...as the world rest upon her shoulders...
As Glitterwing came in to land at her destination she could clearly make out the shape of the individual she was the least interested in seeing. Standing next to and leaning against the giant mechanical tower that was to be their salvation was a black and hole filled creature.
"Chrysalis," she said while giving a light nod.
Chrysalis just smirked in return. "Well well well, if it isn't the Queen of the Flutterponies. I see you finally decided to show up."
She grit her teeth, she didn't plan on getting dragged into another argument with the former alicorn; they never ended well.
"I didn't realise I'd gotten a promotion," Lux chimed in as she walked past the changeling.
Chrysalis scuffed. "I see you've picked up her snark too," she fell in line at Glitterwing's side.
"Are the others here?"
Chrysalis expression turned sombre. "Luna's here, same with Celestia Jr, but that shouldn't surprise you."
It didn't, it was the two of them that were the mastermind behind the giant machine she was entering.
"Only those two?"
Chrysalis nodded. "As far as I'm aware. Most of the others are out doing what I believe you were doing: wrapping up any unfinished business."
She could see that, it wasn't as if they'd be back. "What about you?"
The changeling chuckled in that annoying tone where Glitterwing was absolutely certain that she was looking down on others.
"With all my children dead there isn't much reason too, is there?" Chrysalis shook her head as the two of them entered the closest elevator. "No, I'll be with my sister, despite the misgivings we might have had about each other," she hit the button for floor sixty. "Or still have," she added in a lower volume.
Glitterwing elected to keep her mouth shut for the entirety of the elevator ride, despite it taking a good fifteen minutes. She'd spend the next forever with the changeling queen, there was no reason she needed to get chatty with her now.
"Look," Chrysalis started as they elevator let out a shrill ding. "I know we have a... history, but I'd prefer if we could move past that."
Glitterwing frowned but gave a curt nod before stepping out of the elevator. As she made her way towards the bridge she saw the changeling slink off in a different direction.
"You know she does not remember-"
"I know Lux!" She let out through gritted teeth.
Sometimes she questioned why she'd given the damn book sentience.
"You'll have to move past it some day, even Celestia thinks so."
"Don't call her that," she snapped.
"It's what she prefers."
"That does not make it right, nor can she replace her."
She huffed as she entered the bridge, stopping in surprise as her mind caught up with her eyes. Standing and conversing in the room was a big pink hippogriff, and beside her stood a small blue dragon with orange scales.
"Spike, I didn't expect to see you here?"
The other two turned with attention as she spoke, the small dragon smirking.
"I could say the same to you, but someone here has to preserve the knowledge for the next generation," Spike replied.
The hippogriff glanced to spike and nodded. "Indeed," she turned her gaze towards Glitterwing. "Queen Glitterwing, it's a pleasure."
She gave a small polite bow. "Queen Novo, I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you in person before."
Novo did a light bow with her head. "Likewise."
"You can skip the formalities with me if you wish, I'm the last flutterpony, there is no one to be queen over."
Novo snorted. "You think it's much better for me? I might not be the last of my kind, but my niece does not add up to much of a population."
Glitterwing was about to reply when Spike interjected. "Now now, this isn't a pity contest."
"I concur," Lux spoke up. "The point of this endeavour is to try and see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Novo frowned. "So this is the fabled Lux I've heard so much about, the light of the flutterponies?"
"Maybe once," Glitterwing spoke quickly. "These days they are just extra dead weight."
"Speaking of... Spike I just finished transferring a few missing logs to the archive," Lux said.
Spike nodded. "Thanks, I do appreciate it."
Novo shook her head. "I hope we didn't start off on the wrong claw Glitterwing."
She sighed. "No, it's fine, I'm just... dealing with things."
Novo smiled. "As do we all I suppose," she passed a glance to Spike. "I'll be heading off to inspect my quarters, I still haven't gotten a chance to do so."
Glitterwing and Spike said their farewells as they watched the Queen of the Seaponies depart down the way Glitterwing had come from. Glitterwing took the moment to really take in the bridge, she imagine she'd see it a lot.
The room was in an oval shape and quite spacious, having some twelve seats spread throughout. Most of them were in front of various control panels that she had no idea what they did. Likewise the wast majority of them faced forwards towards the large screen at the end of the room.
"Where's our esteemed captain anyway?" She asked.
"Her quarters, I believe," Spike answered as he walked closer, reaching up and putting a claw on her shoulder. "I'll be down in the archive if you ever need someone to talk to, I know it's not quite the same as the Spike you knew... but we both carry the remains of the past with us, just in different forms."
She nodded and walked past him, not wanting to let him see her eyes tear up. Spike had always been a part of her life, one that she was hesitant to forget so quickly. She'd know four dragons with that name or nickname by now; only one still drew breath.
They'd been so different, yet they had all been companions worth keeping. The fact that she'd even considered becoming mates with one of them at one point gave her a shudder; She'd never see his purple scales and bright green eyes again.
With a sigh she pushed the door open to the captain's quarter revealed the figure she'd been looking for. The flowing starry mane attached to the midnight blue alicorn cut an imposing shape. Their eyes were focused on a display screen in front of them, and although they didn't turn to see who entered her room, Glitterwing could tell from the flick of their ears that she'd been heard.
She walked over and took a seat next to the alicorn that was still almost a head taller than herself.
"Princess Luna."
"Glitterwing and Lux, it's been a while."
She nodded, it had been. She was reminded of all the times the alicorn had run straight into battle to defend her people, putting her own life on the line time and time again.
"I hope my presence here won't cause any problems," Lux said.
Luna chuckled. "Maybe once upon a time, but it's been years. I've had to get used to Aegis after all, and perhaps my niece is right."
She could feel her body tense up at the mention. She took in a deep breath and exhaled it.
"Maybe, but I don't want our legacy to be sentient animated objects... that's just too sad."
Luna nodded. "It is... I hope you're not angry with me."
She tilted her head towards Luna. "What do you mean?"
She could make out Luna's wings twitching. "Sandbar is still quite able. I might not be able myself, but both you and my niece are... we could still create a new population of ponies; that's more than most of us here could hope for. I know I've forbidden it in the past, but I'm now reconsidering."
Had she been younger, much younger, she'd been flustered at the notion. "We might struggle getting any unicorns that way, but the idea have merits."
Luna turned her head, eyes wide with surprise. "Truly? I thought you'd be against it."
She shrugged. "I'm not going to force myself upon another pony... and I can't say I have gotten over what happened with the pony I gave my heart to. But the survival of ponykind is more important than my own reluctance to foal."
She hated the notion though, she truly did. She wasn't even sure if her body now, as it was, could even let her carry a child. But she was honest, the survival of a species was rated a tiny bit higher. Not that Sandbar was going to go away any time soon, whatever harmony had done to the six of them it certainly had left them stuck here like the rest of the dredges.
"When are we departing?" She opted to change the subject.
Luna focused her gaze on the screen again. "Based on my own readings and those of my niece then we'll depart in a month or two. We'll try and send words for any stragglers."
That was a bit sooner than she'd expected.
Luna hummed. "To be quite honest, I wasn't sure if you were going to join us or not."
Glitterwing frowned. "Me neither."
A white pegasus was singing and dancing through the machine shop, her yellow mane bouncing in tune with her steps. Along her neck hung a crystal shinning in all colours of the rainbow.
Glitterwing took in the sight, the mare hadn't noticed her yet; or if they did then they certainly gave no indication of such.
"Da-" she halted before correcting herself. "Celestia?"
The pegasus opened her eyes and with a smile flew up to the elevated entrance of the room. Quickly and without prompt the mare wrapped her hooves around Glitterwing and hugged.
"Glitter, I'm so happy you decided to come."
She let out a sad sigh and returned the hug. "That's what we promised, wasn't it?"
"Maybe so," the pegasus said as she took a step back. "But considering everything that happened since then I wouldn't have held it against you."
She remembered clearly, the day the two of them decided to take on the burden of the entire world. None but the two of them could remember the past beyond that event horizon; it was probably for the best.
They'd returned some of Celestia's memories to her... back when she was still alive. Glitterwing didn't regret doing that, the white alicorn knew what it meant to carry the world on her shoulders.
"Hey, no need to feel down."
She flinched back. "How?"
The pegasus rolled her eyes. "I could tell from your ears dropping," she turned and headed down the staircase to the lower level again.
Slowly she followed. "Why are you using your mother's name anyway?"
Celestia glanced back and gave her a weird look. "You know why, she entrusted her duties to me, you were there."
"Maybe so... but that does not mean you have to take her name."
Celestia sighed. "It doesn't no. But I kind of lost my sense of identity anyway," she came to a stop in front of an traditional style picture frame. The photo within showed mother and daughter.
"What do you mean?"
Celestia slowly dragged a hoof down the side of the frame. "Think about it, it's been a long time since anyone called me by my birth name," she turned to Glitterwing. "Even you stopped doing that."
She gulped, it was true. One of the things the two of them discarded in their act of hybris were their old names. Celestia sighed and walked over to one of the many shelves filled with mechanical parts.
"I'm glad being Glitterwing worked out for you," she turned to face Glitterwing. "Really, I'm happy for you."
"But...?"
Celestia frowned and sighed. "But that's not me, you know? I thought I was getting used to it, my new name I mean. But then mother died and I had to carry on. Ponies looked to me to fill in her shoes, I was always compared to her, you know?"
"I see-"
"And it's not like I could do what you did," she picked up a wrench with her wing. "I couldn't just lock myself inside a library for centuries on end."
Glitterwing could feel a lump in her stomach. "Do you blame me for it?"
Celestia snorted. "Of course not, you lost just as much as I did, if not more. I'm glad you connected with Spike, really."
Celestia walked over and draped her free wing across Glitterwing's back. "Things are a bit rough right now, for all of us, but we'll make it, trust me."
Glitterwing sighed and looked away. "I hope you're right."
"And with that, we've cleared the gravity well. As of this moment Harmony is no longer bound to Equuis," a smirk was plastered on Luna's snout as she raised her glass.
A loud cheer rang out throughout the bridge. Followed quickly by several creatures toasting their drinks. Glitterwing snorted, the group really was a sorry lot. She downed her glass in go and threw the plastic glass in the trash.
"You should have saved some for me," Lux chirped. She snorted and ignored their remark, as usual.
Her eyes travelled to a group six standing near the center of the room, each a creature of different type. They'd been heroes in their own right, that was probably why the forces of harmony itself had granted them the 'boon' of not ageing.
Must be fun for Yona, the last yak. At least her partner Sandbar had more of his kind surrounding him; if one counted an alicorn and a pegasus as being the same as an earth pony. Silverstream had her aunt Novo, though Glitterwing had never gotten the impression that the two were close.
Galus the griffon was probably the least affected of them all; the five friends he surrounded himself being the only family he'd ever known. Smolder while also a dragon took to Spike as well as oil to water, constantly comparing him to the other Spike she'd known.
Ocellus probably hurt the most, the only one of her kind still around. The changelings had worked so hard to cleanse themselves of the shadows... only to be consumed by the flames. Chrysalis wore her curse like a badge of honour, the two would not see eye to eye.
Glitterwing wiped her eyes. She remembered them, she remembered showing them the way through life, teaching and molding them into adults. But of course, none of them remembered that; to them she was a stranger. And so, she turned and walked away.
She was about to depart entirely when an usual sight caught her eyes. Standing by her lonesome in a corner with a sad expression was Celestia.
"Something bothering you?" She asked as she approached.
A sad smile flashed across her features. "You read me too well."
"Hard not to," she took a position next to the pegasus and leaned against the wall.
When she didn't get an answer she raised her voice again. "So?"
Celestia sighed. "This all is just..." she trailed off and frowned. She threw her empty glass with a wing, nailing the trash can. "It feels like a farce."
She turned and faced her. "What do you mean?"
Celestia turned her head and flashed her a smile, one that she could see was fake from a mile away. "Don't worry about it, I'm just feeling a bit off."
Like mother like daughter, indeed.
Glitterwing took a step back and rubbed her forehead. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention where I was going..."
She froze as she realised just who she'd accidentally bumped into.
"It's alright," the purple unicorn spoke in a monotone voice.
She could feel a shudder down her spine, she wanted to avoid this one entirely if she could.
"How's the flight treating you?" the unicorn said while tilting her head.
"It... it's going alright," she could feel a shiver run down her spine as she stared into their eyes.
The unicorn chuckled, still in a monotone. "That's fine, I hear many are enjoying the flight. Personally I wish we'd take off already," they turned their head back forwards and headed down the same path that they'd originally been going.
Glitterwing let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been keeping, her eyes following the unicorn down the intersection.
"It's sad to see what has become of Twilight," Lux echoed.
She nodded as she set off in the path the unicorn had come from. They'd gotten completely consumed from the inside by the magi-tech she'd been using. The majority of her organs were just gone, she needed no food or water to live anymore.
Somewhere along the way her brain had gotten consumed too, she was more machine than pony. Heck, Glitterwing would go as far as to say that Lux was more of a pony than Twilight Sparkle was these days. The former unicorn barely spoke, and when she did it was in riddles and nonsense.
She walked up to the key panel to the magical core room and tapped in the passcode, Celestia had at least seen it fit to give her access to to every part of the ship. The room that greeted her was quite large, but most of that space was to house the giant crystal that was placed in the center. The entire thing was the size of a three floored house.
And really, that comparison was apt as Glitterwing tapped on a control panel to remove the frosting blocking the view inside. In but a few seconds she could clearly see inside and make out the shape of the draconequus floating inside.
"Well, well, if it isn't my favour little chaotic troublemaker," they exclaimed in a happy tone.
Glitterwing smiled. "Hello Discord, been a while."
Discorded nodded. "It has, hasn't it?"
Her smile quickly turned into a frown as she watched him push against the wall that separated the two. "How are you holding up?"
"As well as I can do, giving the circumstance," his own smile quickly dissolving. "There's few things I'd like more than to stretch my legs."
"I know... but yo-"
"Yes yes," he waved her off. "I know that's not possible."
Glitterwing frowned. A creature like Discord, a primordial spirit, they were some of most powerful creatures in existence. And yet... because of how strongly they were tied into their very concept, they could not live without it.
When the wast majority of all living things on Equuis died, Discord was doomed to fade away. Celestia's feedback system saved him, but it forced him to live in a tiny little bubble all by himself. Despite her own troubled history with the spirit, she couldn't help but to feel pity for him.
His counter-part, the tree of harmony and it's spirit were equally stuck in a sphere on the opposite side of the ship. Due to the nature of things and the cruelty, few knew about it.
"How long have we been in space now?" He asked.
She quickly did the math in her head. "We're getting close to two months now... but, hasn't anyone else been by?"
Discord flashed a sad smile. "Luna dropped by on launch day to announce us taking flight, but you're the first one since."
She sat down, getting ready to spend the rest of the day with the spirit of chaos. He deserved more than to sit by his lonesome day in and day out.
Sometimes she had to wonder though, were they cruel in keeping him alive?