I wonder when I last felt so calm. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been focused on everything, stressing over something. My mind rests when I sleep, but when I wake up I worry about every little detail.
Did I study enough for my lesson?
Do I have the right materials?
Did I miss any important details?
Do I have the time to do everything in a day?
Is everything where it needs to be?
Am I going to disappoint anyone?
If I didn’t focus on something, the thought would scramble through my brain constantly. If I’m not studying, if I’m not researching, if I’m not doing something to make another proud… I felt as though I’d failed them.
Like I let them down.
But I don’t feel any of that here…
This strange void… It’s almost like a dream.
I’m floating in it, like it’s cradling me. I can’t remember when I felt so at peace, like nothing in the world matters at all anymore.
And I guess in some way it doesn’t.
The world will continue on without me, won’t it? If I just floated here forever, time would keep moving. Ponies would come and go, live and die, change the world around them and pass away all the same.
In the end I’m just a blip on this endless clock. What have I contributed to the world? Was I trying to get to the point where I would change the world? All the constant studying, trying to learn all about magic and knowledge, about history and psychology…
What was it all for?
Once I die, that knowledge goes with me. All they’ll have left are the words I wrote. But they won’t be the same as having me there.
Others may learn from what I made, what I learned, what I wrote… But it won’t be the same as having me there.
A legacy is only as good as those who remember it. And if I were to die before I could write down mine… Then I achieved nothing.
I wonder if other ponies feel this way. If it ever crosses their mind how pointless life can be.
Maybe you can make a dress.
Maybe you can raise some animals.
Maybe you can create spectacles.
Maybe you can grow crops for everyone.
Maybe you can entertain them.
But in the end it amounts to nothing. Short, fleeting moments of seeing everyone happy, and then they vanish into the blip known as time.
I wonder if I’ve just stopped caring, or if this void dulls my emotions. I’m sure thoughts like these would’ve had me crying for hours before. Afraid of my future, afraid of my own death, afraid that what I dedicated my life to will mean nothing and that I’ll die forgotten and useless.
Maybe it’s because I can’t even tell if I’m alive or dead anymore. I can’t feel anything but the slow pull of something dragging me along as I float here.
I wonder if my friends made it out alive. I fought to the bitter end for them… And I can’t even tell if they made it out alive or not.
Maybe that’s why I’m so apathetic. Because even if I did worry, there’s nothing I could do about it now.
There’s no point to anything anymore. I’m sure soon enough I’ll fade away.
I think for now I’ll just close my eyes and get some sleep. I’m not going anywhere, and it’ll help pass the time.
I wonder what dreams are like in a void.
-----
A dull throbbing pain began to beat in her mind. A small groan escaped her lips as consciousness was returning to her. Her eyes opened slowly, wincing at the light that began to shine through them. A blurry white ceiling greeted her as her eyes adjusted. A slow, constant beep came to her ears next, a familiar sound that she immediately recognized as a heart monitor.
Her eyes opened fully and her room came into view. She was lying in a single white bed, angled just ever so slightly for more comfortable sleep. To her right was a window through which she could see the upper buildings she recognized from Canterlot. The sky was cloudy, blotting most of the sun, so the day had a dim shade of gray cast upon it. To her left was a chair, a bedside table, several counters, and some pictures for decoration. Behind her was several pieces of equipment, one being the meter that was displayed a spiking green line with each passing beep.
“I’m… I’m in Canterlot General?” Twilight groaned, slowly shifting to sit up. Her body ached and her head was throbbing, but she wasn’t in any severe pain. A shiver ran down her spine as her senses came back, feeling how cold and numb her neck felt in comparison to the rest of her body.
She reached a hoof up to her neck and felt the tube that were connected, giving her fluids that were most likely keeping her alive. With a swift tug the tube came loose, though she couldn’t feel anything from the numbness.
“It’s quiet…” She murmured to herself, shaking her head as she pulled herself out from under the covers. Her hooves touched the cold ground and her knees almost buckled. She took a deep breath and straightened her stance, shaking her head to clear it.
She closed her eyes and channeled her magic, feeling the reservoir having been replenished. She searched deeper and tried to find the things she had been carrying when she was last awake, finding them to be missing.
‘I suppose that makes enough sense,’ she thought to herself. ‘When I used up all my magic using Merlin’s spell, they would’ve been expelled from my magic.’
She opened her eyes and took another look at her surroundings, looking for a single sign that something was out of place. The floors were clean, the walls didn’t have a single sign of rust or splatter of blood, and she could even see out the window. There was no fog, no siren, no sounds that were out of place.
“Am… Am I out?” Her voice quivered a little, slowly walking up to the window. Looking out of it she could see the ponies of Canterlot walking around as usual, going about their daily lives peacefully. “T-This isn’t a dream? A flashback? I’m… I’m really free?”
A click echoed through the room, Twilight’s head snapping to look in the direction it came from. The door to the room was moving, the handle turning before opening with a creak. Twilight’s body froze, staring at the door in fear. Her breath was caught in her throat and her heart stopped as the door opened fully.
Stepping through the door was a white pony adorned with a small hat with a red cross on it. She was looking down at a clipboard before looking up to stare at me, her eyes widening at the site.
“Miss Sparkle! You’re awake!” The nurse gasped, quickly rushing across the room, “But you shouldn’t be out of bed yet!”
“STAY BACK!” Twilight cried, pushing her back to the wall. The nurse stopped short of Twilight, blinking in surprise. “Who are you!? How did I get here!?” Twilight was visibly shaking with panic, her mind not willing to believe that everything was alright yet.
“You… You’re in Canterlot General.” The nurse spoke calmly, trying to reassure her patient. “We found you critically injured in Ponyville when the fog lifted. You were immediately rushed here for treatment.”
“You found me in Ponyville?” Twilight asked, the nurse slowly nodding her head. “I… I was in Ponyville… But the fog… You said the fog lifted?”
“About three days ago Ponyville suddenly became shrouded in a thick fog. Ponies that tried to enter it never came back out, so it was quarantined until we could figure out what was going on. Then the fog just suddenly lifted and…” The nurse hesitated for a moment before speaking, “We found so many ponies… We found you in Town Hall and brought here as quickly as we could.”
“So… So I’m back?” Twilight’s voiced quivered as she tried to take in all the information, “I’m actually… home?”
“Yes, you’re home. You’ve been through a lot and you need to rest for now.” The nurse spoke comfortingly, drawing closer to Twilight. The nurse raised her hoof to press against Twilight cheek, Twilight flinching at the touch. But as she felt the warmth of the nurse’s hoof, she could feel the tension in her body draining away, and suddenly she felt how tired she was.
“Here, let’s get you back in bed.” The nurse smiled, gently wrapping a hoof around Twilight and helping her back on to her hooves. She guided her back to the bed and helped tuck her back in, Twilight taking a shuddering breath as she felt tears forming at the edge of her eyes. “Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”
Twilight’s stomach let out a small growl at the mention of food, and she couldn’t help but nod.
“I’ll bring something in real soon, I just need to let the others know you’re awake first.” The nurse smiled before turning to leave the room. She closed the door behind her and left Twilight to herself.
Twilight turned her back to the door, staring out the window with which she could see the light of a cloudy day. She turned her head into her pillow and let herself sob, letting the fear and tension of everything she’d seen and done escape into her pillow.
-----
The hospital good was plain, though she knew it was in her mouth she couldn’t taste anything. Perhaps it was her mind filtering everything out, numb to the world around her, but she barely registered herself eating. The only solace she had was that doing so quelled her stomach for the time being.
She was left alone in the quiet room with her thoughts, and the slow tapping of her spoon against the tray. Her mind was having difficulty accepting that she was back home now, that sitting here wasn’t going to trigger some horrific vision or that the world was going to start shifting around her. But the longer she sat, the quieter the room became.
As her plate was nearly empty she placed her spoon down and stared at the empty tray, unsure of what to do next. Her head leaned back against the pillow on her bed and stared at the ceiling, watching the florescent lights that quietly buzzed. She wondered what had become of everyone else, of her friends since she last saw them.
She wondered if they were okay, if they were alive. Lance had told her that they were only dead if she truly believed them to be dead, but that only applied for that fog-filled world. She had seen Rarity be impaled by Merlin’s sword, she had seen Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as rotting forms of their former selves, and she had seen Applejack burst into ash right in front of her.
What became of them once the fog had lifted?
The door to Twilight’s room clicked loudly again and she turned her head to see who was entering. Her whole body froze as the large pony walked into her room. The long flowing regal hair, the golden decorations on her body, the solid white coat, and those light magenta eyes, it could only be her mentor.
“Twilight, I’m glad to see you’ve finally awoken.” The Princess smiled at her pupil, happy to see that she was okay.
Twilight stared at her mentor, the figure she had grown up with, the one who had taught her everything she knew. Visions of Celestia flashed before Twilight’s eyes, seeing the Princess bound to a table by chains in that hellish world. Watching as her body warped and transformed into that creature, watching as she slammed her into a wall, watching as she slowly picked Spike up and-
“Twilight, are you alright? Your hoof is shaking.” Celestia’s voice broke Twilight from her visions. Twilight looked down at the hoof on her tray, seeing it visibly shaking in place. She placed her other hoof on top of it, slowly calming the quaking as she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself.
“I-I’m alright.” Twilight sheepishly smiled, trying to convince herself more than her teacher. “I’m… Just happy to see you’re okay.”
Celestia was quiet for a moment, looking down at her student with worry. Twilight stared back, her smile slowly fading as the seconds passed. She turned her head to look away from her mentor, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes to try and calm herself.
“I would understand if you’re not okay, Twilight.” Celestia spoke calmly. Twilight blinked in surprise, turning to look at her mentor again. “You’ve just been through a great ordeal, and managed to come out of it alive. You saw things no pony should ever have to see in their entire life… And you saw things, even from me, that I wish nopony else had to see.” Her voice was solemn and sincere; closing her eyes as she gently lowered her head in a bow.
Twilight didn’t know how to react to this, biting her lips at Celestia’s words. It was true that not everything was alright, but what could she possibly do about that? She needed some clarity, some peace of mind to stop thinking about that awful world.
“My friends…” Twilight spoke, her voice hoarse suddenly, “I… I want to see my friends.” Her lips trembled, looking at her mentor with a small fraction of hope.
“Of course.” Celestia smiled once more. “Here, I’ll escort you myself. This is something you need to see for yourself.”
Twilight couldn’t help but get a sense of foreboding from Celestia’s words. She swallowed her worries quietly, then stepped off of the bed to follow her teacher.
-----
A soft chill blew through the brisk winter’s day. A blanket of snow covered the ground far below as Celestia’s chariot soared through the sky.
Twilight couldn’t help but stare at the ground, thinking that if this had been a normal day, she would’ve thought it was fairly lovely weather. But now a gloom seemed to hang through the air as she rode alongside Celestia. The silence between them was thick, only broken by the rushing air and sounds of guards flapping their wings.
Twilight could see the town of Ponyville as they quickly approached it. The town wasn’t covered in a layer of fog anymore, and the houses looked just like they did before the fog had covered everything. She could only see a few ponies walking the streets of Ponyville, something that was unusual for the quaint little town.
The chariot came down for a landing in the town square, Twilight and Celestia arriving in Ponyville. Twilight stepped out first, looking around her familiar home town. Things were quiet, but she could see some ponies staring back at her. Though there were ponies, a shiver ran down her back. She couldn’t help but feel like it was somehow a ghost town still.
“When the fog lifted, a lot of ponies were scared and confused.” Celestia spoke as she stepped down from her chariot. “They first tried to find friends and loved ones. And once they found whatever they could, many packed their bags and left. If Ponyville seems quiet, it’s because most of the population has already left.”
“I guess I can’t blame them…” Twilight murmured, watching the ponies who had been staring turn and slowly trot away, as if life had left them.
“I sent your friends a message saying we’d be arriving soon. I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now-“ Celestia was interrupted by a rush of wind, followed by a soft thud and Twilight letting out a grunt of surprise.
“Twilight! I was so worried about you!” The familiar pink pony squeezed her friend tight. “You were in a coma and nothing we could do could wake you! I was so worried something terrible had happened to you in that world! I’m so sorry I couldn’t have done more for you!”
“Pinkie.” Twilight coughed trying to breathe again, before pushing against the pink pony. She looked into Pinkie’s face and could see fresh tears starting to roll down her face. Pinkie’s hair was still flat and she wiped her tears away as she smiled at Twilight.
“I’m so glad you’re safe Twilight! I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you!” Pinkie wrapped her legs around Twilight again, burying her head into her friend’s shoulder.
“I’m… I’m really glad you’re safe too Pinkie.” Twilight closed her eyes and hugged her friend back, just happy to have her friend okay. “What about the others? Are they okay too?”
“See for yourself.” Pinkie pulled back with a smile before turning her head. Twilight looked in the direction Pinkie was looking and saw four familiar ponies rushing in quick success.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash cried out first, jumping at the mare to join Pinkie in a tight embracing hug.
“Oh thank goodness you’re okay!” Fluttershy said next, squeezing in next to Dash.
“Darling, I thought we’d lost you.” Rarity said, putting a hoof to her chest as a smile crossed her face.
“Twilight, ah can’t believe you’re really awake.” Applejack took her hat off, pressing it against her chest. “Land sakes girl, you gave us quite the fright.”
Twilight couldn’t believe it. All of her friends were right here, standing before her plain as day.
“You guys… You guys are okay…” Twilight’s lips quivered, her arms squeezing against the ponies already embracing her. “I thought… I thought something horrible had happened to you all.” Tears began to shine at the edge of her eyes, her emotions quickly engulfing her.
“You’re telling me darling!” Rarity said, quickly walking up to Twilight. “I saw you get impaled by a ghastly black sword! I was so worried that… That that was going to be the last time I saw you.” Rarity bit her lip, remembering the awful memory.
“Y-You saw ME get stabbed with that sword?” Twilight blinked confused, “I saw YOU get stabbed with it! I woke up in a new place surrounded in blood! I thought I’d seen you…” Twilight wanted to say ‘killed’, but the words caught in her throat.
“What? Ah saw her disappear into a pile of ashes!” Applejack said in shock, “Right in front of me too. Ah thought ah’d lost her when the world went a shifting…”
“That’s what I thought happened to you too!” Twilight said pointing to Applejack. “A-And Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, I saw you two… Twisted and mutated.” Twilight grimaced.
“That’s how we saw you too.” Fluttershy blinked in surprise.
“So this whole time, that place was just messing with your heads!?” Rainbow Dash clicked her teeth in annoyance, “Somehow I knew it would, I just didn’t know what was true or not…”
Twilight’s lip quivered with a smile, her arms squeezing tight against her friends as she rested her head against them. Relief was washing over her, the stress and pain of what had happened not too long ago finally starting to leave her. She’d seen some horrible things, had to do some things she never thought she would have to do, but everything turned out alright.
“I’m just… I’m just so happy you’re all alright.” Twilight couldn’t help but squeeze her friends in a tight hug. They returned the hug in kind, smiling as they embraced each other. All the fear of having lost those important to her was finally disappearing.
“Just one question though, where’s Spike?” Twilight asked curiously, lifting her head to look around. There was no sign of the baby dragon waddling his way towards them, and he hadn’t been at the hospital either. “If he was anywhere, I was sure he’d be here.”
Her friends suddenly grew quiet, their hug slowly loosening as they turned to look up at her. Twilight blinked in surprise as she looked at everyone, not entirely sure what their silence meant.
“I think it’s best for me to show you Twilight.” Celestia spoke up, standing behind the mare.
“Show me?” Twilight asked confused, “Show me what? Where Spike is?” Celestia could only close her eyes with a small nod as she turned and began to walk towards the center of Ponyville. Unsure of what was going on, Twilight let go of her friends and followed her behind her mentor.
In the center of town there was a new stone structure that Twilight didn’t recognize. The top was slanted and the front of it had a large plate that looked to have several engravings on it. Surrounding the structure were dozens upon dozens of flowers, left there by several of the citizens of Ponyville. Twilight watched as another placed a fresh bouquet in front of the statue, before walking off to another part of town.
“What… Is this?” Twilight hesitated to ask, something telling her she didn’t want to know the answer.
“This is a monument that was erected just yesterday. When the fog lifted, the town was in panic. Many ponies were left hurt, injured, scared. Once the chaos had cleared, it was clear that some ponies… Hadn’t made it through that dreadful fog.” Celestia spoke solemnly, closing her eyes and bowing her head with respect to the monument.
“…N-No…” Twilight’s eyes widened as the realization of why they were there dawned on her. She rushed to the statue and pressed her hooves against it, quickly reading through the names that were plastered on it. There were a few names she easily recognized, and some she had even met while in that fog world.
She read the name of Winter Withers, of Sparkler, and even the name of Junebug. As she read more names down the list, her mind screamed for her to stop reading, to not find his name there. It couldn’t be there, it wouldn’t be there, the rest of her friends had made it out safe so he had too.
“Spike ‘The Dragon’ Sparkle…” The word slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them. There was his name, clear as day, for the world to see.
“No… No NO!” Twilight slammed her hooves against the statue, “NO! I-I saw them! I saw them all die in that world! They were stabbed, burnt, even rotted! Why!? Why would he have been different!?” Twilight screamed, unable to accept the idea that Spike was dead.
“There’s a reason that Spike didn’t make it out.” Celestia spoke, her words heavy. Twilight turned her head to look at her mentor. Celestia’s eyes were closed, and it was only then that Twilight noticed the bags under her eyes, a sign that the Princess hadn’t been sleeping, wrought with stress. She opened her eyes, those eyes looking back at Twilight with a heavy burden upon them.
“It’s because I was the one who killed him.”
Twilight stared at her mentor, unable to process what she had just heard. Her hooves began to shake, her mouth hanging agape as she stared in horror at the Princess.
“I remember it clearly.” Celestia spoke grimly, “I held him in a tight grip. I stared him in the face. He called me mother. And then I killed him.” Twilight stared in abject horror at her mentor. Celestia could see the fear and shock that was plastered on her student’s face.
“I have no excuse for what I’ve done. Even in that twisted world, even while consumed by the anger, sorrow, and bitterness of my past… Even when my body had changed, my mind was consumed with the rage of everything I had done… And I snapped.” Celestia closed her eyes, “Even when my body wasn’t my own, I can still see his eyes pleading with me for mercy… And I chose not to head it.”
Celestia’s horn lit up with magic, summoning forth an object before her. The familiar shape of the black sword appeared once again before it was laid flat before Twilight. Twilight looked at it, her mind still reeling from shock.
“This is the sword that Merlin crafted. Taking an unbreakable object, and rather than breaking it, her warped it into the shape of a sword. You seemed to be fond of it in that world… So it’s only right that I give this to you now. I cannot make up for what I’ve done. But if there’s any punishment you feel is fitting for me… I’ll gladly accept it.”
Twilight stared at the sword, reaching a hoof over to the handle to pick it up once more. The grip somehow felt right, like it was made for a hoof even though its shape wasn’t right. She could see her reflection in the sleek black blade, the bags under her eyes and the tears forming at the edge of her eyes.
Twilight gripped the blade with her magic and let go of it with her hoof, letting it float into the air. She then turned her attention to her mentor, still not willing to believe her words, and floated the blade next to her neck. The sharp metal lightly pressed against her neck, though Celestia didn’t even flinch at it.
“So… If I decided your punishment was death… You’d accept that.” Twilight murmured without hesitation, her voice lacking any empathy or care.
“If that is what you thought was best, I would accept it with dignity.” Was all Celestia had to say, closing her eyes and waiting for Twilight to make the next move.
Twilight could only stare at her mentor’s response. This was the pony that had killed Spike. Killed him in cold blood right in front of her. It didn’t matter that she had turned into a monster when she did it, she admitted that she had done it either way. The pony she trusted more than anyone else in the land, the pony she thought she could turn to no matter what… Had not only betrayed her, but taken away someone she thought of as a son.
How easy would it be to just swing the sword and kill her where she stands? She wouldn’t move, Twilight doubted she’d even flinch. That was how Princess Celestia was. Once she had committed to her word, she kept to it till the bitter end.
Twilight pulled the sword back, arcing it behind her. She could do it, she could swing the sword right now. Celestia’s bones wouldn’t stop her, it would sail clean through her neck, and Celestia would be missing her head. She’d be killing one of Equestria’s greatest monsters now and then.
Without even thinking, Twilight erupted in a roar of anguish. He scream practically echoed through the town as the sword began to slash through the air, aiming straight for Celestia’s neck. In an instance, her head would be gone.
“TWILIGHT!”
The shout of her friends stopped her blade, inches from having gouged into Celestia’s neck. Her hoof trembled as she stared at the blade hovering there. She really had been about to do it. If that voice hadn’t stopped her, she would have killed the Princess right there.
Her thoughts were jarred by the feeling of being tackled and hugged by one of her friends, the black sword falling as her telekinesis was broken.
“What the hay were you thinking girl!? You nearly killed the Princess!” It was Applejack who had stopped her, gently shaking Twilight back to reality.
“Yeah, what was that? We were giving you two some alone time, and you respond by trying to kill her?” Rainbow Dash spoke up next, having missed the whole conversation. The others had approached Twilight now, worried for their friend.
“Darling… I… I know what you’re going through is hard right…” Rarity spoke next, stepping up to Twilight and placing a hoof on her shoulder, “Believe me… I… I still have a hard time believing he’s… He’s gone…” Rarity bit her lip, trying to suppress tears that were threatening to return. “I couldn’t stop crying for two days… I know… But killing the Princess won’t help anything.”
“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Twilight yelled out, her friends reeling back from shock. “You don’t… Understand anything…” Twilight’s shoulders began to shake, the tears that had been threatening to fall finally beginning to spill.
“Long ago, after Nightmare Moon had been banished to the moon, she had left an army of followers behind in Equestria.” Celestia spoke up, opening her eyes to look at Twilight. Twilight kept her head hung as everyone else looked up at Celestia. “That army planned to continue where Nightmare Moon had left off, and bring anarchy and chaos to the land. They wouldn’t stop unless they had either succeeded… Or died trying.”
“It was my job as ruler of Equestria to bring an end to the revolt. As such, I thought I had no choice but to do what had to be done. And so… I killed them all.” Her words were heavy, shocking several of the ponies who were now listening in. They had never thought of Celestia as someone who would, or even could, kill another pony.
“At the time I was clouded with anger, and sorrow. My sister had been consumed, and banished for a thousand years. I could see no other way, and so I did the dead. But this ended up being part of the army’s plan. Many of them had friends and loved ones in the land of Equestria, and if they couldn’t bring direct rule under their command, they would ensure that I could never be trusted again, by killing so many of my own citizens.” Celestia’s eyes wandered towards the black sword that lay silent on the ground before them.
“That was when the only person left in my life that was close to me hatched a plan. He vowed that Equestria needed me, that in this time of uncertainty and turmoil, that I was the only one who could fix what had happened… So he decided he would take the fall in my place. That it wasn’t the benevolent Princess who had killed all her citizens, but a high-ranking mage in her court.”
“I begged and pleaded for him to not do this, but he would not change his mind. Before I could do anything to stop him, he had already convinced all of Canterlot that he was guilty, and from there, word traveled across Equestria.”
“By the end of the week, he had been sentenced to death for treason… And right before he was hung, he looked at me with a smile… And then he was gone.” Celestia closed her eyes in remorse once more, remembering those days so long ago. “After Merlin’s death, I vowed that I would do everything I could to fix the wrongs that blighted Equestria. It wasn’t easy, and it took several years, but Equestria finally began to thrive once more…” Her eyes opened slowly, wearily.
“But I’ve grown tired in my years now, and though I can still run the country for now… I’ve been raising you, Twilight Sparkle, as my pupil to not only help you with your learning… But to one day replace me, as ruler of Equestria.”
Twilight’s head snapped up in surprise, staring at her mentor through tear filled eyes.
“I never intended for you to learn my past this way… Or for you to have to suffer these kinds of hardships. I wanted to teach you of my mistakes in due time, so you could avoid making them in return, and become a ruler that I never could be. But I can’t change the past, bring the dead back to life, or change what’s happened to you…” Celestia turned her head away, unable to look Twilight in the face any longer. “I would understand if you choose not to accept this path anymore, but that is what I desire.” Celestia looked back, meeting Twilight’s eyes.
“I want to raise you to replace me.”
The center of Ponyville had grown silent. A cold winter’s breeze blew through the town, sending shivers down the spines of ponies who were watching. Twilight lowered her head in thought, surrounded by her friends and being confronted by her mentor about possibly ruling Equestria. Everything was too much to take in.
“Sugarcube, I-“ Applejack started, but Twilight raised a hoof to silence her. All Twilight needed was a moment to recuperate her thoughts, to settle for a moment and let them roll through her mind. She put a hoof to her face and wiped her tears, looking up at Celestia with a glare.
“Fine.” She spoke bitterly, “I will take your place one day. I will make sure that I was a better ruler than you could possibly even imagine being. I won’t let there be any wars, I won’t let ponies needlessly die when I’m ruling. It was you who taught me the magic of friendship, and it is I who will spread that lesson throughout Equestria.” Twilight lowered her head once more, her bangs covering her face. “I’ll do it so that something like this never has to happen again.”
Celestia could only close her eyes at that, nodding in acknowledgement.
“Then I will return to Canterlot for now. There is still much I have to do, but I will return soon.” Celestia said, turning and walking away from the group of six ponies huddled before the statue.
Twilight turned her back to Celestia, looking back at the statue once more. She raised a hoof and pressed it against the cold rocky surface. Her hoof traced over Spike’s name, still processing the fact that he truly was gone.
“I’m sorry Spike…” Twilight murmured to herself, her friends watching her, not knowing what to say. “I promise… I’ll never forget you…”
It was a cold day in Ponyville, the winter weather wrapping the town like a silent blanket. Up above pegasi from Cloudsdale were putting snow clouds into place, aware of what happened but still needing to keep things on schedule.
The first drops of snow gently descended to the quiet little town. No longer did it need to fear the nightmares of a dreaded past, or the horrors that might await those who dared to go looking for them. The land beneath their hooves was dormant, never again to beat with the lost souls of the damned. The small town would be quiet for the days to come.
The small, silent town of Ponyville.