//------------------------------// // In The End // Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot // by Equimorto //------------------------------// "What about this one?" Twilight asked, stopping in front of a crystal sculpture of Celestia. What was there was of remarkable quality, but about half of her body wasn't yet, the rest instead still attached to a thick block clear mineral. "It looks unfinished." "It is." Celestia stepped up to her. There was a note of sadness in her voice, and in the way her eyes fell on the statue. "The artist died before he could complete it. That was a couple hundred years ago, at this point. You can still find his other works around the country, but this one never left the castle. We moved it here from his workshop, and it's stayed here since." Twilight looked back to the statue. Looking closer, she could see all the work and detail that had gone into it, from the alicorn's feathers to the curves of her mane, even down to her individual eyelashes. The subtle tensions in her muscles and the slightest irregularities in her coat, all perfectly replicated and immortalised. "I've never seen crystal worked like this before. I didn't know it was even possible." Celestia nodded. "He was a master in his craft. And this would have been his masterpiece. Or at least, I believe that was his intention." She sighed. "It just ended up taking him too long to finish. Then again, maybe it wasn't his fault. Some things take time, and some things can only be as good as they are because of all the time that's needed for them. He just didn't have enough of it." Twilight continued to look at the sculpture. She was almost mesmerised by it, some of the details so minute they could only be noticed by staring at it from so close she feared her breath alone would be enough to break them. "It really is beautiful. It's a shame he never got to finish it." "It's a reminder of what was for a while one of my greatest fears. Something I shared with many artists, I'm sure. With many creatures, really," Celestia added, unprompted. And sensing Twilight's question, she explained, "Running out of time. Leaving a project incomplete. In my case specifically, leaving my country without a worthy leader. Especially after Sunset left me, for a while I feared there would be no one to take my place if something went wrong. Then Luna came back, and finally you took our place." She smiled at Twilight. "I'm glad not to have this kind of unfinished business anymore, even if it meant I had to pass some of its weight on to you." Twilight looked to Celestia, then to the statue again. "I think I understand. The fear of leaving something unfinished, a project uncompleted." She tilted her head to the side, still looking at the sculpture. "At least we can hope those that come after us will appreciate what is there, if it's not all finished. Some things take time, like you said. One can only hope they don't run out of it too soon." "One can only hope," Celestia agreed, "and do their best while they still can." She stepped a little closer to her uncompleted crystal replica. "I don't think he died all too sad that he hadn't finished this. I knew him. Disappointed, surely at least a little, but not too much. He enjoyed carving the statues more than he ever enjoyed looking at them afterwards. I think he was more at peace with the knowledge that he'd done his best, and content with the beauty of the act even with an unfinished result. Maybe that's what one should strive for."