//------------------------------// // Finding Solace // Story: Ghost Town // by Dash The Stampede //------------------------------// "Everything is perfect." Celestia choked back a muted sob as tears fell from her cheeks. "You mean it?" Celestia held onto her reservations, but Twilight was oblivious to the severity of the situation. Looking around her, Twilight smiled. "Of course. A mare couldn't ask for more. Good friends, good food, wonderful weather, and the bonds we all form together!" Her smile only grew as she looked up at the Princess, seeing her ethereal mane billowing from her neck, the sparkles within entrancing her like she used to be when she was but a filly studying under the Princess. She felt as though something was missing, but couldn't quite put a hoof on it. She was sure she would remember later. A brisk summer breeze took the thought away, replacing it with immense joy and leaving her chest feeling full of butterflies. She was content to sit here and bask in the glow of the sun, and listen to the sweet ringing of her friends' voices on the midday breeze. Content to let the clouds float lazily overhead, the sun dip in the sky, the vibrant reds and pinks of the sunset fill her view every night. Content to doze off, at the Princess' side, the chirps of frogs and owl hoots weaving a symphony of nature whisking her along to a comfortable, dreamless sleep. Content to stay here forever. Luna stood just on the outskirts of Ponyville, the town in tatters from the unnatural storm that ravaged their mission and made cleanup that much more difficult. Her horn shone from the power channeling through the Elements of Harmony and herself, powering the spell allowing Celestia to enter their spell matrix and interact with her little ponies, perhaps for the final time. She had worked into the spell basic versions of herself and Celestia, enough to not break immersion but not drain the spell of its power. Her head rang, a high-pitched wail starting at the back of her mind, signaling Celestia's imminent return. She braced herself, pushing more power into the matrices helping her Sister return to their reality. Five tense minutes of concentration, and a rift opened beside Luna, and Celestia floated through, her face soaked with tears, her limbs trembling with her ragged breaths. Struggling to stand, she instead chose to flop on her side, allowing Luna the chance to break the interaction spell and turn her attention to helping her sister. "Are you all set, Tia? How is it? Did we provide...sufficient care and effort?" Luna rambled on, anxious to know how well her work was done. "It is done. They all suspect nothing, in fact, they are all at peace. Happiness eternal, as best as we could provide them..." She stared at the ground for a long while, feeling Luna's hoof on her back. "It was for the best. They are at least happy. As close to their eternal peace as they will ever be. We could not have saved them...you would have died yourself..." Luna trailed off, feeling the regret of knowing it was all they could do. "It does not make up for the fact that an entire town has been...they didn't...Oh Luna, why?" Celestia sobbed loudly, Luna holding her close. She felt more hooves embrace her from behind. A white pair, with blue fetlocks. Another white pair, this one showing their age, joined by a dark blue pair. Twilight's family huddled around the Princess, shedding their tears and sharing in their grief over the town. Celestia had granted her parents and brother the opportunity to visit their dear Twilight anytime they wanted, they just required Luna or herself to journey to their Gardens. It was not the solution she had hoped and prayed for, not what she had toiled away for, not what she had shed tears and blood for, but it was a solution, and it was palatable to all involved. Celestia had realized that by restoring the townsponies, she would be trapping their tortured souls inside the husks of their bodies, never to find their solace, their eternal rest. The last thing she wanted for her little ponies was more suffering, and spending her power to recover each pony piece by piece would drain her to death. She and Luna and Shining had talked. Hours and hours of heated emotional discussion, sometimes leading to blows, led the trio to their workable solution. A spell matrix weaved by the best minds in Equestria, using base spells from Starswirl's Archive, designed to encompass the townsponies' magical signatures inside of a dream, an intricate illusion spawned by Luna, and her attention to detail made the occupants none the wiser to their plight. They may not have been able to bring the ponies back to their lives successfully, back to the normal before the surge cast, before they all burst, but they could at least allow them to be at peace. She had exhausted all of her options, but the families of the lost were just glad to have gotten recompense in the form of dwelling upgrades or lump sums from the Royal Treasury. She could not erase their grief, or their fears, their anxieties about their own mortality, but she could help them along the same journey she now needed to undertake. The road was unclear, and the light ahead dimmer, but she knew that together, with her sister and the rest of her little ponies, she could find her own peace, her own relief. She knew that she would never again see her faithful student in the flesh, feel her soft fur as she snuggled close for reading, see the wonder in her eyes as she talked about friendship reports and her studies. She knew deep down that though she would have many restless nights before her, she needed to power through and look to the next day for inspiration, to make life for the rest of her subjects as protected as she could. Without the Elements, Equestria would certainly see danger rise in the future, but it would be banished, as it had in the past, whether by hoof, horn, or wing. She would never again see those immaculate smiles, their infectious wonder and joy, their group photos, like the one inscribed on the granite memorial within the Golden Oaks Library. She only had memories, and the knowledge that they were in a better state of being than she had found them in. They would be remembered forever for their bubbly personalities and gracious deeds for the country, for their skills and traits that filled their visitors with wonder. Ponyville would remain a ghost town, but the memorials and tributes would fill the streets with the missed love, their relatives' photos and flowers adorning homes and doorways, brightening the dark atmosphere surrounding the area. It was the hardest decision of her life, one that Celestia would have to live with, for the rest of her years. She vowed never to allow herself to forget the tragedy, the horrors, if only to prevent it from happening again. It would take her many years of vigils and healing her broken heart, but with her little ponies surrounding and helping her, she would pull through. Together, with their hooves intertwined and their hearts open, the families and leaders of Equestria would find their peace. Together, they would find solace.