//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: Offering 
// Story: Apology Video 
// by milesprower06 
//------------------------------//

To Haven, the past few days had felt... Odd. A harrowing mix of old and new. On one hoof, she had quickly fallen back into the swing of things when it came to the castle's, and city's, day-to-day, feeling like she had almost never left. On the other hoof, she did feel like this was a fresh start, and that she was stepping into these halls for the very first time.

Zipp and Pipp were busy packing what they wanted to take back to Maretime Bay with them, and true to what they said, the Parade Planning Committee was already hard at work putting together a sendoff for the two royal siblings. Haven had seen them put together some celebrations quickly, but this one would be one for the books if they actually pulled it off; her daughters would be here for about two or three days, and no longer. They were both rather eager to get back and have their hooves in decorating the new lighthouse.

As for the queen herself, she was hoping getting back into the insanely busy routine that being the city's royal ruler had would help melt away the lingering guilt of the farce she and her family had pulled. Probably the most pressing matter was to figure out some kind of traffic flow for the airspace above the city; once the celebration had wound down, she took a moment to look at the reports, and hospitalizations in the city had tripled because of admissions for midair collisions and injuries. For now, the quickest solution was to urge the populace to stay on the ground within city limits, and to practice their flying in the surrounding canyons and mountains.

Turning the next corner, Haven came up to the large double doors of the throne room. The guards present came to attention and opened the doors for her. The large room on the other side was empty, save for a mail delivery pony who was waiting by the throne. She was noticed immediately by the sound of the doors opening, and he gave a bow as Haven came up.

"Good morning your majesty," the stallion greeted as he came up from the bow.

"Good morning," Haven answered, half-distracted by the item that had been neatly set on the throne; the Zephyr Crown, without the crystal, of course, which now resided at the top of the lighthouse with the other two unity crystals. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Ah, a unicorn courier dropped this off at our post office, addressed to you, Your Majesty," the courier said, reaching into his saddle bags and pulling out a small canvas pouch. "There we are, and if you'll just sign this right here, confirming delivery..."

The courier pulled out a clipboard and pen, and offered them to the queen. Haven signed it on the dotted line, and the courier took the items back, gave the pouch to the queen, and gave a quick bow before exiting the throne room to resume his rounds.

Haven ascended the steps to the throne, and carefully slid the crown to the side to set the pouch down before unbuttoning the flap and lifted it out of the way, finding a folded letter sticking out of the pocket. Pulling it out, she unfolded it and read silently.



Dear Queen Haven,

I hope you've returned home safely with your family. I tried to put this together as quickly as I could without rushing it. I want this gift to be another step towards unity and cooperation between our tribes.

See you again soon.

Regards,
Alphabittle



She smiled, and set the letter down, and reached deeper into the pocket of the canvas pouch, and immediately came into contact with something solid. She withdrew her hoof, and it came out with something that had looked very familiar.

It was a replica of the Pegasus unity crystal, carved out of what looked to be amethyst. A near-perfect replica, she realized upon taking a closer look at it. This was seriously impressive if he only did this in a matter of days, not to mention minus the time it had taken to get over here from Bridlewood.

She picked up the crown, and gently placed the amethyst jewel where the turquoise crystal used to be, and knew she would need assistance in getting it properly mounted to the crown.

"Well, there's my first item for my to-do list!"