Epilogue
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Twilight Sparkle paced back and forth in Canterlot Tower. The tiara of Magic lay on the carpet before her. Her head hung low; her misdeeds were an anvil around her neck. The doors behind her glided open on well-oiled hinges. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Scootaloo slowly approached her, their hoofsteps muffled by the red carpet.
Twilight's ears pricked up and she turned around. “Girls...” Her eyes were red and puffy.
“We thought you'd be here, sugarcube,” said Applejack. The necklace of Honesty was still fastened around her neck. She rested a forehoof gently on Twilight's shoulder.
Rarity uttered a small whimper. “Oh, darling, you look positively dreadful! Have you slept?”
As Twilight shook her head, Fluttershy and Pinkie ran to her and embraced her warmly. They too wore their Elements, as did Rarity and Scootaloo.
“Don't be so hard on yourself!” said Pinkie, nuzzling Twilight's neck.
“It's all over now,” said Fluttershy.
Twilight freed herself from her friends' embrace and took a few steps back. A forehoof rested atop the tiara on the floor. “No, you don't understand. It's not over. Everything I've done... I've committed crimes I'll never be able to atone for.” She stared at the ground.
Scootaloo entered her field of vision and stared into her eyes. “You can't give up, Twilight. No matter how bad everything looks... you've gotta stay true to yourself and your friends. Rainbow Dash was dead, Cloudsdale had fallen, and I was in the dungeon with Bastion almost killing me.” Tears welled in her eyes as she struggled to continue. “I never gave up, not once. I couldn't give up. You can't give up.”
Twilight knelt down and held Scootaloo tightly. “You're – you're right. If you'd given up... everypony I love and care about would be dead, and I would've spent the rest of my life as Cosmo's slave...”
Applejack joined Twilight and gently removed her hoof from atop her Element. “So, have ya heard about what happened after Cosmo's death?”
“No... I've been wandering around the castle all night. It looks so different now. I can't believe how much he warped it.”
Rarity levitated the tiara of Magic and placed it on Twilight's head. “Wear that proudly, dear. The first thing I did afterward was help tend to the wounded.” She looked at Twilight grimly. “Thousands lie dead. They will be buried this afternoon. The battlefield will be turned into a graveyard, to serve as an eternal reminder of the repercussions of such a grisly war.”
She began to pace as she continued her bleak recount. “I was told that everypony saw it when the Elements smote the King. They stopped fighting when they realized what had happened. It turns out many of them only served him through fear and his mind oppression. It is... a shame that they didn't surrender until then. The war is over, and Princess Luna is to be crowned Queen of Equestria within the hour.”
Twilight blinked. “Queen?”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah. She's the last of the royal bloodline, isn't she? Cosmo wiped out all her relatives. Everypony's been saying that after all Luna's done for Equestria and what she's been through, she's ready for it.”
“Oh, yes,” said Fluttershy. “What she did took a lot of courage. I'm glad she'll be our Queen.”
Still kneeling, Twilight stared at her friends. “It's wonderful that she's taking on the responsibility. It must be hard for her. But... but what are we going to do? I destroyed your homes – my home.”
A voice came from the doorway. “We'll rebuild it!”
“Spike!” Twilight leapt up and galloped toward him as he ran to her, arms outstretched. The two hugged in the middle of the long hall. Tears streamed down Spike's face. “You're okay! Spike! You're okay!”
“I should be saying the same to you!” said Spike as he clung to her tightly. It was as if he was afraid he'd lose her if he ever let go. “They did it! You're – you're saved! I'm... so happy!”
Twilight collapsed into his arms, nearly crushing him as she sobbed into his shoulder.
“You're darn right, Spike!” said Applejack as everypony gathered around them. “I'll work my flank off until Ponyville's right back where it should be!”
“As will I!” said Rarity. “Somepony's got to oversee the design!”
“And I'll help feed all the hungry ponies every night!” said Pinkie.
“I'm sure that once we finish rebuilding the shelter, the animals and I would love to help you make a new library,” said Fluttershy.
Twilight choked back a fresh torrent of tears as she staggered backward and sat up. “How can everypony forgive me, just like that? You're the best friends a pony could ask for, but how can I face the rest of Equestria?”
Scootaloo trotted next to her. “They'll find a way. What matters is what you do now – how you feel. Didn't the Element of Magic allow you to use it? That means you're still the Element of Friendship. You're still good, Twilight! Everypony will realize that. It may not be now, it may not be in a few years even, but one day, they'll understand.”
Twilight pulled Scootaloo into her embrace with Spike. “You're right. All I can do is move forward. I'll help rebuild Ponyville, and anywhere else I or Cosmo destroyed, until everything is set right again.”
“I think forgiveness will come,” said Rarity. “Look, you're already a heroine.”
Twilight looked at Rarity and tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
Rarity pointed toward one of the walls. Twilight had not noticed before, but now she saw them. A series of new stained glass windows adorned the sides of Canterlot Tower. One depicted her and her friends standing above a fallen Princess Luna and firing the Elements of Harmony at King Cosmo. Another showed Soarin, Sheriff Silverstar, Chief Thunderhooves, King Gwaihir, Iniquitus, and Luna standing in a circle around a crescent moon. A third showed Scootaloo floating in the midst of a large red thunderbolt, identical to the one on the necklace of Loyalty, above a kneeling Bastion Yorsets, who spread his forelegs wide above his head.
Twilight wiped her cheeks and turned toward the door. She looked outward longingly. The others gathered around her and followed her gaze before looking back at her. Blood turned to ice water in her veins.
“Where... where is my brother?” she said in a hoarse whisper. She turned to her friends half-expectantly, as if she already knew the answer.
Everypony stared blankly at her. After what felt like an eternity, Applejack slowly shook her head.
It felt as if Twilight Sparkle's heart had stopped.
She staggered backward as if King Cosmo had thrust his hind legs into her gut. As she fell, Spike rushed out to catch her, and Rarity's horn shimmered as she propped her friend back up. Twilight's upper lip quivered, and hot tears stung her face.
Pinkie wrapped her in a warm embrace. “I'm... sorry...”
“There – there was nothing anypony could've done...” said Fluttershy, as she used her wingtips to wipe Twilight's tears away.
Rarity hugged Twilight, along with Pinkie. “You have to believe us. If there was any possible way –”
“I know, girls... I know...” Her voice cracked with strain. “I... I was the pony who made him that way.” The words spilled from her mouth like water breaching a dam. “When I was... that way... Cosmo made me torture my own brother...”
Twilight stared at the floor. “He never fought back. Not once. He didn't raise a hoof. He just let me... and I would've killed him if Cosmo didn't stop me and use his magic on him. There was nothing left of him... He would've killed you all if you didn't stop him.”
Everypony hugged Twilight as tightly as they could.
“Twilight...” said Rarity at last, her voice shaking. “He was himself again, for a moment, before he...” Her horn shimmered and a white handkerchief floated to her muzzle. She blew her nose, the sound echoing in the cavernous chamber. “The last thing he told us to do... was to save you, Twilight.”
Twilight would have fallen in a heap if her friends had not held her in place. She wept into Pinkie's shoulder. Everything else was lost to her, and she did not know how long she mourned. At last, when she felt as if she could not shed another tear, she slipped out of her friends' embraces and stood up. Every limb felt numb.
“Girls, please, I beg of you, don't repeat the same mistakes I did,” said Twilight with a shudder.
Fluttershy threw her forehooves around Twilight's neck and nuzzled her. “What do you mean?”
Twilight swallowed a painful lump in her throat. “When Cosmo broke my mind, he created visions of a dark cloud of smog that eradicated everything I know and love. In those dreams, I always tried to destroy it.” She gave Fluttershy a squeeze. “When I... murdered Princess Celestia, I became that cloud – that miasma. I became the very thing I hated and tried to destroy; it consumed me.”
Rarity gazed placidly at her. “You always become the thing you hate the most...”
“Oh, it's just so horrible!” said Fluttershy, patting Twilight's neck. “But it's all over now...”
Twilight shook her head and took a step backward, freeing herself from her friend's embrace. “It's not over. Cosmo is just an example of the type of manipulative pony who we must always fight. He told me that, 'None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe that they are free.' Don't you see, girls? We have to guard ourselves against this kind of evil. Otherwise, history will repeat itself.”
Scootaloo stood on her hind legs and jabbed the air with her forehooves. “If another Cosmo tries to mess with us, we'll be ready, and that's a promise!”
“Yer darn right we will be!” said Applejack, ruffling Scootaloo's mane.
“Didn't you say Luna's coronation was soon?” said Twilight hollowly. “You should get going.”
“What do you mean, 'you should get going'?” said Spike, wrapping his arms around one of her forelegs. “You're comin' with us!”
“No, Spike, I can't,” said Twilight. “You go on without me... I'll stay here. I can't face everypony now.”
“Don't be silly!” said Pinkie as she nudged Twilight's body with her muzzle. “You helped save all of us!”
“But –”
“Don't you 'but' me, darling!” said Rarity as she gestured toward the open door. “You're just as much a hero as anypony else in this war! If it wasn't for your Element of Magic, Cosmo would've killed us all!”
Twilight looked at everyone around her. “I... don't know what to say. Despite how evil I was... and everything I've done... you still stand by me.”
“We're just followin' in somepony's hoofsteps,” said Applejack, throwing a forehoof around her shoulder. “And what a mighty fine example of true friendship you've been. Look at it the other way: you still have your Element, showin' ya still got that quality, and got it strong, despite all you've been through.”
Twilight wordlessly mouthed thanks before wiping her eyes on her forehooves.
After giving Twilight one last heartfelt hug, everyone made their way toward the royal balcony, where Luna stood and waved at the crowd. In the castle grounds, all of the survivors of the Battle of Canterlot stood assembled next to a mountain of discarded weapons and armour. Soldiers from both armies mingled, their conflict forgotten.
Chief Thunderhooves, standing amidst his tribe, nodded at Twilight as they passed by. King Gwaihir stared at her solemnly at the crowd's edge. While they were not a part of the crowd, Twilight noticed his griffons perched along the battlements and towers. Iniquitus, paying them no mind, sat in the centre of the gathering and gazed at the balcony. His brood circled high above, gliding calmly upon the air current.
All applauded as Luna bowed her head. A large, dark crown studded with gleaming diamonds and a topaz in the centre rested upon it. As Twilight and the others ascended to the balcony, Luna cleared her throat, and the crowd fell silent.
“I am sorry,” said Luna. “I never wanted to be a Queen. I never wanted to rule or conquer. It is only with the greatest reluctance that I accept this crown. I should like to help everypony if possible – and not just ponies, but griffon, buffalo, dragon, and zebra. We should all want to help one another in this time of loss and sorrow. We must all live by one other's happiness as we rebuild what King Cosmo has destroyed. We do not want to hate and despise one another for what he has made us do, for the innocents he has made us slaughter. No – life in Equestria can be free and beautiful, as my late sister has shown for over a thousand years. We can live in peace and prosperity. But we have lost the way.” She briefly looked down at the ground sorrowfully before she found the strength to continue.
“The evil of Cosmo has poisoned our souls and has divided Equestria with hate, misery, and bloodshed, but do not despair. I have learned that those who are best suited for power absolute are those who want nothing to do with it. I am grateful that I have learned such a lesson. A thousand years of imprisonment have taught me a great deal. Know now that the misery that is upon us is but the passing of one pony's greed, and his desire to control and rule with an iron hoof. Evil can never truly triumph. The power it steals from the kingdom's subjects will inevitably return to its subjects. Be not afraid of your monarchs. Your monarchs should fear you, should they allow power to corrupt their hearts as it did to my brother. Dark times will pass, and tyrants will die, be it through the sands of time, or from the justice born of the goodness in us, and embodied in these six brave, brave ponies, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Know that their power far exceeds mine, and was the ultimate undoing of the King.”
She stepped back and bowed to Twilight and her friends, then resumed her place at the head of the balcony. “Subjects, don't give yourselves to tyrants – ponies who would despise and enslave you, who would regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think, and what to feel – who would use you as means to their ends! Don't give yourselves to wicked ponies – ponies driven by hatred, who would execute you for harbouring thoughts and ideals that differ from theirs! You have love and compassion in your hearts. You don't need to hate. Hatred and oppression are what drive tyrants forward. I beg of you, my beloved subjects, should I walk the path of my brother, do not hesitate. Rise up and put me in my place. The Elements of Harmony will always protect this land from evil, and should I fall into darkness, they will bring the light!” She emitted white light from her horn, and it illuminated the six Elements around her.
“I could not have defeated King Cosmo on my own. Never think that I am some sort of all-powerful ruler – nopony is. The King of Equestria is not within one, nor a group – but in all of us! You, you the citizens have the power, the power to create happiness, the power to create love, the power to send dictatorships crashing down upon the very same dictators who would see you subjugated! In the name of a free Equestria, let us all unite, pony, zebra, griffon, and dragon! Let us forget our past differences, our ancient conflicts. Let us forget the evil that drove us to war. I propose to hold true to my words, and to truly set you free, and I implore you to hold me to it. Tyrants will make the very same promise, but instead of freeing you, they free themselves and enslave their subjects! Now, let us fulfill that promise! Let us free Equestria, and do away with hate and fear. Now, in the name of Celestia, a ruler who I can only hope to live up to, let us all unite!”
A torrent of cheers crashed against the balcony, drowning out Luna's last few words. With the applause thundering through her, Twilight looked to the skies. Clouds had rolled over the sun, casting Canterlot Castle into sombre shadow. A drop of rain landed on her muzzle and slowly rolled down her cheek. She blinked as beams of sunlight began to pierce through, highlighting an uncanny outline within them. Twilight gawked in amazement as the face of Celestia beamed down at Twilight Sparkle, filling her with metaphysical warmth.
A gust blew the clouds away, revealing the bright sun overhead.
The End