Night Patrol 2: Chapter 73
By Foxgear
Kira found herself on a flight of stairs after unleashing her final attack. Was this the afterlife? If so, it was different from what she imagined. Then again, how could the living accurately know what the afterlife looked like?
Moreover, Kira was more surprised she was going up rather than down. How could she not be? She intentionally destroyed Canterlot and possibly more with her last breath. It wasn’t an easy choice, mind you. It’s not like she wanted to do it, but it was her last hope of helping her loved ones.
Still, she wouldn’t be surprised to see a few angry faces on her way to the afterlife. She had only let loose her final attack once Luna, her dear friend, was safe. The rest be damned.
She wondered what the history books would say about her. On the other hoof, who would know? Besides Minerva and her cronies? Who would believe them? Whatever the living knew or didn’t know, she knew what she did and would not feel remorse beyond the most basic sympathy for cutting so many lives short.
Traveling further up the stairs, Kira arrived at a platform that branched off in three different directions. Standing before the middle path was Dusk of all ponies.
“Dusk?”
“Greetings, Lady Kira, so this is the path you’ve chosen. I had wanted you on another, a happier one, but you probably won’t mind this one either.” Dusk smiled, and Kira felt the age radiating off the Alicorn. She knew this wasn’t the Dusk she remembered. “You want this path, by the way. They’re waiting for you. But I urge you to wait. You’ll have some more companions soon.”
In a blink, Dusk vanished, confusing Kira on the functions of this world, but she accepted things as they were. Heeding Dusk’s advice, Kira waited. She didn’t know how long. Minutes, hours, days, maybe even years? Was there even time in the afterlife?
Suddenly a herd of familiar faces appeared, perhaps as confused as she first been upon realizing she was dead. It broke her heart to see so many youngsters here with her.
“Kaki…” Her heart shattered, and she cried at the sight of Kiri’s wife here with her. Kira ran to embrace Kaki, but it was for her own comfort.
Seeing the Legendary Kira Perfecta cry came as a shock for Kaki, who was at a loss. “Lady Kira…” The elderly mare only hugged her tighter.
“I’m sorry, child, I didn’t do enough. For any of you.” Kira stared tearfully at the others. “Topaz, Smokey Haze, High Octane, Shamrock and you… Celestia.”
The Alicorn of the Sun could only smile sadly in response, “It was my time. I lived long enough, which is not something I can say for the rest of you. I’m sorry as well. I, too, should have done more.”
“Oi, we make our own choices!” Shamrock rebuked, “It’s our lives, not yours, so don’t go feeling sorry for our choices, got it?”
“He’s right,” Topaz added, “You are not responsible for our lives. If nothing else, it’s because of you two we even had a chance. I’m sure there are more climbing up the stairs, but you need not feel the weight of their deaths.”
“Their right, Lady Kira,” Kaki said, hugging the elderly mare tightly. “I chose my end, so Kiri and my sister would survive. It was my duty as a wife and the eldest sister.”
Kira reluctantly accepted this truth and let go of Kaki, and brushed away her tears. With a sad smile, she approached the middle set of stairs. Ascending slowly with the others following her lead.
At the middle of the stairway was a thin layer of something, perhaps the boundary of this limbo? Newfound energy began to build within Kira as she passed through the gap between worlds. All her pain left her, her wrinkles disappeared, she was in her prime again!
“Hey! Up here!”
Kira looked up, tears falling once more, but this time they were ones of joy. At the top of the path waving madly were two ponies she’d been dying to see for a thousand years. Her brother and sister.
“Overheat… Emerald!”
With all the energy of a filly on Hearth’s Warming morning, Kira flew up the stairs, tackling Emerald into the greenest grass she’s ever seen.
Emerald laughed, hugging her Monster Pony sister again, “It’s good to see you too! Took ya long enough!”
Overheat joined, hosting both mares to their feet and embracing Kira in a group hug with Emerald. “You did enough living for the both of us, Kira. We got to see the whole thing! Good job!”
Kira blushed as the others finally made it to the top, but she didn’t put on airs anymore. She loved these two! So, she squeezed them as tight as she could!
“I’ve missed both of you so much!” Kira declared, smiling wide as she did after having her first child. “It’s good to see you again.”
Breaking away from Kira and Overheat, Emerald Cutter walked straight to Topaz, who avoided meeting her eye. With a smile, she ruffled his mane. “Hey, little brother.”
Topaz looked at her in shock, “You remember?”
She embraced him while he hid his tears in her mane. “Yeah, I remember. Sorry, we couldn’t have reconnected in life.”
“It’s not your fault,” Topaz said, burying his face deeper in his sister’s mane.
Kira and Overheat watched the siblings reconnect from afar, and Kira was suddenly assaulted by a slew of memories. Memories that had been stolen away from her. Memories of her time in the factory. It was a strange feeling. It was like she saw the world through a different pony’s view, and perhaps she was. That part of her was gone but still there.
Out of curiosity, she tried to find memories of Sixes and the others and burst out laughing.
“What?” Overheat asked, knowing what had happened. The same thing happened to him and Emerald. “Remember something amusing?”
“Yes, was that really what we called ourselves the first time?”
“We did the best with what we had.” Overheat grinned.
Once the novelty of seeing long-lost loved ones passed, the group left the entrance to travel deeper into the grand prairie in the sky. Rolling hills and grassy plains extended for what seemed like forever. A paradise for ponies.
“So, you guys ready for another round?” Emerald asked as they settled down on a knoll.
“Another round?”
“Yeah, didn’t Dusk explain things to you? Never mind, I can tell by the look on your faces that she didn’t. Ok.” Emerald took a breath. “This area of the afterlife is kind of a nexus?”
“Crossroads, Emmy.”
“Don’t interrupt Overheat!” Emerald playfully hissed. “Ok, where was I? Oh, yeah! In this zone, you can wait around to meet others you’re waiting to die to meet again. Other zones include the eternal pasture, where you can choose to stay dead and frolic with past relatives and friends until forever. Most ponies move on to there quickly. However, there is another place that lets you live life again, but in different worlds! Your soul kind of gets recycled, and you can choose where you can go! Overheat, and I plan to go there once we met up with you, Kira. We already got a world picked out; it looks entertaining!”
Kira smiled as she laid her head down in the soft grass. “I would love to, but do you mind if we hold off, just a bit? I’ve lived and fought for over a thousand years, so I could use just a little peace. Unless you two are in a hurry.”
“Not really. Time is pretty much meaningless here, so we can hang out here until you are ready. Besides, I’d love to hear about your time after we died. We got to see an overview, but not all the details.” Emerald said, scooting closer to Kira with an eager ear.
“If you’re asking me, a grandma, to talk about my family, then you’re lucky we have endless time because I can talk about them for eternity.”
As Kira regaled Emerald and Overheat with her life’s story. Celestia stepped away from the group smiling as Topaz, Kaki, and the others tuned in to Kira’s story while she slinked into the mist. There was a particular pony she had to see, and to go there meant never coming back.
With a heavy but determined heart, Celestia ascended into the Eternal rest. There she found countless ponies from all ages mingling, playing, and enjoying their eternal rest. But there was only one Celestia was looking for. One that she needed to make amends with.
Traveling to the edge of the clouds, Celestia found her, Titania’s mother. Sitting at the edge of paradise gazing down. When Celestia looked over her shoulder, she saw Titania making a speech in the Germane Capital.
“Hello, Grandmother,” Titania’s mother greeted coldly.
“I deserve that,” Celestia said, settling down next to her. “Your daughter is a wonderful mare; you must be very proud.”
“I am. Don’t you have other ponies to bother?”
Celestia smiled sadly, “Probably, I would like to see if my mother and father are here or see my cousin Symphony.” At the mention of family, Titania’s mother’s ears twitched. “But I came to you first. I know I can’t make up for my mistakes in life, but you wanted to know your family history, right? Let me grant that wish.”
“I barely knew my parents. In fact, I was an orphan. How could you know any more?”
“Funny thing about this place, ever since I came here, all sorts of memories I’ve long forgotten have come back in vivid detail, and even things like what happened to all my descendants are now freely accessible to me. What’s more, I feel no strain from it. This place truly is amazing.”
“The same happened to me, but only for my daughter. I could see how she was growing up, but I couldn’t investigate my own past. The rules of this place are strange.”
“Well, we only have all eternity. Why don’t I fill you in?”
Titania’s mother stared at the projected image of her daughter, safe and happy. “I guess I have the time.”
“Very well, let’s start with my first child….”
In the vast newly minted Canterlot plains, one pony opened their eyes among the scores of dead. That pony was Permaflame. Rising with a triumphant roar, but there was something vastly different about the young Alirin.
Besides the hole in her barrel being completely healed, she sported a completely different color pallet. Her chilling blue coat and flaming orange hair were now a blazing red, and her mane was cool icy blue. Giving her a closer appearance to her father, Overheat.
Her eyes shone bright orange as she stared at the freed sun burning in the sky, slowly making its way across the bright blue sky. The sight brought forth an innocent warm smile from the pony that scorched the earth and murdered many merely hours ago.
“So pretty.”
Sensing but not understanding how Perma turned her head to a spiraling blue portal. From which Saki exited. The runaway princess regarded Perma as a dangerous rabid animal while Perma cocked her head. Utterly confused and intrigued.
“Are you… friend?” Perma asked with all the innocence of a newborn. That’s what she was once more. By some strange magic, no other understood, Permaflame was once more a blank slate.
Just as Lady Dusk had told her.
Saki sighed, reluctant to do her duty this time, but knew there was no point hanging on to the past. So, she offered her claw to the young Alirin and put on her best smile. It was challenging since she would be taking this pony as a pupil.
“Yes, we’re friends. Come with me. We have much to do.”
Perma jumped to her feet like a puppy, happily following Saki into the spiraling blue portal. They emerged in the cosmic realm outside of time. Where Dusk was waiting for them.
“Welcome, Permaflame.” Dusk greeted, patting the Alirin on the head. Perma enjoyed the action, rubbing against Dusk’s hoof. “I have great plans for you. You may not remember, but you did… some bad things.”
Perma stared at her with big watery eyes, “Bad… things? Am I a bad pony?”
“No, no,” Dusk assured her, “Merely misguided. Don’t worry. You’ll more than make up for it soon enough. For now, let’s start with the basics.”
In the coming centuries, long after the disappearance of Canterlot, Saki finally returned home and settled down. Leaving her duty as Dusk’s herald. Rumors or more like myths would depict a new messenger of the Alicorn of time.
Perma would learn of her crimes, learn of her family, and would work tirelessly and endlessly to redeem and bring honor to herself and her family. Her story would continue, far, into an unknown future.
All to ensure history would not repeat. It was a duty Perma would perform for generations and one she readily fulfilled.