//------------------------------// // Ch 3: Savior // Story: Reunion // by rlogic1994 //------------------------------// Reunion Ch 3: Savior By Rlogic1994 Twilight sighed as she caught sight of the grove. For her, this visit was going to be one of the most difficult. After Luna had sacrificed herself to save Equestria, the details of how it happened were muddled, partially because the blast knocked almost all memory of the event from every pony near it. But in the discrepancy of what happened, the public unjustly assumed the pony closest to the princess at the time was responsible, and this pony was Twilight Sparkle. Twilight had always been effected by others’ views on her, so naturally when people started blaming her, she started to believe them. It ate at her day and night if she could have done something to save one of her closest friends from death. She fell into a circle of bitter arguments with herself over what she could’ve done. The only reason this burning desire to know what could have been did not consume her was that she was engrossed in her work as ever, unable to suppress her workaholic tendencies. But now that she was retired, those thoughts bubbled to the surface again. But this time, instead of thinking of how she could have saved Luna, she came to accept that she couldn’t have. And moreover that Luna gave her life for a reason, not just to save Twilight. She gave her life for countless others, who are to this day and forever more grateful for her sacrifice. Now all Twilight had left to do was actually visit the princess of the night. The unicorn trotted along and made her way to the courtyard. In the center stood a beautiful sapphire blue crystal plate, on it was a crescent moon made from the whitest marble Twilight had ever seen. Around the slab were a whole language of runes and ancient symbols etched in patterns on the cool rock cobble. She made her way up to the slab and bowed respectfully. The slab itself was much more beautiful up close. It was made of a special stone called ceruleite. It was very difficult to find, but when it was put in the moonlight for long enough, it retained an unmatchable midnight blue. Almost exactly the same color as Luna’s coat. The gems that made the moon were set into blindingly white marble behind. Each gem was engraved with a different rune, all of which Twilight could recognize. They all spoke of her achievements and her failures, for Luna was never one to shy away from her sins. After the Nightmare Moon event, she had a press conference and told the public the truth about what had happened. Then Celestia joined her and they both told the tail of how Luna was transformed into a beast of malice. Twilight was there for every minute of it, so she remembered the feeling of surprise she felt when she realized that Celestia had more part in Luna’s transformation than people thought. Celestia had emphasized the fact that it was partially her fault, but most people just took it as the princess’s normal generosity. The story was sad and Twilight recalled that all who listened were at least watery eyed if not crying by the end. It truly was sad, but also beautiful, because it had a happy ending; two sisters, two friends, finally forgiving each other. “Hello Luna. I really didn’t know what I was going to do if I ever met you again. I couldn’t think of anything to say to you. Everyone blamed me and I believed them! I just couldn’t let go of the fact that one more of my friends had been taken away from me. And you really were my friend Luna, One of my best, like a sister who always watches out for me. I still remember the day you gave me my starting money for my research project and I am as grateful for it now as ever. But when I think of what to say to you now, only one thing comes to mind,” she said calmly, her soft voice brimming with melancholy, “I am truly sorry for what happened. I know that you don’t blame me, but I do. I need to apologize to you for my own peace of mind and so that I can be convinced you will rest peacefully.” “You would be happy if you saw how much people love you and are grateful for what you did that day. They even have an entire day dedicated to you. It is the only day that Celestia doesn’t raise the sun. So that everyone can see your unmatchable beauty of the night. You always did wow me with them, you know. Every time I looked into those obsidian skies, knowing I had seen it before, I get a renewed sense of awe and wonder as if it was the first time I’d ever seen the stars and the moon. After what happened I’m grateful too. But the world seems that much emptier without you, and I don’t doubt Celestia seems the same way. I guess I just m-miss you so much.” Twilight could feel her body shaking to give in to her emotions, but the last thing she needed was for Luna to worry about her. She needed to be strong like the princess was when she gave her life. But strength was never her strong suit, so her knees buckled and she kneeled down in front of the tombstone, sniffing and blinking tears out of her eyes. Why was she so weak when it came to things like this? Why could she not take control of her emotions? But as she thought more about it, she changed her opinion; she had a right to let her emotions get to her. She let go and let the tears roll down, filling the little grooves of the runes on the floor. “Why did this have to happen? Why did you have to die for Equestria to be saved? Oh Celestia, I can’t ever forget that day. It hurt so much, Luna. I just can’t even say. And I’m not talking about the blast! You! Your crumpled body! There was so much blood! I can’t get it out of my head…and when I tried to help it only-only-only made things WORSE! I was so useless. I couldn’t even heal a couple broken bones and some cuts! I couldn’t stop you from dying and I couldn’t stop my friends from leaving me either! I just…” she blubbered on, soon slamming her hoof into the cobble with frustration. She couldn’t hold back her cries over her friend. Although Celestia had too many duties to help Twilight with any of her projects, Luna had always been happy to, her less daunting schedule allowing another adventure with Twilight to be squeezed in. She had always helped Twilight if the unicorn ever asked, always available for advice and consoling. In her later years she became enormously generous to many people, any trace of Nightmare Moon’s malice gone from her soul, leaving a mare who wanted to heal and not destroy. It had been so many years since it happened, but Twilight still couldn’t think about it without a spear of anguish stabbing into her heart. It wasn’t just that she was gone, but that she had been Twilight’s first friend that wasn’t meant to be by fate. With Celestia, she was her teacher, so they were bound to be friends, especially with Celestia’s fond attitude about Twilight. With her friends in Ponyville, she had been destined to meet them and become the Element of Magic. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy that she had met them. But still, she had yet to meet a friend of her own. Luna was the first friend she made out of her own choice really. And they had become quite close, sending each other letters and talking through dreams often. “Just like sisters,” thought twilight fondly, recalling the fact that Celestia became ever the busier as time went on and new problems arose. So with less time to spend with Twilight and Luna, the two met up and became friends quite quickly, with their many common interests. It was only about a year into the war with Discord that Luna started to fight on the battlefield. Her first letter to Celestia was addressed partly to her sister and partly to Twilight. She had changed. She was more decisive and her tone when she spoke, as the letter spoke her voice with magic, she seemed like she was infinitely tired. She always seemed more wary, as if she was in danger of being murdered every second. Others would have struck her down as paranoid, but Twilight and Celestia, having known her better, recognized she was just scared. It may be surprising that something could scare an all powerful Alicorn who had lived for thousands of years, but Twilight knew that the Discord they were fighting this time was much more sinister. When they had seen him in his weakened form when he returned the first time, they had seen nothing, absolutely nothing, of the devastating horrors that had ravaged the world when he had returned full power. Sometimes when she closed her eyes Twilight could still see the blood red flames and the screams, those horrible echoing shrieks. And the faces of all who had fallen, their cold eyes pierced Twilight and looked into her soul, as if judging her for her sins. It was only after Discord was gone and her good friend had died did she realize how lucky she had been. Like with all things, she had only realized the worth of peace and her friends when it was all too late. “It was too late. It will always be too late,” she pondered solemnly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in to calm herself before continuing. But she was not very frantic anymore; she had been humbled by the war and her loss. She was not the lively mare who once learned a new lesson every day. She was an old pony, filled with regret, hoping to find solace by taking a journey to finish what she had started. She got up off the floor slowly, wiping the last of the tears from her face. She used her magic to reach out to an object in her bag, a parting gift for Luna. It was nothing special, but it had meaning between them. It was a beautiful deep blue lily, made completely from pure magic fibers, which made it glow and shimmer with mysterious beauty. Its stem was made from the same material but thorns stuck out at random points. Twilight had made it with only the thought of Luna in mind. She thought that the radiant flower represented Luna perfectly, as a beautiful flower, but one that also possessed thorns. But even the magic flower that she had spent many sleepless nights slaving over did not feel like a proper repayment for the Alicorn of the Night. So Twilight concentrated her magic and didn’t cast any spell in particular. What she did do was let her own emotions flow through the air towards the tombstone in a magical wisp of energy. When she looked up to the tombstone, it seemed to shine as if moonlight was reflecting off of it. It was the best she could do, so Twilight was happy with it. She stayed there for another hour before reluctantly getting to her hoofs to leave. But before she did, she touched the tombstone one last time before turning. As she walked down the hill, she thought about her next destination, a hill west of Canterlot that had a perfect view of Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Canterlot, and the lands beyond. It lay at an even higher altitude than Canterlot, just below the clouds. She concentrated her magic again and vanished with a flash. She reappeared in front of the hill she had been thinking about with a low crack.