(Chapter title Epilogue)
Two hours later
= Denouement - Hyrule Warriors =
Filthy Rich hadn't stopped crying and hugging his baby girl. His cries of joy and thanks might have been heard across Canterlot.
He was disappointed that he hadn't arrived in time to help, but he'd been overjoyed to see both of his princesses alive and well... no disrespect to Celestia and Luna. Laying eyes on Diamond Tiara had been a trigger, and a Want-It-Need-It spell couldn't have drawn him to her more swiftly.
Meanwhile, Flash Sentry and Death Stalker had braced themselves to face the consequences of their actions, but there was no royal summons, and their COs didn't even ask why they'd abandoned their post. This was a relief, and frankly confusing, but this being Equestria, they concluded that the Princesses were just happy everything had worked out in the end.
And yet, each of them could have sworn they briefly heard Princess Luna nearby, as if she was only just out of sight. "Permit civilians into a battle without orders again, and there will be a court-martial."
The two monsters that they'd fought and defeated outside the statue garden had disappeared without a trace. According to Filthy Rich, they'd vanished in a burst of flame when the Elements of Harmony blasted that monstrous shadow out of the sky, leaving only an echoing whisper that their contract was now finished, and they'd be seeing a squirrel about their hazard fee.
Contracts were something that Filthy Rich understood and approved of. He was nothing if not pragmatic, and he'd actually offered the monsters a generous bribe to go away and let Filthy and his friends through. But apparently a contract was a contract even with mercenary soldiers from beyond their world, and so the battle had been joined.
Eventually though, Filthy had to ask, and so the dreaded question came. "What happened to you, princess? Where did you go?"
Diamond Tiara didn't have the strength to spin some elegant lie... it seemed like a lifetime ago that she'd been the kind of pony who did it so casually... so as her understudy in that regard, Silver Spoon trotted forward to do so. It was an ingrained reaction; she slipped into the duty without even giving it thought. She'd covered for Diamond Tiara so many times, what was once more?
"Do you really want to do that?"
Silver Spoon was startled to hear Princess Luna's voice, but she didn't let it show.
"Have there not been enough secrets in this family?"
'Secrets are what brought Diamond Tiara and me together.' Silver Spoon thought of that Hearth's Warming Eve Party, how they tossed aside the fancy dresses they hated, then deceived their parents after unwittingly trading clothes when putting them back on and declaring the dresses to be gifts to one another in front of everypony.
"And you think keeping this a secret will make things better?"
'I don't want Diamond Tiara's dad to be scared of her!'
"After everything Filthy Rich has endured and how deeply he desired her return, do you really believe the truth will make him love her any less?"
Silver Spoon hesitated.
"I can answer that, Mr. Rich," said Twilight Sparkle.
--
Twilight Sparkle's Notes:
Everypony had things we needed to check up on, and for myself and Rarity, Diamond Tiara was one of them.
I briefly considered not telling Filthy Rich that his daughter was now a Sealed Alicorn, but Golden Tiara already knew, and I couldn't ask her to conceal something like this from her own husband.
"HA! I knew it!" Filthy Rich struck a dramatic pose. "I know, I know... every filly is a princess to her daddy, but somehow I knew my Diamond was the one, that she really was destined for royalty!"
Rarity and I shared worried glances. Now came the bad part.
I told Filthy Rich what I'd been able to piece together from what I knew, and everything that Nightmare Nhilis had said. There'd been plenty of that; truly, it felt like the entire ordeal of the final battle had lasted for months and months, not a single afternoon. Sadly, that included the knowledge that Discord had manipulated Diamond Tiara into willingly becoming his vessel, allowing him to escape the prison of his petrified body.
"WHERE IS HE?!" swore Filthy Rich with flames in his eyes. "I'LL DESTROY THE BASTARD!"
I kept my calm, resting a sympathetic hoof on his shoulder. "He's already gone, Mr. Rich. To help us save Diamond Tiara, he was reset. The Discord who did those things doesn't exist anymore." That wasn't a lie. Paxphobia would have spared nothing that went on four hooves.
"What?! WHY?!"
Rarity sighed, even if she barely understood any of it herself. "In the end, even Discord himself realized what an awful thing he'd done. Discord wanted a family, so he did what you're supposed to do for family, I think... It's a shame that it took him until the end of his existence to finally make that choice."
I knew more than most, so I didn't have to pretend to feel sad. If Discord had made that choice thousands of years ago, things would be so much different now.
(Rarity II's Notes: I too hated Discord with the fury of a thousand suns after seeing what he'd done to Diamond Tiara... But hating him after his sacrifice feels foalish.)
Explaining what Diamond Tiara herself had explained had been even harder. Diamond Tiara herself said nothing during all this. She only hung her head and hugged her parents tighter.
"So I did curse my baby with my sickness," Golden Tiara said, unexpectedly. "Everything that's happened to her is my fault."
"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT AGAIN!" Filthy Rich implored her, cradling his wife's chin in his hoof. "We hired the finest doctors in Equestria, and they found no sickness in your blood, nothing that could have been passed on to our foal."
"Mr. and Mrs. Rich, if we could further discuss one more matter," said Rarity diplomatically. "Twilight Sparkle and I have discussed this, and we agreed it was only fair to offer it to you, as Diamond Tiara's parents. Just as the Princesses sealed away the Alicorn magic in Diamond Tiara until she's mature enough to wield it, Twilight Sparkle can seal away her memories of being manipulated by Discord and becoming a Nightmare until she's grown up enough to handle them."
"Wait... So you'd make it so she doesn't remember our fight?" asked Silver Spoon, clearly tempted. Even if from what Rarity told me, it had been Diamond Tiara doing the 'fighting.'
"No dear," Rarity said. "It would be from the time when..." Rarity glanced at her own flank. "When Discord began making her do evil."
--
Rarity Belle II's Words
"Ye did not do this with Fluttershy, nor did our sister do such a thing to our own self."
For a moment, I wondered where Princess Luna was, and why she was speaking directly to my thoughts instead of coming here herself. Some other urgent matter must have demanded her presence elsewhere, I decided. Yes, of course that must be it! It was probably for the best if I didn't think about it too strenuously.
'Fluttershy might have been a fragile thing, but she is an adult, whether she likes it or not, and so are you.'
"You never urged Fluttershy to spare Fluttercruel such memories."
'With all due respect, you're comparing apples and oranges, your highness. Fluttercruel learned the consequences of thoughtlessness and unbridled cruelty when she accidentally created Nightmare Whisper, and the battle to restore her mother taught her that her life had meaning and purpose. Her experiences made her a better pony, not a more troubled one.
'Diamond's situation is completely different! From what Nightmare Nhilis, Silver Spoon, and the Crusaders told us, she now bears the guilt for terrible acts, surpassing even what Nightmare Moon would have done had she triumphed!
'Furthermore, I'm not the pony that you need to convince, Princess Luna! Diamond Tiara's parents will make the decision, not I.''
I could have sworn I actually felt Princess Luna's thunderstruck reaction.
--
Golden Tiara said "We can't..." at the same time that Filthy Rich said "We'll do it!"
"Filthy?!" Golden looked at her husband, surprised.
Mr. Rich hesitated, but he stood his ground. "Golden... dearest... I'm sick of my family suffering. I'm hurting, you're hurting... at least we can spare Diamond that. If I can protect my princess from being tortured by the things she did when she wasn't even herself, I will."
Golden stamped a hoof. "I spent a year with my worst sin buried in the farthest depths of my mind, and what good did it do? I couldn't face what I did. I couldn't face my monsters. It only delayed the pain. Waiting only made things worse. What makes you think that helping Diamond Tiara put this off is going to work out any better?"
"Diamond Tiara is a LITTLE FILLY. When she was some kind of Nightmare Moon she apparently helped the devil do something so horrible that it had be stopped with time travel... or something? I don't even want to know, but Diamond knows everything she did while she was sick... she knows every detail! From what you've said, she wanted to make herself never-heard-from-again over it! What if she starts feeling the same way again, just without a mountain of black magic behind her? They did say that they just want to hold it off until she matures."
"We can't just steal pieces of her life from her, Filthy! Even we don't have that right! She's a person, not a book to be edited!"
"This ISN'T about us chopping off pieces of her I happen to disapprove of! It's about saving her from agony that she was a victim of to begin with! What's the point of her remembering besides her hurting more?!"
"What about Diamond Tiara's say in this?"
"We're her parents. Like it or not, it's our job to make the responsible decision. Look me in the eye and say you think she can rationally make this choice."
Golden Tiara could not.
"I apologize for intruding, but there is more you should know before making this choice."
The ponies looked around in confusion, hearing Luna's voice.
"I speak not only as your princess, but also as... one with experience. One who has also made mistakes and paid for it in pain and sorrow... but also one who was forgiven.
"Emotions... don't vanish with memories. Even if you don't remember what happened, an emotional injury is the same as any other. Not remembering what happened just hides it beneath the surface.
"Diamond Tiara was already suffering from emotional damage, long before she ever heard Discord's voice in her thoughts. Her depression allowed Discord to corrupt her with naught but words, and that depression will not vanish with the memories. The pain of what she did as Nightmare Nhilis won't vanish either. Suppressing the memories will only make her unable to understand why she is in pain.
"The injuries that we can't see are the ones that take the longest to heal. Some ponies, given a clean slate, gain perspective and clarity... but the Elements of Harmony already gave Diamond Tiara the clarity that she lacked before.
"We've been in her horseshoes. We know of what we speak. We can't tell ye how to raise thy own child. All of that, we freely concede, but we can tell ye... Some pains can only fade with time, and meddling only agitates them and prevents healing. Other kinds of pain take root, and not meddling only allow them to fester and devour ye.
"I think that we've all seen what kind of pain Diamond Tiara suffers from."
"Tell us, Silver Spoon, do ye think it will help Diamond Tiara's recovery to forget the action of her best friend? That even after all that passed between you, ye never forsook her, not even for a moment?"
"Twilight Sparkle, ye know that spells for erasing long term memories are never completely reliable. Anything could trigger them to come undone early. Isn't it better for her to deal with her memories now, in a controlled environment?"
Everypony felt dizzy as Luna's disembodied voice shifted between them, each of them wondering where the Night Princess was, but unable to bring themselves to voice their confusion, even if all were thinking the same thing.
"Better to pull a thorn out than to let it fester, indeed." Rarity sighed, looking heartbroken.
"That is one of the big lessons we've learned, isn't it?" Twilight said.
Filthy Rich sighed. "But is this really a lesson for a little girl?"
"Perhaps not, but it is a fit lesson for a goddess. The butterfly can never return to being a caterpillar. She WILL remain an Alicorn, that cannot be undone... and the lesson she learned is one important to any deity. Bad experiences for a FOAL, yes, but not a bad lesson for a god to learn from... Trust us, we speak from experience."
(Silver Spoon's Notes: If Diamond Tiara had become a Princess before any of this, she'd have made me her majordomo on the spot, and spent all day thinking of ways to rub it in Apple Bloom's face. Heh, I wonder if any of the Crusaders ever wet the bed dreaming about that happening! I know that would have made Diamond laugh. But now? ...)
"So that's it..." Twilight sighed. "First Fluttershy, now Diamond Tiara... Nopony seems to get a choice in becoming an Alicorn, do they?"
"Becoming an Alicorn the right way is a reward, Twilight Sparkle. Becoming one as a purified Nightmare is a PUNISHMENT. Do not mistake one for the other."
Twilight trembled, bowing her head. "Y-yes, Princess!"
Filthy Rich noticed Rarity's reaction to this change of events. "Miss Rarity," he said, clearing his throat. "I may or may not have said this already, but... I forgive you for keeping from us what Diamond Tiara did to you, for as long as you did. I have my baby back, I'm done with grudges. I haven't been the best role model for her, and I want to make the most of this second chance I've been given. Thank you... for saving my Diamond Tiara. Thank you. I'm forever in your debt." He bowed.
Golden Tiara hugged her husband and bowed too.
Rarity nodded. "It wasn't just my efforts, but that of all my friends, our little sisters, their friends, Silver Spoon, and even the Princesses themselves. We all fought to save your filly from herself and Discord. I graciously accept your gratitude, however, for my own personal efforts in helping Diamond Tiara find herself." Rarity placed her hoof over her chest and bowed her head.
Twilight Sparkle kept her face even and her expression warm, looking at her friend. 'Rarity, you gave up more than most will ever know or can even understand... Thank you.'
+++
Rainbow Dash
Meanwhile, I'd taken Gilda to Ponyville General Hospital for the Hearts' healing touch. Princess Celestia had to rush off to go help Princess Luna or something, she didn't give a lotta details. I guess that's fair. I mean, of course she'll be worried about her sister if she's hurt, just like I need to take care of my friend.
"Dang it Dash, I'm fine now, see?! I showed up to save your blue butt after Super-Discord clipped your wings, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but better safe than sorry! I've heard of stunt fliers getting brain hemorrhages they didn't even realize they had, until they dropped like a rock days later."
"Dash..."
I wish Princess Me had at least teleported us to the hospital, but she just kept saying that she wasn't even supposed to be there, and she'd meddled too much already.
"Dash, I really, really, REALLY need to ask ya, DON'T go around tellin' the 'Bolts or anypony else how you met your Princess self 'from the future' or stuff. There are those whose job it is to 'clean up' the 'happens before it happens' junk, and it'll undo all the help I COULD give, for Gilda, for Scoots, for everypony. Just Pinkie Pie Swear you won't!"
"Ugh, fine... Cross My Heart, Hope To Fly, Stick A Cupcake In My Eye. So... when are you going?"
"As soon as I can Dash. I've been here too long as it is, and I can see trouble out of the corner of my eye every time you blink. The sooner I'm out of here the better. I have friends waiting for me."
"Oh, you mean-"
"Can't say, remember?"
"Gotcha. Ya know, it's almost a relief. When you and Nightmare Nhilis fought and only Nhilis came back, I thought... well, I knew you weren't dead! We're way too awesome for that, but somehow I imagined that you were super weakened, or banished to another dimension or something, and you'd have to heroically give your powers to Gilda."
That actually got a giggle out of Princess Future Me. "Your life is gonna get complicated enough without THAT being a thing, Dash... and I'm not sure it even works that way."
"Alright, just a weird thought that popped into my head."
"I'll admit it's epic, but living is a lot harder than dying."
"Right, gotcha, so how soon is 'as soon as possible?' Can ya stay for the victory party and the Crusaders' cute-ceañera? You know Pinkie Pie's gonna go all out!"
"No way! This is your happy ending. Enjoy it! This place is crazy enough without me around! I... I'm just happy everything's worked out for you guys."
"Hey, it's no big deal. You knew how this would all turn out, right?"
"Right... Be proud of your Twilight Sparkle, she's going places. Keep her on the straight and narrow. And treasure your friends! Look after Scootaloo and-and-and- dangit! Just do your best and all that horseapples. Yer gonna do great!"
"Well, heh, far be it from me to contradict a princess on something so obviously true!"
"You got that right!" She glanced over my shoulder. "Hey Firefly!"
"What? Where-! I don't see..." I spun around again, and Princess Me was nowhere in sight. "Oh, I am such a cheeky nag!"
Back at the hospital, Nurse Redheart said Gilda was in good hooves and just needed rest. So I decided to kill some time doing the job I have as part of Ponyville's weather team according to the town charter... surveying damages. Yeah, apparently Nightmare Nhilis sent some monsters to attack Ponyville while we were away, just to keep Fluttershy's knights occupied... I still can't believe that Fluttershy had knights. Technically, they weren't storm damages, but somepony still had to write it all up for the Ponyville Disaster Relief Fund, and I hate paperwork so much, and the sooner that was out of the way, the better!
By the time I plowed through all that, I was ready to finally spend some time actually talking with Gilda. You know, without a deadly Nightmare attacking or the world being about to end. Not my strong suit, but we had to start somewhere. I just wanted the mess between us cleared up!
I could have flown up to Gilda's window and climbed right on in to say hi, but Nurse Redheart hates it when I do that, so I used the front door and trotted up the regular old boring stairs. When I opened the door to Gilda's room, however, there was no sign of her... just a rumpled, unmade bed with a couple of her shed feathers, and a letter on top addressed to me.
I took in all of this in a single glance, and immediately facehoofed. "Seriously!? I psyched myself up for this, and you flew out of the coop on me?" I threw the window open, zoomed outside, and circled the building twice, but I couldn't see her anywhere. Then I streaked back into the hospital, risking Nurse Redheart's wrath again, but she forgot to be mad at me when I told her she had a patient missing.
"No, Miss Gilda hasn't checked out, and nopony in the lobby saw her," said Nurse Redheart, shaking her head. "You don't need to worry about her health, though. She responded well to the magical healing. There's nothing else wrong with her that a good rest won't cure."
I flew up high to check the skyline one more time, but she could have been halfway back to Griffonstone by now.
There was nothing else to do but read her letter.
'Hey Dash,
Look, we both know we're no good at this feely mushy nonsense. You look like you've got a lotta stuff on yer plate to work out right now, and so do I. A lot happened on my way to Ponyville, and I mean a lot, just like I told ya. I didn't think about what I was going to say to ya in all that time. Heck, I didn't think once what you might have to say to me.
'Okay, okay, maybe I did a little, I did read your letter after all. Point is... Ugh, I'm not really sure I have a point! Maybe I was just scared... Do NOT say that to ANYPONY got it?! Ugh, this is so lame. I looked death in the eye today and told her where she could shove it, but us two sitting down and talking about our feelings is what gives me the shivers?
'Look... what you said in yer letter.' (This part looked a little tear stained.) 'I... don't hate ya, Dash. Maybe I did for a while, but I don't anymore. You looked out for me when I had nogriff else to turn to. That means a lot, and nogriff wants to owe another griffon a debt.
'I guess getting the stuffing beaten out of me by fake Nightmare Moon technically makes us even... But you ponies are weird. You'll pay off a debt a bajillion times and more, and you'll act like there isn't even a debt when ya chat with those who owe you! Ugh, I just don't get you ponies at all.
'Free word of advice, Dash... royalty is nothing but trouble, and destiny is overrated. I know you ponies love those butt tattoos of yours and... eh, what the Tartarus, maybe they aren't all bad? You ponies get a fancy sign when you've 'found yourself' or whatever. We griffons? We've gotta do it the hard way. But I meant what I wrote, Dash! Don't let anybody tell ya what to do just cause they tell ya what to do!
'See ya around, Dash...
'P.S. Don't go rushing off to Griffonstone for me right now. I need some time to think.'
Gilda, heh, you featherbrain! Excuse me I... I got something in my eye. Thanks for the hug.
(Prism Rush's Notes: No problem darling, and don't give up on Gilda. You will meet again... give or take a few years... and I'm certain the two of you WILL patch things up! But it's best you don't think about this when you see her again. You wouldn't want to mess it up by rushing things, after all.)
Yeah, I should let this go for now and not overthink things. I wouldn't want to mess everything up by rushing her. But... ugh, I just wish I could fix everything up right NOW and be done with it.
(Prism Rush's Notes: Trust me darling, that isn't just you. We all wish things could be that simple.)
+++
Gilda the Gryphon Griffon
Fun fact, I've always been better than Dash at hide and seek. I know what you're thinking... 'Some big loudmouth griffon? How's that gonna sneak up on anything?' We're predators, duh! Of course we're gonna be good at hiding from prey and getting the drop on them. Plus, I still know Dash well enough to know that the best hiding place is right under her nose, like up here on the hospital roof.
So yeah, time to get moving. It's a long flight to Griffonstone. Hopefully I don't get mixed up in another stupid convoluted epic adventure on the way home.
(Prism Rush's Notes: Don't worry, darling, you've just been on an adventure, and the 'interesting times' are rarely on the way back from those. So... you're still not telling Rainbow about your whole 'descended from royalty' thing, Princess Grizelda? It's been, oh, nearly a thousand years since the reign of King Guto XIV. It always seems to be a thousand years. Fate really needs to accept that there are other numbers in the universe.)
UGH! I DON'T CARE about all that royalty junk! It's ancient history! I'm myself, and that's enough. Plus there's probably some giant debt that our, I mean Guto's family left unpaid, and if I stepped in, you better believe the vultures would swoop in and hit me with the bill!
(Prism Rush's Notes: Your people need somegriff to look up to, somegriff who can lead them out of chaos and despair. It's been so long since the glory days that most of them have given up even trying. They need a hero... and that hero could be you, Gilda.)
Pfft, yeah, typical pony attitude, telling every other creature what's good for them.
(Prism Rush's Notes: A pony I may once have been, Gilda, but now... you might as well call this hospital a pony. This is about Loyalty.)
Um, do I look like Dash to you, lady? Did I sprout some magic jewelry when I wasn't looking? Nope, didn't think so! It's NOT my problem! Griffonstone may have been where I was born, and it might be where I live, and it might be where gramps lives... but that doesn't make it home. Why do you think so many griffons want out of that dump?
(Prism Rush's Notes: And yet you keep coming back to it.)
Yeah, whatever. I've got a long flight ahead of me, can't spend all this time chatting.
(Prism Rush's Notes: Yes, you do indeed have a long journey ahead of you. Good luck, Gilda.)
Luck? Luck is for ponies. Griffons make their own luck!
+++
Princess Fidelitas Moksha Equestria's Memories
So yeah, that's that. Nightmare Eclipse's cycle of suffering is finished. So ends Morning Star and Discord's chain of passing on their evil. With Paxphobia dead, the Alicorn-Draconequi War is finally over... why else would he only go berserk when Discord was about to make peace with them? So that's another cycle of misery broken. The rest is up to this Equus' people to overcome.
I find myself thinking of the last circle of friends who appeared from beyond time and space to defeat Nightmare Eclipse and the rest of us... the ones who looked just like us, if we'd never been corrupted. Did they come from this very world, the world that exists because Nightmare Eclipse was defeated? Is that even possible?
Truth be told, I don't know. I looked through your notes, but after everything that happened, I can't remember if I found anything. I know from Bon Bon's diary that Starlight The First and her friends dreamed of being summoned across time to kick our flanks. Maybe I'm wrong, and it was the Heart World's Twilight and her friends... but that just raises more questions! Does it matter, though? What's done is done, and we're finally free to move on.
I flew all over Equestria, invisible and intangible, but time was short, and there was still so much I needed to see! I teleported all over Equus, all over the solar system, the galaxy, the universe, taking one last good look at it all. We had to build everything just right in our brand new universe, everything that we as the Chaos Six had helped Discord ruin forever back in our own world, everything we'd helped Nightmare Eclipse destroy again and again, and Ponyville would be the place where it all began!
Now that Discord's mess is finally cleaned up, Rota Fortuna's probably gonna seal this worldline off, so me and you guys can get out, but not back in again. Just like Megan, after she cleaned up Morning Star's mess. After that whole thing with those moths eating this world full of holes, I wouldn't blame her one bit. No more invaders from pre-established timelines!
(Will Starlight Glimmer even be allowed to do her thing and accidentally give birth to six new worldlines, and possibly unmake them too? Or will she have an unfortunate brush with destiny? Those two never got along well, but Starlight Glimmer never did let Fate hold her back.)
So, this'll be my last time visiting here. I'm going to have my own bloody universe to look after, thank you very much, and the TRUE golden world that Twilight Sparkle gave up her existence for is looking just fine now... So what if I'm crying? Maybe in a thousand years, my tears will become some holy relic, like those elves and their silly gold horseshoes.
So yeah, I'm not crying cause I'm sad! I'm crying because it's all so beautiful now, and I can finally stop fighting for a minute or two to appreciate it all. Any scumbags left are this own reality's invention, and this reality's own responsibility to clean up, and with old Nythy banished until Heat Death, he won't be throwing any more in.
I give Scootaloo, Twilight, Trixie, and all the rest of them a kiss on the forehead! Pinkie Pie's gonna be Discord's new mom eh? Even I can't see how that's gonna turn out! Will history repeat itself? Nope, and that's a promise!
I expect to see you girls back home later, got it?
(Interviewer's Notes (Dawn): Are you SURE you can't stay for the party?)
I'm sure, and sure you shouldn't either, this is their happy ending, not ours. Just let them have it.
(Interviewer's Notes (Dusk): Be that as it may, there are still ponies we've spent all this time with that we owe a proper goodbye. Or at least one.)
(Interviewer's Notes (Dawn): Besides, this universe is our sibling in a way! We have to see it off right!)
Alright, I gotcha. Guess I'd do the same in your horseshoes. See ya around!
(Interviewer's Notes (Noon): Be awesome Dash.)
You know it!
So zip, zap, zoom, and away I go! Past the great barrier, past the veil! Basically, I go so fast I slip right through the fifth dimension of reality and bada-boom, I'm in my adopted home worldline, back where I began. I don't stop to chat just yet...
Instead, I take a hop, skip, and a jump through the sixth dimension of reality, and return to... myself. Literally, my state of being and my consciousness are one and the same. I am both a domain and the entity inhabiting that domain, a pillar of the universe, a living force of nature that mortals try to understand by giving it names like Loyalty and Alicorn and Fidelitas.
Did I make your brain implode yet? Heh, sorry! If it makes you feel any better, we feel the same way about our Parents when we try to understand how they work. If you could listen to them in their true forms, you'd hear their voices echo backwards and forwards in TIME as well as space. That's every bit as confusing as it sounds.
Time to begin my own work. But first...
"MAMA!" Baby Veritas squealed happily and flew into my arms for a great big hug! Well, that's sort of what happened, except she was a baby concept of reality expressing her love and joy to a fully developed one.
"Welcome back to Yourself, my Goddess," ever dutiful and tough as nails Scootaloo #1313 said with a theatrical bow. I could always count on her to look after Baby Veritas when I can't.
"It's good to see you too, Scoots!" I grinned as I hugged Veritas.
Daymare Granfalloon gasped hard enough to suck up a whole weather team, and maybe a tornado or two. "DASHIE!!! OH MY GOSH, IT'S WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU!" She bounced around wildly, doing metaphysical cartwheels. "I WAS WORRIED YOU WERE GONNA PULL SOME HEROIC SACRIFICE AND YOUR POWER WAS GONNA GO TO SOMEPONY ELSE LIKE APPLEJACK'S DID! BUT YOU DIDN'T AND HERE YOU ARE AND I'M JUST SO HAPPY!!!!"
She was everywhere around me... well, the part of me that went to Amicitia's Equestria and back again. It's complicated.
"You're home!" Daymare Whisper fluttered around me, holding Flutternice in her hooves.
"It's great to have all of you home, my Goddess." Scootaloo #1 bowed along with the rest of the Scootaloo Alliance of Awesome. One plus side of being a goddess? I can tell all 171,014 of them apart.
"And it's great to see all of you!" I hug them all at once as only a goddess can!
It doesn't take long for Daydrake Banneret to show up too, with baby Half-Light Midnight riding on his back. "Hey! Did we miss anything?"
"So many babies," giggled Pinkie. "I'm an Auntie! Tee-hee!"
"I'm not a baby!" Flutternice protested. Fluttershy just snuggled her more. Too bad I can't introduce her to the Fluttercruel of Amicitia's Equestria. They'd get along like a house on fire.
I had all my friends inside me. Yeah, I said that. No apologies!
"Not all of 'em yet!" Princess Praegressus Machinas Equestria, AKA, Apple Bloom! Oh yeah! She appeared in a rainbow flash from her own timeline, along with her Discord's pet squirrel Ratatoskr. They helped me to fix up the Yggdrasil of yet another worldline that was trapped in endless loops. Go read up on that adventure, it's epic!
"Nice of you to finally come back to yourself," said Anasi slyly. Only she could hide her presence from me like this. Well, so far as I know! "Godlike speed, and you still manage to keep us all waiting!"
"We're timeless," said an amused Cadence, popping into me as well. "Does that even make sense?" Sure, come on in, looks I'm having open house!
"Nice to see ALL OF YOU GUYS!" I laughed, and got an epic divine group hug right back.
"What about us?" asked our Starlight the First and company, just now arriving.
"After all we went through to rescue you guys, you think we wouldn't show up?" asked Patch with a smile. I returned it in kind.
"Well, isn't this cozy?" Discord... our Discord... popped in, wearing a hardhat. "I hope you're getting nice and well rested, because we've still got a whole universe to build and a staggeringly large number of lost souls waiting to be relocated, so if we're quite finished galavanting around the multiverse... Oh! And I suppose congratulations are in order for thwarting evil me, saving that world's Diamond Tiara..." Discord kept ticking items off on more and more claws from nowhere. "... protecting Amicitia's final sacrifice, coming to your senses about the whole 'resurrect my best friend by unmaking four innocent ponies' thing, helping along the defeat of Paxphobia, AND bringing balance to the spirits of dark magic in Amicitia's universe!" He clapped his claw and paw together. "Who wants cake?"
"I do!" cheered our Razzaroo... or rather, Princess Jiniri now, popping in with her new horn, wings, and regalia. "Yes yes yes!" I wonder how Rarity would react to the Saddle Arabian look.
Can't say I'm not a little jealous... she actually EARNED this. Yeah, she ascended while we were gone. She was already in her cocoon when I left, and I only have myself to blame for missing it.
"Oh, and one more thing!" said Jiniri, taking some golden sand from the swirling gold of her mane. "Somepony had a wish!" She blew the sand into the air...
We saw the universe where me and my friends got rainbowed back to our senses before us, and gradually it assumed the likeness of a familiar Alicorn. "Welcome back, darling! I do hope you've brought us some stories of Twilight's golden world."
Yeah, remember how Libra is the Mortal Universe? That's entirely literal, she IS the mortal universe, as much as any concept is their domain. Which kinda makes going to other universes off the table for her, about like going into your friend's body is off the table for you. That said, she can at least chat with other universes to pass the time. This was as close to 'being here' as she could get.
I chuckled. "Like Pinkie would say, this story is a doozy! I think you'll be proud of their Rarity..."
+++
"So It's Agreed," said a colt who looked like A living slice cut out of the universe, Sane Reality. "Four Votes In Favor With One Abstaining... No More Avatars Unless Directly Summoned For Equus And Pony Civilization. Only Those Born By Mortal Means May Continue."
"Yes, But I'm Surprised You Voted Yes On This, Sister-Law," said a brown colt with a Jack-O-Lantern Cutie Mark, Phobia. "I Mean, There's Still Starlight Glimmer, Sombra, Tirek, The Sirens, The Pony Of Shadows... Aren't You Afraid That Mortals Will Never Survive Without Godly Avatars Popping In To Help?"
"NO CREATURE LIKES A DEUS EX MACHINA, HUSBAND OF MINE," said 'Maud Pie' calmly injected for Fauna Luster.
"Except Those The Deus Ex Machina Helps," Phobia pointed out. "But Tell Me Fauna Luster, Why Did You Vote For This Restriction?"
Fauna Luster explained, "PAXPHOBIA AND DESTRUCTION ARE NO LONGER A THREAT, AND DISCORD IS NOW LIKE CELESTIA, LUNA, AND CADENCE, A TRUE INCARNATION," said Empathy itself. "TIREK NO LONGER HAS THE RAINBOW OF DARKNESS. SOMBRA IS A MORTAL-BORN CREATURE EVEN IF AN INCARNATION OF NYARLATHOTROT ENABLED HIS BIRTH, AND RABIA HAS BEEN SEVERED FROM THE COLLECTIVE. STARLIGHT GLIMMER IS NAUGHT BUT A MORTAL PONY REGARDLESS OF HER BLOODLINES. THE SIRENS ARE BLESSED BY MORNING STAR, BUT WE HAVE BLESSED MANY PONIES. THEY ARE MORTAL EVILS, AND THUS MUST BE OVERCOME BY MORTAL HOOVES.
"I HATE SEEING MY CHILDREN SUFFER THROUGH SUCH ORDEALS, I DESPISE IT... BUT GROWTH ONLY COMES FROM ORDEALS AND CHALLENGES. IF THE PONIES OF THE AGE OF DREAMS HAD ALLOWED THEMSELVES TO GROW, PERHAPS THEY WOULD NOT HAVE DAMAGED THEIR WORLDLINE ALMOST BEYOND REPAIR. PERHAPS THEY COULD HAVE FOUND A WAY TO CORRECT IT IN TIME. IF OUR CHILDREN NEED US, WE ARE STILL ABLE TO GUIDE AND HELP FROM BEYOND THE VEIL, BUT WE CANNOT SIMPLY HOLD THEIR HOOVES."
"We've Been Too Loud, Too Obvious... We Should Leave That Job To Celestia, Luna, And Discord, Those Born There. The Mortal World Is For Mortals. They Must Make Of It What They Shall," said Sanity itself. "We Shall Return To Guiding And Granting Aid From Behind The Scenes."
"I have already informed my new daughter that while she may visit and talk to me, she is not to be my errand pony," said Love, standing before Her Parents. "She is her own Demi-Goddess. She will find her own place in the world, and spread Love as she sees fit, as is her concept."
"If We Do Our Job Right, They Won't Know We Did Anything At All," Fear itself turned and glared at Imagination. "And That Means No More Bloody Undisguised Visits To Shining Armor, Pandora! Concepts Cannot Play Favorites!"
"Oh, fiddlesticks!" pouted the girl dragonequus.