//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: The Furthest Horizon 
// Story: And a Sky Full of Stars 
// by Amber Spark 
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As the stars shone in the crisp blue sky, once more flooding the world with renewed magic, the unicorn named Twilight Sparkle stepped off the royal skychariot and onto the springy grass. Sunset and Twilight joined her, breathing the heady scent of a world alive.
Three sunrises had graced the eastern horizon since that dark night. The one thing Sunset was most delighted of—aside from the restoration of her wife—was their kingdom had fared far better than they had feared. While panic had gripped their citizens, the two Princesses had chosen their subordinates well. Raven’s wisdom and the provincial leaders had calmed the populace of their lands. Little lasting harm would come from the night the stars had nearly died, save for nightmares.
And those would fade in time.
It had been Twilight who had decided to grant her unicorn counterpart a single boon. Not for her acts—for they indeed had been terrible—but out of compassion. Yet another reason why Sunset adored the alicorn who had agreed to share her life with her.
The other Twilight hadn’t hesitated. She had asked for a single thing.
There had been no reason to refuse it.
With a nod from Sunset, the Royal Guards departed. Philomena and Faerana both gave little waves with their wings, each of them still recovering after renewing their Cycles. They hadn’t been pleased, being asked to stay behind, but they did as requested. For once.
The unicorn didn’t even notice. She just shuffled her hooves against the dew-sprinkled grass. The Princess of the Dawn and the Princess of the Dusk flanked her on either side. The unicorn wore no chains. None were needed. Only a small ring around her horn prevented her from wielding her magic.
The unicorn Twilight was thin, haggard and worn. Her head was bowed and her shoulders slumped.
Sunset had never seen a more beaten-looking pony in all her long years.
The grassy field was simple and quiet. There were a few scorch marks in the ground. And in the very center of the clearing lay a small withered statue of a pony, lying on her side.
The unicorn didn’t rush up to the statue. She plodded along slowly toward the figure, as if she were walking to her own execution. In a way… it was an apt analogy.
Save for one detail.
This Twilight Sparkle had already died.
She died when she and her marefriend—a unicorn who shared a name with the Princess of the Dawn—had pursued a monster known as Tirek into this world. She died when she was forced to watch Tirek drain Sunset of every bit of magic… consuming even the very magic of life until there was nothing left but a cold stone statue.
Tirek was now beyond their reach. Justice for him would have to come at the hooves of another. The Emergence would be over in hours and once again, their world would be safe from interference for another century.
And this young Twilight would be stuck here for the rest of her days with only memories of pain and horror.
The unicorn fell beside the body of the pony she’d loved. She didn’t cry. She stared at her face and gently stroked a hardened cheek.
Twilight sidled up to Sunset and Sunset wrapped a wing around her.
“It’s not fair,” Twilight murmured to her wife. “It’s not fair for her. To see us together like this… while hers is nothing more than a stone husk.”
Sunset nodded. There wasn’t much to add. It wasn’t fair.
Twilight gently pulled Sunset away from the grieving unicorn until they were out of earshot, but still within sight. Even then, Sunset doubted the other Twilight noticed.
“Can we do nothing for her?” Twilight whispered.
Sunset felt the Sun itself swell in her heart at the earnest words of her beloved.
“You would have her companion restored, despite what that unicorn did to our world… our people... to you?” Wonder tinged every word Sunset uttered. “We have cleansed her of the taint of that wicked beast’s hunger. That is a gift in and of itself, my love.”
Twilight turned to look at the unicorn. She now lay beside the statue, as still as her counterpart, as if simply waiting for the end to come upon her.
“I…” Twilight licked her lips and took a great breath. “Sunset… if something were to happen to you… if I had been forced to watch… I cannot say how I would act.”
“You would not attempt to destroy an entire world for a moment’s vengeance, Twilight.”
“Maybe… maybe not.” Twilight’s shoulders slumped and her silver regalia seemed to dim. Even the stars in her mane faded as she pondered. “But grief can drive a pony to madness, Sunset. We both know this. I know what you unleashed upon her forces three moons ago. Even now, I can still see it in your eyes, seeking escape… eager to burn.”
Sunset was unable to meet her wife’s gaze. “There is truth in what you say. Wisdom in your words. But to simply pardon her… to forgive her… I do not know if I have that capacity. We were lucky, my dear. So many could have died. If we had not insisted all those years ago that measures be taken to counter arcane failures…”
Twilight lifted a silver-shod hoof to Sunset’s muzzle. “But we did. The Sunmother choose you for a reason, my love. Never forget that. She saw wisdom in you.”
“You are far more wise than I shall ever be,” Sunset replied.
“That is a given,” Twilight said with a twinkle in her eye. “So perhaps you will listen when I ask you to trust me in this. I, more than any, have been wronged by her. She took my stars and my moon. She nearly took my life. Is it not my right to determine her fate?
Sunset was no stranger to battle. She knew when to press an attack, and when to yield.
“What would you have us do then?”
“Restore her beloved.”
Sunset nodded. “I suspected as much, my love. It will require much from her though.”
“She will do it,” Twilight said. “For I know I would, without hesitation.”
“We shall see.”
The two alicorns stepped over to the two prone unicorns, one of flesh and one of stone.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Twilight proclaimed. “After deliberation, We have decided what is to be done with you.”
The unicorn didn’t respond. She just nodded. Her hooves never left the side of the statue beside her.
“It is the judgement of the Princess of the Dusk and the Princess of the Dawn that you are to be exiled from these lands. However, as We have seen what you are capable of alone, you require a keeper. One to watch over you, lest you fall to temptation and seek to recover the spellcraft We have removed from you.”
“Why not just kill me?” the unicorn Twilight asked in an empty voice. “This land and all within it would have been consumed by the void had you not stopped me.”
“Yes, it would have,” Sunset intoned. “That is something you shall live with for the rest of your days. But the dead cannot learn. The dead cannot grow. And the dead… the dead cannot love.”
Finally, two violet eyes looked up at the two Princesses.
Sunset took up position near the head of the stone statue, while Twilight took position near the tail. They took flight in unison and called upon their celestial charges. Both were eager and willing, as a puppy might be upon its master’s return. Shafts of sunlight bathed Sunset while even in the light of day, starlight swirled around Twilight.
For nearly five minutes, they gathered the power required. The sky never denied them. Never refused. They trusted their Princesses, as the Princesses trusted their sky.
“May the light from which all Life blooms restore through the power of the Dawn,” Sunset called, bringing forth the ancient spell.
“May the light from which all magic flows restore through the power of the Dusk,” Twilight called, completing the next portion of the spell.
They both closed their eyes and gently pushed themselves toward one another. As always, each knew exactly where the other was.
And so, they gently touched horns.
Through the vision of the Pact, Sunset could see the result, as she knew Twilight could as well. A beam of light, twisting and swirling with both the power of the sun and stars pierced the heavens. It was so pure and holy that it would make the greatest of prophets fall to the ground and weep. It engulfed the stone unicorn at their hooves.
“Twilight Sparkle,” the Princess of the Dusk called. “You took much from others to gain revenge against the one who stole your beloved. Now, We ask of you… are you willing to give of yourself to restore her?”
Sunset’s eyes opened even in the near-blinding stream of holy radiance.
The unicorn’s eyes were wide despite the brilliance about her. She shook with fear or disbelief. Perhaps both.
With a scream of desperation, she cried, “Yes! Anything! Please!”
Sunset smiled and removed the ring blocking the unicorn’s magic.
In an instant, the young Twilight threw her entire self into the great and intricate spell. Her magic was raw and unfocused, but Sunset and Twilight were used to working with such things. It was but a matter of moments to weave it into the holy power of the combined sun and stars. Rainbow light swirled around them all as the two alicorns allowed the ancient power of Harmony to come forth.
It felt so wonderful to have the magic of life at their command once more.
And so it was that Princess Twilight and Princess Sunset unleashed the very essence of creation itself into the stone unicorn once known as Sunset Shimmer.
A blinding flash of light. A joyous cry of song. A tinkle of moon dust. These things and a thousand more. A moment in time, forever remembered by the three who poured their very souls into the spell.
Mere seconds later, a fourth mind ignited in the fires of friendship, compassion and love.
Twilight and Sunset burst with light.
And then… all was still. The sounds and colors and lights and majesty of their act faded away, leaving little more than a few twisted blades of grass… and a single amber unicorn who was now very much alive.
The unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle threw herself into the hooves of the unicorn known as Sunset Shimmer. Both sobbed and kissed, clutching at each other as if they had no intention of ever letting go.
With a flap of her great wings, Sunset moved up beside Twilight and nuzzled her.
“You were always the better of the two of us, my love.”
“We are better together,” Twilight corrected. “We are always better together. No matter the form.”
Sunset nodded slowly as the two unicorns beneath them laughed and cried in equal measure.
Then she felt it. A surge of power. Of pure magic washing through the world from somewhere far away. Something different. Something unique. It felt like the ancient Harmony power, yet with more love, kindness and friendship than Sunset thought possible. Twilight perked up. She had felt it as well. Even the two unicorns beneath them stopped to look around.
With the sound of arcane winds through crystal, something appeared in the field.
A swirling portal of amber and violet magic.
For a moment, Sunset believed she spied a smiling figure in angelic blue, but the vision was gone in an eyeblink. When she looked once more, only a field of green grass spotted with orange poppies lay beyond the gateway.
Sunset wasn’t sure how she knew, but she knew.
“Their home,” Twilight whispered.
“Something great has happened.” Sunset nodded. “I know not what…”
The two unicorns were staring at the portal. They knew the truth as well.
“My dear… you did sentence them to exile. I confess I cannot think of a more appropriate exile than to send them beyond the divide of worlds.”
Twilight hummed beside her. “You may have a point, my love.”
With that, the two alicorns descended so the two unicorns stood between them and the portal.
“Twilight Sparkle,” the Princess of the Dusk intoned once more, though she could not hold the smile from her lips this time. “We have granted you a boon beyond your request and now would hold you to the rest of your sentence. You are hereby exiled from these lands. In our wisdom, We have decreed the land beyond that gateway is where you are to be.”
The lavender unicorn turned away from the portal and gaped at the two of them, unable to form words. The amber one looked as well and jumped back in fright. Sunset chuckled at her antics.
So very young indeed…
“There is one further condition,” Sunset added with a tiny smile. “We charge Sunset Shimmer to act in accordance with the ideals of Harmony and Love and to assist Twilight Sparkle endure the future, knowing her past. To be at her side whenever she has need and for Twilight Sparkle to do the same unto Sunset Shimmer.”
“We can go home?” the other Twilight asked in a voice that would not have startled a mouse.
“If that happens to be where your home is, young one,” Sunset said in her best attempt at a grave voice—though she was no more successful from keeping the smile from her muzzle than Twilight. “Then so be it. That is not Our concern.”
The unicorn Twilight stared at the two of them. Her expression was impossible to read. Too many emotions flowed across her face. Finally, it ended with tears and a smile.
“Thank you…” she whispered.
Sunset and Twilight dropped the pretense, unable to stop a hint of weeping themselves.
Sunset smiled. “Go with our blessing.”
“And may the Sunmother watch over you both,” Twilight whispered. “Always.”
The other Sunset looked at them with bewilderment, but allowed her Twilight to pull her toward the portal. A moment later, they were through. Sunset caught sight of other ponies rushing to meet them, but before she could get a clear look, the portal shimmered out of existence.
Time passed as the two gazed at the spot where the portal had been.
“I have been thinking, my dear,” Sunset said as her Sun continued its journey across the star-speckled heavens. “Do you recall my words about a Princess never being off-duty?”
“I do, indeed.”
“I am reconsidering. I think it would do Raven well to spend further time as Regent.”
“Is that so?” Twilight quipped. “And then what would the Princess of the Dawn and the Princess of the Dusk do in such an eventuality?”
Sunset smirked. “Whatever we wished. Indeed… perhaps now is a good time to discover just what possibilities exist in being ‘off-duty.’ Would you not agree?”
Twilight’s blush turned the sky just the faintest hint of pink. Or maybe it was Sunset’s blush.
Either way… it didn’t matter.
And then it was just them, two eternal alicorns alone in the grassy field below their blue sky full of stars.