//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Disease in the Darkness // by Kaii-Leiko //------------------------------// It marked exactly one year since the death of Twilight. For a while her friends and family thought that life wouldn't be able to go on without her. It made no sense. How odd it was to not see her in the library any more. Their were no more adventures with Twilight for her friends. No more family visits to the Crystal Empire to see Shining Armour and Cadance and no more friendship reports delivered to Princess Celestia. As fate would had it the one year anniversary of Twilight's death was a Sunday, and Fluttershy was at the place where her wife had been lain to rest; as she was every Sunday. It was there day after all. Every time she went she promised she wouldn't cry, and every time she broke that promise. It was no different that day. As she laid the lone lavender flower on Twilight's grave the tears took over and she spent several minutes crying. When she finally calmed down she began talking. She would never know if Twilight could hear her, but it made her feel better to think that Twilight could. She spoke about everything and nothing. Then silence took over, only briefly though. "I miss you, you know? I think about you every day and what our lives would be like if you'd stayed. I feel so empty now and I think the others do too. Nopony talks about it because by now we're expected to have moved on but I don't think we have. I know I haven't. I never even got to tell you how pretty you looked in your dress." The tears came again. She knew they would. " You were the most beautiful bride a pony could have asked for. And I never got to tell you it was thanks to you that I mangaed to stand up to Darklight. In a way you saved yourself, because it was your strength that made me strong. And- And I still love you. As much as the day you kissed me in the library. It's so hard to be without you now Twilight. And I feel so bad because I feel like I'm forgetting things about you. I forget the way you felt in my legs when we'd wake up tangled together. This is gonna sound weird but I can't smell you on the pillow you'd sleep on any more but I know that it comforted me for a long time after you were gone. So many things about you are leaving, and if one more pony tells me I need to move one I think I'm going to scream." There was more, of course. There always was. Fluttershy had a lifetime worth of things to tell Twilight. Saying them all at once was hard though, so that was enough for now. "I miss you...." Fluttershy finished lamely. "I'm trying to move on but it's so hard. Maybe one day I won't feel the need to come here all the time, but I feel like that would be wrong. Like somehow I didn't really love you, which I do..." Fluttershy sighed. "Oh, Twilight...I'll come back to visit you soon, okay? I love you." Fluttershy turned around and began walking away. As she always did she glanced behind her once. Of course Twilight wasn't standing there, smiling at her. She wished she was though. She turned around and kept walking, making her way home. One day she would have to let go. It was all part of moving on.