she had lain it aside for a relieving moment, when she heard several sets of hoofsteps heading towards her along the stone-brick pathway.            Twilight came around the corner, smiling wide when she saw Celestia, and the younger alicorn ran up to hug her mother in greeting. Celestia smiled, returning her daughter’s embrace with all the love of a parent, running her hoof gently through the younger alicorn’s mane.            “How are you, Celestia?” Twilight asked.            “I’m fine.”            “Hello, princess.”            Celestia gulped, clutching Twilight tighter against her as she looked up at the new voice. Sure enough, there stood Night Light a few feet away, with Spike sitting on his back, both of them looking at her with a neutral expression and a smile and wave, respectively. Flash Sentry, in one rare instance without his armor at all, stood behind them, looking at Night Light uncomfortably- as if he was a ticking time-bomb.            Time to- what was it called, again?-‘face the music’.            “Hello, Night Light.” Letting go of Twilight, Celestia approached them and bowed her head in respect, “I trust that you’re doing well.”            Night Light nodded, slowly, “I am.”            “I truly am sorry to hear about Velvet.” Celestia said, honestly, “I trust that you now know how close we both were to her.”            Another nod, and Night Light glanced at Twilight before answering, “I do, and if I’m honest, I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together that very first day.”            The slight anger in his voice unnerved both mother and daughter.            “I’m sorry, Night Light.” Celestia looked away, deciding to finally address the elephant in the room.            “For what?”            She looked at him in surprise, “What do you mean?”            “I slept with YOU, princess, I was the unfaithful one, and yet you’re the one apologizing, the one who took the fall.” Night Light stepped closer, “What have you done? Given me a daughter and let Velvet raise her as her own? Visited Velvet’s grave, according to Twilight, and while she was alive worked with her as a friend, associate, and mother?”            He let his words hang in the air, allowing them to sink in before Spike spoke up,            “You just seem, uh, kinda angry.” Night Light looked at the small dragon, “I’m angry, alright, and you wanna know why?” “Why?” Celestia asked, nervously. “I’m angry that Velvet kept this whole thing from me, letting me stew and worry about what would happen if she found out, though she DID tell me a good portion of the truth. I’m angry at YOU TWO,” He pointed at Twilight and Celestia, “for not telling me two weeks ago, instead keeping it until now and leaving me worried sick about you, Twilight.” “Most of all, though,” He sighed, bowing his head, “I’m angry at myself.” “Why should you be mad at yourself, Dad?” Twilight asked, sharing a sideways glance with Celestia.            He looked at Twilight, and then up at the sky for a moment, before answering her question, “For being so blind! I made myself look a fool two weeks ago, when I only repeated the story that Velvet WANTED me to give you. I told myself to regret that time with you. In fact, by then, I had almost completely forgotten about,” He looked at Celestia, “that night.”            Celestia smiled in understanding, “I guess they WOULD seem unrelated, given the circumstances. The only way I remember that night at all is because,” She drew Twilight close with a wing, “the results are right here.”            Twilight blushed, “Mo-om!”            “What?” Celestia smiled at her, “It’s true.”            “If I regretted that night, then I would end up regretting my own daughter.” Night Light said, smiling at the scene.            “So,” Celestia smiled, “you forgive me?”            “Like I asked: For what?”            Not knowing what else to do, Celestia stepped forward and hugged him, whispering a ‘thank you’ in his ear to which he nodded and smiled.            As they hugged, Twilight pranced over to Flash Sentry and sat down on her haunches next to him, leaning into his side. He smiled and nuzzled the top of her head, kissing her forehead softly.            “So,” He said, “did you find all that you were looking for?”            Twilight looked up at him, and then over to where her biological parents were reconciling, her mother and her father. Finally, she looked up at Flash, meeting his eyes and then his lips in a kiss, “Yes. I did.”            “Good.” He thought for a moment, “So, you really are a true princess of Equestria, huh?”            “Don’t get any funny ideas, Sentry.” Twilight warned, playfully, “You know I don’t like the unwanted attention on most days,” She sighed, “I might never be able to muster the courage to reveal that I’m Celestia’s daughter, publicly.”            “Why not? Shouldn’t everypony else know?”            “Maybe, maybe not. I can tell my friends, but they're not the problem. There are still plenty of corrupt nobles in Celestia’s court, some of them my father’s political rivals. If word eventually got out about their one-time affair…”            Flash nodded in understanding, then smirked, “Does that mean you’re off-limits, too.”            “Really, Flash?” Twilight deadpanned, “I hope our relationship wasn’t just for you to get me into bed.”            The guard pegasus chuckled, “No, no, it’s not.”            “Good.” Both jumped at the sound of Night Light’s voice, the out-of-character glare that Flash received from the stallion causing him to pull away and put some distance between them. Celestia stood behind them, trying to stifle her giggling, “I’m ALSO angry that Twilight didn’t tell me about you two getting together, so I would hope it’s not for your personal gain. Because, if I EVER hear of you hurting her in any way, physically or emotionally, I will-“            “-skin him alive?” Twilight guessed.            “Yes!” Night Light affirmed, but then smiled, “So be careful with her, colonel.”            “Y-Yes, sir!” Flash saluted the former guard captain, who chuckled. Then he gulped, and then looked over at Twilight, “Your family is a lot more horrifying than I thought they’d be.”            “I like to think that they’re ‘overprotective’.” Twilight said, wearing an apologetic smile.            “Speaking of family,” Celestia lit her horn and a picnic basket floated out from a nearby bush where she’d hidden it, “I thought it would be nice to have lunch together, if you two would like.”            “Oh, Princess,” Night Light’s eyes widened at the basket, “you don’t have to do that.”            “I insist. Besides, how many times did you and your wife invite me in to breakfast at your house?” Night Light was silent, “Several times. I think this is an adequate thing to do in return, for once.”            Night Light sighed, but he smiled, and then nodded, “Fine- but only if you and Princess Luna agree to attend hearth’s-warming dinner at my home in a few months, along with Twilight, Shining, and Cadence."            “Deal. I will check my schedule.”            “Flash, you’re coming, too.”            “Me?” Flash’s eyes widened as Twilight giggled, “You want ME, there?”            “Trust me, colonel,” The old stallion smiled, nodding to Twilight who had retaken her rightful place, leaning against his side again, “from the way she acts, you’re practically family, already.”            “Hey! Will you guys quit with the sappy stuff, and dig in, already!” Spike, who had remained silent up until then, shouted, his mouth visibly watering as Celestia finished setting out the last of the picnic- and the delicious dishes that her chefs had prepared.            As they ate, Twilight looked up from her place at Flash’s side from time to time and noticed that while she listened to Night Light and shared small-talk with everypony else there, Celestia’s eyes seemed to drift upwards slightly, looking up towards the clouds and the Sun beyond it. Twilight waited until their eyes met to ask her the mental question.            Celestia smiled at her daughter, and then tilted her head upwards. Confused, Twilight turned her head slowly, and looked up, following her mother’s gaze- and her jaw dropped.            Twilight Velvet sat on a cloud above them, looking as healthy as she did in life, and looking down at the scene with a smile on her face. At her sides were a pair of silver, angelic wings, and hovering over her head of grey and purple was the bright ring shape of a halo. Meeting Twilight’s gaze, Velvet smiled at the mare she helped raise and mouthed something. Twilight’s eyes widened, when she read the words as, “I love you, Twilight.”            Tears threatening to appear, Twilight mouthed, “I’m sorry.”            Velvet only shook her head, smiling, and mouthed silently back, and she heard the words in her mind, “Don’t be, I forgive you. Now go, be there for the both of them- Night Light and Celestia.” With that, Velvet’s ghostly body became translucent, and in seconds, she had disappeared to that other home in the sky.            Before she disappeared, Twilight made sure that her adoptive mother’s ghost saw one last sentence on her lips, “Goodbye…Mom.”            No one noticed the tears in her eyes, nor what had transpired, except Celestia, who had moved over slightly to brush the tip of her right wing gently across Twilight’s own, offering comfort to her daughter. Twilight unfurled her left wing and intertwined her feathers with Celestia’s.            The picnic went on, as if all was accomplished, yet only mother and daughter knew that the final piece of the puzzle had just then been put back in its place… …with one last goodbye.