Celestia strolled around the crystalline holographic projection of Equestria on the table beside her. Her eyes idly flicked back and forth from the many intricate details of her wondrous nation all perfectly captured in the miniature model before her.
Sitting across from her, her cheek resting on her hoof as her elbow supported her head, Luna's eyelids drooped as the sun climbed ever higher into the sky. Much as she would have liked to simply take a nap, the priority of hearing what Twilight had to say took precedence.
Both princesses' attention snapped to the door as Twilight hobbled in, Spike by her side. Once she was inside, she quickly whispered into Spike's ear. He gave her an offended look and clearly wanted to protest, but after a quiet plea from the lavender alicorn, he sighed and relented. Spike quickly exited the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Twilight alone with the two diarchs.
"What was so important that you needed to discuss with us in private, Twilight?" Celestia asked, her brow furrowing in concern.
"It's about Cooper. Well... more so about his family." Twilight began, a sad sigh leaving her lips.
Now much more awake, Luna turned to Twilight, "What do you mean? His family is gone, are they not?"
Twilight nodded, "They are... the problem is that... I don't know if Cooper will understand that."
Celestia looked at her for a few moments, a scrutinous look in her gaze, "You're worried that he will ask you to go back in time to save his family." She deducted.
A dejected look formed on Twilight's face as her eyes fell to the floor, "Yes." She admitted.
"Changing the past once is one thing, but if you were to do that again... it could serve to completely disrupt the time-space continuum." Luna responded.
"Regardless, even if you were to try, it's simply not possible." Celestia reasoned.
"I know that... the problem is... I don't think he does." Twilight muttered.
"What do you mean? Isn't it possible?" Luna asked, curiously.
Twilight shook her head, "The time dilation between universes is one thing... but there's another reason it simply isn't possible. A reason that the future me shoved into my brain and I can't stop thinking about it... but telling Cooper will absolutely break his heart."
"Sister?" Luna questioned, glancing over to Celestia.
"The portal was designed by Starswirl just a decade before his and the other pillars' disappearance. We didn't know most of its secrets when you were banished to the moon, sister, but... I learned much from the portal when I tried to find ways to bring you back." Celestia admitted, earning a look of shock from the lunar alicorn.
"So... what did you learn?" Luna asked, cautiously.
"Nothing good, sister... nothing good..."
Cooper stepped toward the center of town with an uncharacteristically soft look in his eyes. He walked with a steady gait, as if he were simply taking his time to enjoy the sights and sounds of a town that wasn't reduced to ashes. His enjoyment of the moment was dampened somewhat by the wide berth the local ponies gave him, many of them opting to hide indoors while he progressed through the town center. Luckily, the steps of his two guards managed to provide some much needed white noise to help drown out the quietness.
While Sky and Midnight were both excellent at maintaining their professional composure, they did share a few glances in curiosity as they followed Cooper like a shadow. He spent an odd amount of time simply looking back up at the sun, his eyes closed as he paused in his walk, making them both halt behind him as he enjoyed the sun's rays. Odd as it seemed, the guards found themselves biting their tongues in empathy for the creature who'd gone so long without even seeing the sun.
Eventually, Cooper lowered his head and continued forward, right into the market square. There were dozens of ponies out and about, buying and selling their wares or food-stuffs, their attention focused solely on the tasks before them. That all changed, however, as the only human in Equestria rounded the corner. Nearly everypony in the market street suddenly turned their heads toward Cooper, dropping whatever it was that they were doing at once.
While, to their credit, the ponies didn't immediately flee, a noticeable tension filled the air, as if one wrong move would send them all into a scattering stampede. Taking the sight of so many faces frozen in concern and fear, Cooper placed his hands in his pockets and proceeded forward in the least threatening way he could. Sky and Midnight quickly followed behind, their mere presence working to relax the nerves of the townsponies as Cooper approached them.
Cooper casually made his way through the street until arriving at a flower stand occupied by the three flower sisters. Sitting at the booth, nervously gulping as Cooper approached, was Roseluck. Her sisters were both hiding behind her or the tables covered in flowers that made up their stand.
"U-um... good morning, sir. How can I help you?" Roseluck managed to ask, her voice trembling slightly.
Cooper glanced down at the flowers, finding every assortment of floral beauty he could ever imagine. For a moment, he simply ignored the petrified tan coated earth pony mare as surveyed the bouquets of roses, lily's, petunia's, and more. The gentle, sweet scent of the flowers wafted up to his nose, and Cooper couldn't keep from leaning down slightly and smelling the roses as their bright red petals shown invitingly in the mid-morning sunlight.
Roseluck frowned slightly in confusion, her eyes darting to the pair of royal guards behind the human smelling her roses. Unfortunately, they both kept their expressions neutral, neither one giving any real response other than a mute shrug.
"Uh... would you... like to buy some roses, sir?" Roseluck asked, now consciously aware that all the ponies in the street were staring at her and this human.
Cooper finally glanced up at the small earth pony mare, her soft two-toned mane of red spilling over her shoulder and giving her a fair appearance. To say that she looked adorable would be an understatement, and Cooper instantly felt a wave of deja vu wash over him as the sight of Twilight looking up to him as they first met, superimposed itself over the flower mare before him.
"Uh, sorry. Got a little distracted there... it's been about five years since I saw flowers this beautiful. How much are they?" Cooper asked, standing upright.
At his pleasant and friendly demeanor, Roseluck's expression suddenly shifted to one of warmth and welcoming, "Oh, well thank you! The roses just came into season last week! Since we're still in late spring, we were a bit surprised that the lilies sprouted this soon, but they just bloomed yesterday! If you'd like, I can have a bouquet put together for you of both and some tulips for good measure. These ones just bloomed a few weeks ago." She explained, gesturing to each flower breed respectively.
Cooper nodded, "That sounds nice, but... do you have any white roses?" He asked, looking over the selection.
Roseluck pursed her lips, "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Those don't bloom until Autumn. If these are for... a less than thrilling affair, I do have some peace lilies that just came into season." She offered, an apologetic look on her face.
Cooper nodded, "How much for two of those?" He asked.
"Those are one bit a piece, so two bits, sir." Roseluck smiled.
Cooper's brow instantly furrowed, "Two... bits?" He parroted, the confusion evident in his tone.
"Yes, is... that a problem, sir?" Roseluck asked, shrinking in on herself slightly.
Cooper pursed his lips and quickly turned to his guards, "Uh... what exactly is a 'bit'?" He inquired.
"Equestrian currency, sir." Sky replied.
"Basically a solid gold coin, stamped with her highnesses likeness." Midnight clarified.
Cooper's shoulders slumped, "Solid gold?"
Sky and Midnight nodded, leaving the man to adopt a defeated look on his face. He lethargically turned back to Roseluck, all the excitement and happiness suddenly drained from his entire body.
"I, uh... I don't have any bits. Sorry for wasting your time." He offered, before turning to leave.
"Wait, sir." Midnight spoke up, making Cooper pause.
Without giving him a chance to argue, the unicorn guard promptly trotted up to the booth and magic'd two gold coins out of a pocket in her armor plate and levitated them over to Roseluck.
"Uh, you don't have to-" Cooper began, only for Midnight to cut him off.
"It's no trouble, sir. Don't worry, we'll get you a steady income soon enough." She replied, cheerily levitating two of the peace lilies over to Cooper.
Albeit with a moment of hesitation, Cooper accepted the flowers from her magical hold. He gave a grateful look to the unicorn guard, to which she gave a small smile in return. With his business concluded, he gave a nod of thanks to Roseluck before departing with his guard escort right behind him.
"Come back anytime, sir!" Roseluck called after him, a cheery smile on her face.
As Cooper walked away, he couldn't help but admire the two lilies held in his hand. He idly stroked his thumb over the petals, feeling their soft texture against his skin for the first time in so long. It was enough to distract him from the ponies around him as they returned to business as usual.
With some minor guidance from the two guards behind him, Cooper soon found himself standing before a large magnolia tree at the edge of town. The Everfree forest loomed off in the distance, sending a slight chill down the spines of both equines, yet for Cooper, it was a much different feeling. Rather than nerves or fear at the sight of the foreboding forest, he felt a slight hint of nostalgia at the sight of wild and untamed woodlands.
While the guards both bore a sense of fear and dread at the proximity of the forest, they still managed to keep their bearings and military discipline as Cooper knelt on the grass just in front of the magnolia tree. He slowly and gently placed each of the lilies on the ground in front of the tree, his head bowed and his eyes downcast. It was immediately obvious to both mare and stallion just what he was doing, but they opted to say nothing, out of respect for their charge and the loss he was clearly still grieving.
"I'm not sure if you two can hear me... not sure if I'm even still alive anymore... recent events have been... well, magical feels like the right word, I guess. God... Sarah, I wish you could've seen this place... you woulda been off the walls at the sight of unicorns and pegasai." Cooper quietly spoke, his voice almost imperceptible to the guards standing a respectable distance away.
A soft breeze gently blew over the group, making the grass wave and the hair hanging down in front of Cooper's eyes, part for a moment. His tears could only be seen for a moment before the breeze died down and his shaggy mop of hair covered his face once more.
"I don't know if I can get you back... don't know if it's even possible... Even if it is, might not be me that would save you... protect you... look after you. It's all so confusing... I was never the smartest guy around... probably for the best since you had enough brains for the both of us, huh, Mia?" Cooper quietly chuckled.
He fell silent for a short while, his thumb idly stroking the soft petals of the peace lilies before him as his mind wandered. Both the pegasus and unicorn behind him slowly moved closer, each wearing a look of sympathy and concern for the man as he rested on his knees, his shoulders slouched and his head hung low.
"I need to talk to Twilight. I'll... she's smart. Hell... she saved my life... who's to say she can't save yours too?" Cooper finished, finally placing both lilies on the grass in front of the tree and sitting upright.
"Sir?" Midnight asked, worry in her voice.
"Just Cooper, please. Never been a fan of being called 'sir'." Cooper replied, quietly.
"Alright, Cooper... are you okay?" Midnight pressed, gently.
Cooper sniffled, quickly wiping the remains of the tears from his face, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. Sorry about that."
"You don't have to apologize for anything, Cooper. It's obvious you've lost someponies very close to you." Sky comforted.
Cooper nodded as he got back up to his feet, "Yeah... heh... someponies..." He chuckled.
"Sorry, wrong terminology." Sky sheepishly apologized.
"Don't worry about it. If anything, Sarah would've loved that term." Cooper admitted, with a sad smile.