I walked through the battlefield, completely blank from everything that had happened. My family was safe and Equestria had been taken back. That was really all that mattered in the end. The Storm King would never hurt anyone ever again.
I circled the castle until I found what I was looking for. I found them underneath the main balcony where we would give speeches to the crowd: three pikes holding the heads of Night Stalker, Burning Blaze and Shining Armor. It seemed that they had been well-preserved, as they didn't even smell and didn't look a little decayed, despite them having been dead for almost a month. I took a deep breath and teleported them into my weapons room. If nothing else, Cadance didn't need to see this. She was emotionally destroyed enough without the sight of her husband like this.
With that settled, I continued circling the castle until I reached the destroyed balcony where Kristen and Tempest had fought. Shattered glass littered the ground and crunched underneath my hooves. I found Tempest in the middle of the shattered glass. She wasn't moving, and a few of her limbs were twisted at odd angles. I imagined that the only reason she wasn't lying in a pool of blood was her armor. I lit my horn and rolled her over so that she was facing me. Her glassy eyes stared ahead at nothing, and a quick spell revealed that she was gone.
She didn't suffer enough, in my opinion. She should have shared the fate of her master. I lifted her up with my magic and stood her up as straight as I could before casting a petrification spell on her, totally encasing her in stone. Even though she was encased in stone, I could see that her expression wasn't as lively as the other statues. Her eyes still stared ahead blankly. If one didn't know the story behind this particular statue, they'd still be able to tell that something was wrong.
Whatever. She wouldn't be able to hurt anypony again. I teleported her statue to the statue garden. I'd move her and the Storm King to a better area of the garden where they'd remain forever; one representing agony, the other the price of betrayal.
Not exactly statues we wanted to put front and center for foals touring the gardens.
With nothing else to do, I turned around and walked away from the castle. Hundreds of bodies from both sides littered the streets, and I briefly thought about taking to the air to avoid stepping on the fallen soldiers. All around me beings of every type were gathering the dead from their sides. I noticed with some distaste that my orders to leave none of them alive had not been followed. A small group of unarmed Storm Creatures were being guarded by a dozen minotaur guards. Great. Just great. Now I'd have to figure out what to do with them. It would be a war crime to just kill them all right then and there.
Granted, we were so far past that point I wasn't even sure it would matter.
I reached the plains outside of the city and saw even more destruction. The Storm Creatures here had been almost totally wiped out, and tens of thousands of them were dead on the ground. I passed by several crashed airships, their undersides splattered with blood from the Storm Creatures they had crushed.
At the end of it all, I saw my victorious army, some of them cleaning up the dead, while many just stood around and talked to each other. I could see weariness on the faces of each and every one of them as the adrenaline of battle had faded away. Some of them had even laid down for naps.
In the sky the fleet of airships just floated there. Mesud would take his back, of course, but that left the question of what to do with the enemy's. We'd probably scrap them for parts. Maybe we could see what technology we could glean from them.
We'd won, but I still had a trillion different things to do. Before we could leave a lot to the minotaurs under our supervision, but now we had the daunting task of rebuilding our own country. It was likely that we'd need a lot of help from our allies, who hadn't suffered under the Storm King. The fact that Cloudsdale had been untouched would be an invaluable advantage. Our weather production wouldn't be affected, which would help a lot.
Maybe now wasn't the time to think about all of that. My duty as a prince of Equestria meant that I should be putting my subjects over myself and my family. They had suffered just as much as we had. For the moment, though? My family needed me. At the moment I just wanted to be a pony taking care of his family, not a prince leading a nation.
I stared out at the destruction of my home and wanted nothing more than to hide from the world.
* * * *
Celestia shifted in my grasp as we laid in our bed. I could hear her light breathing as she slept. Hopefully she wasn't having any nightmares. I had avoided sleep myself for that very reason. Between nearly being killed, being sold by Capper, imprisoned by Verko, the deaths of Blaze and Rapids, seeing my family taken from me, the fighting and death and destruction... I couldn't do it. I'd be having nightmares for weeks, if not months. I wanted to avoid that as long as I could.
I glanced over at a small bed that we'd placed next to ours where Nymeria slept. From what I understood, Luna would be taking care of Nymeria, Maia and Flurry Heart to make sure that they had peaceful dreams. How she'd do it with everything that had happened, I didn't know, but dreams were her realm, so I trusted her.
As for me, I just stared at the wall, the events of the past month replaying in my head over and over again despite my best efforts. There were times like these when I cursed my alicorn memory. Seeing the bodies of Blaze and Rapids, as well as the near catatonic state of my sister would be burned into my mind's eye forever.
Celestia shifted in my grasp again and her breathing shifted, letting me know she'd woken up. She rolled over and nuzzled my chest.
"You are still awake? Have you slept at all?"
"No," I muttered. "I don't really feel like it."
"Antares, you must be exhausted."
"I feel like I'm about to drop dead, but I just... can't right now. There's too much to think about."
"You have been through much. We all have." I glanced down to see her looking up at me. "What happened after the Storm King's invasion? What did you do?"
"No. I don't want to talk about it. Not now. Maybe never." I took a deep breath and hugged my wife closer. "After everything that happened it's not important. We won, and that's all that matters."
"It is important, Antares," Celestia said a little forcefully. "It is clearly affecting you, and it is not healthy to merely bottle that up. You're my husband. I'm here to listen if you need me, and I feel that you do."
I was silent for a few moments as I chewed over her words. She didn't need to hear it right away, but she was also right that I shouldn't bottle it up. I had enough self-awareness to know that if I was keeping things in, it tended to come out sideways until I confronted whatever the problem was. I took a deep, shaky breath and squeezed my eyes shut so that I wouldn't cry. I couldn't cry in front of her.
"I... I did terrible things; things I don't know if I can ever forgive myself for. I lost myself in my rage and helplessness more times than I can count since this all began. I've killed and tortured beings who didn't pose a threat. Some of them could have just gone on with their lives, but after what they had done to me, I had to hurt them. I had to kill them."
"If this is about what you did to the Storm King, I understand," Celestia said running her hoof down my chest. "Given the circumstances, I am not completely sure that I would not have acted in a similar way."
"It was more than just him. After retreating, I ended up in Klugetown. One of the locals took advantage of me in my weakened state and sold me to the local crime lord. I killed them both. I didn't need to... but I did."
I glanced out the window in the direction of the castle gardens, where we'd placed the statues of Tempest and the Storm King in a secluded corner. It sparked a thought in me.
"Celestia, when you were in the statue, were you... aware?"
Celestia was silent for a few moments as she chewed over my words. She took a deep breath and nuzzled closer to me. "Yes. Not as aware as I am now, but I could certainly see and hear what was happening around me. I heard the cries of the foals. I heard the destruction of my home. It was torture unlike anything I had ever experienced. I couldn't even weep in fear."
I tightened my jaw and hugged my wife again. "And I just did that to him."
"I do not think I would endorse it under normal circumstances, but after what he did to Nymeria, Maia and Flurry Heart..." Celestia tone turned dark enough that my legs twitched. "He deserves it. He deserves to endure what he has done to others."
"Yeah. I know. I still have moments where I question it, though."
"Of course. Brutality of that nature is not something we gravitate towards, even in dark times. However, there comes a time when we must show that we are not a weak people just because we strive for peace. If that is what must be done so that no one like him dares attack us again, then that is what we must do."
"Yeah." I was silent for a few more minutes, just feeling my wife's body against mine. It would have relaxed me under normal circumstances. "I can't imagine what Kristen is going through. No one is really prepared to be in war, of course, but after what Tempest did to her, I'm not sure how she's going to cope."
"She is stronger than she appears to be. Whether that is merely how she is, or the result of her new form, she will endure. Of course it will not be simple. We will do whatever we can to help her."
"I put too much on her at once," I muttered. "I completely relied on her in the beginning, then asked her to do things she wasn't comfortable with."
"And she stepped up to the challenge, as you can see," Celestia pointed out. "No one is comfortable in war. I, of course, hope she never has to make those choices again."
"Yeah, me too." I took a deep breath and nuzzled deep into the pillows. "It's going to be okay, right?"
Celestia paused for one moment too many. "Yes. I think it will be."
* * * *
Dawn had just broken as I walked down the halls of Canterlot Castle. I hadn't managed to get any sleep, even after Celestia's insistence. I'm sure I'd sleep for a week at some point, but for now I had too much on my mind.
I turned the corner and stopped in my tracks when I saw Kristen staring out of one of the windows. She didn't move or acknowledge that I was there at all. She just stared into the distance at nothing in particular. I walked up to her and put my hoof on her back. She didn't even flinch.
"Hey. How are you doing?"
"How do you think?" she muttered, rubbing her stomach where Tempest had impaled her.
"Yeah, I get it," I said. "It's going to be tough, I know that, but--"
"TD... I need to go."
I frowned and took my hoof off of her back. "Go? What do you mean?"
"I mean that I need to get out of here for a while." She finally turned and looked at me. "I need some time to think things through. Process what happened."
"Are you saying going back to Baltimare and shutting yourself in your room for a bit?"
Kristen shook her head. "No. I'm leaving Equestria. I mean, nothing's going to happen to me, right? I'm the chaos god. If this can't stop me..." She grabbed at her stomach again.
"I..." My chest tightened up and I took a step back. "Kristen, I won't stop you if you feel it's right, but... come on. We're family. You're my sister. I need--"
"I just have some tings to figure out." She took a deep breath and glanced at the ground. "And... I think you do, too. This whole thing changed us both, and I don't think I like it. I know that it was a war and all, and you were saving your family, but I've seen and done things I don't know how to handle right now."
"Then stay. We'll help you through them," I insisted. "Celestia and Luna have had long lives and--"
"I know. But I'm gonna have a long one too, right? I can't stay under their hooves forever. I don't want to be completely reliant on you guys." She put her hoof on my leg. "I don't think I'll be gone forever, though."
"How long do you think you'll be gone?"
Kristen shrugged. "Months? Years? Decades? I can't really say. I'll come back when I'm ready."
Each word was like a punch to the gut, but... "If you're sure this is what you need."
"It is." Kristen took a few steps back and turned to the window again. "I'll be okay."
With that, she spread her wings and flew through the open window. I looked out and stared at her until she'd completely disappeared over the horizon.
* * * *
The trip was much shorter this time. I knew right where I was going and I didn't have my dying brother to take care of. It all seemed much less... overwhelming. Not quite a simple morning flight, but I wasn't scared that we'd all die.
It was on the third straight day of flying that I reached my destination. I landed right at the edge of the lake and hopped in. The feeling of the water pressure around me was relaxing, and I just floated for a bit under the water. After a few minutes, I began pushing myself through the water with my wings. I remembered where I needed to go. I reached the draped seaweed and pushed through.
I was instantly greeted with the sight of the seaponies going about their day. Despite what the Storm King had done to them, they were very content. Happy, even. For the first time in a long time, I managed a genuine smile. Maybe this could work out.
"Kristen!"
I didn't even have time to react before I was tackled and grabbed in a crushing hug. The force sent both of us flying, but I stopped us with my wings before we hit a wall.
"Hey, Skystar. How are you?"
"I'm so, so, great now!" Skystar squeed. "You're back!"
"Told you I would," I chuckled while trying to wiggle out of her oddly strong grip. "I have a little bit of news for you guys, too."
"Ooh!" Skystar instantly let me go and swam back a few feet. "What happened? What's your news?"
I looked around us and noticed that the various seaponies in the area had stopped their days to look at the commotion the two of us had made. Even Queen Novo had swam out of her throne room and looked at us in interest.
"It's... um, it's about the Storm King." The seaponies all gasped and began muttering among themselves, which gave me a minute to organize my thoughts. "He, uh... well, the other nations on land all got together and fought him. And we won. We defeated him, and he's never going to bother anybody ever again. We're safe."
A deafening cheer instantly went through the crowd, and I didn't react in time to avoid another crushing hug from Skystar. I weakly chuckled and managed to slide my forelegs out of her grip to hug her back. Novo swam up to us, and I actually saw a genuine smile on her face.
"Antares succeeded? Truly?"
I nodded back. "Yeah. He freed Equestria and the rest of the rulers. It wasn't easy, but... he's not going to hurt anyone else."
"There is no chance?"
I shook my head. "We have him trapped in stone. Even if he did somehow manage to escape that, we completely broke his body. He's not going to recover. He wouldn't even have an army to lead."
Novo took in a deep breath and lowered her shoulders as she exhaled. I could tell that I'd just lifted a huge weight off of her back. She took another moment, then smiled at me again. "Then we have much to do. We can return to the surface safely now. We can rebuild."
"Are you gonna stay, Kristen?" Skystar squeed. "Are you?"
"Yeah, if you'll have me."
"Of course, Princess. Stay as long as you'd like," Novo said.
"Good, then I'll be around for a little while, then. I'll help you rebuild."
"We welcome your help," Novo said, putting a flipper on my shoulder.
I smiled back at her as Skystar let out happy sobs. I hugged her back and closed my eyes, feeling for the first time in a while that things might just be okay.