//------------------------------//
// Coda: Peace 
// Story: Devotion's End 
// by Undome Tinwe 
//------------------------------//



XX.



Dawn breaks o'er walls of steel
And arcane wires glowing faint
The speakers floating high do peal
With melodies of times more quaint

Flying constructs high above
A grassy hill that's lost to time
Atop the mound, a flitting dove
Descends on pair of graves begrimed

"Here lies two devoted wives
Who taught the world a better way
And out of love did give their lives
To guarantee a brighter day"

Smiling softly by the stone
A mare does poke her wife in jest
"That epitaph has quite the tone
Dramatic were we 'fore our rest"

"True enough," her partner laughs
"And truer still, that we did well
To abdicate, and give the cuffs
Of leadership with our farewell"

"You were right, right from the start,
That rule of alicorns must end
But glad I am we did not part
When time came for us to defend

"Cause for which we long had strained"
A gentle kiss, a reverie
As past recalled, free of pain
And princesses no more to see

"Thankful am I that you made
The sacrifice that I could not
To save the world from my crusade
Then did not leave me there to rot"

"Debt was paid, on fateful day."
Does Cozy softly say in turn
"And I could never part my ways
With such a beauty that I earned"

Silence stretches 'cross the hill
In quiet contemplation's shade
Two alicorns, both standing still
As twilight softly, gently fades

"So another day begins”
Says Flurry as she turns to leave
“And much to do, in all this din
Before we earn our sweet reprieve"

“We have all the time we need
To see the sights this city boasts
And din, you say, as if indeed
We came not for the concert most”

“Concert, yes, but that’s tonight
For now the streets play lesser fare”
As Flurry turns her nose up high
So Cozy giggles at her mare 

“More vacations we should take”
The former pegasus replies
“If I had known that death would make
Us take up jobs as part of prize

“Crown I never would have passed”
At comment made does Flurry smile
For she knows well they’ve both surpassed
Their previous lives by many miles

“Happiness in toil we’ve found”
She says with one last look behind
“But truer still our clocks our wound
Too tightly still, for we might find

“Peace at last if we would just 
Accept the rest that we have earned
As other alicorns suggest
Perhaps the next life we’ll have learned”

“Years have we until this life
Must then be doffed, and yet I doubt
That I nor you, beloved wife
Would spend a lifetime just passed out”

“Maybe so, and yet I see
My aunt so happy on the beach
With drink in hoof, right by the sea”
At this does Cozy then beseech

"Do not use her as a guide
As we both know that without toil
Our minds would wither, and our pride
Could not accept such lifestyles spoilt"

"Truly," Flurry does concede
"But let us not on future dwell
When present we have both agreed
Has much for us to do as well"

Casting spells to hide their wings 
A pair of unicorns depart
From monument to long-cut strings
And sacrifices of the heart