Cry for Eternity

by asylum1388


Chapter 20

Twenty-seven months since the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited,” Twilight grinned, only half-heartedly stifling her laughter. “Especially over something this mundane.”

“Mundane?” Luna howled incredulously. “It has been nearly thirteen hundred years since I have been to the ocean. This is hardly ‘mundane’! At least not to me.” She stuck her head out of the window of the carriage the two rode in, staring ahead and bouncing with anticipation.

“Oh, settle down, you’re acting like a foal!” Twilight scolded, pulling Luna back into the carriage by a yank on her wings. “Besides we’re almost...” she began, only to trail off as the carriage came to a halt. “Correction: we’re here.”

Luna gave her an excited grin and lept from the carriage, galloping up and over the nearest dune. Twilight shook her head and laughed before slipping out of the carriage herself, making sure to thank the guards pulling it on her way. She followed a path around the dune and was greeted by a pristine shoreline and the sight of Luna trotting over to a an umbrella providing shade to a pair of ponies laying on a large blanket.

Approaching the blanket herself she called out a greeting to her friends. “Hi, Rarity! Fluttershy!”

“Twilight! I’m glad you two finally showed up,” Rarity squealed, gently setting her book and stylish sun hat aside. “This place is amazing, I can’t believe that I’ve never heard of it!”

“It is protected to ensure it remains clean and unspoiled. Trespassing here is an offense against the crown,” Luna replied proudly. “Buuuut seeing as Twilight and I are the crown, we are allowed to bend the rules, so long as we clean up after ourselves.”

She glanced down to the water where Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were all wrestling in the waves. “I am just happy to see that everypony is having fun.”

“Oh, yes, without a doubt,” Rarity giggled, before sinking into a frown. “Where’s Spike? I figured that he’d be coming with you.”

“He stayed behind with Cadance, Mom and Dad. He’s supposed to send me a letter if something happens that I need to be there for,” Twilight explained, sitting down on the blanket next to her.

“Well, that was sweet of him.”

“Sort of. He actually hates the beach; the sand gets under his scales and it’s almost impossible to get back out. He’s usually itchy for days afterwards,” Twilight snickered.

“Ah. Yes I can understand that. It’s too bad though,” Rarity giggled sympathetically. “This may be about the only place in the world where I am comfortable being covered in earth. Well, aside from the spa, of course.”

“Of course,” Twilight chuckled. She turned to Fluttershy’s napping form and gently poked her with a hoof. “You seem to be enjoying yourself too.”

Fluttershy let out a content sigh and rolled onto her side, snuggling deeper into the blanket. “Mmmm... nice...”

“Now she has the right idea,” Luna stated as if asserting a well-known fact. She sauntered a few steps away from the umbrella, spread out a blanket of her own, and flopped down in the sunlight, stretching languidly.

“Thirteen centuries since you’ve been to a beach, and you’re not even going to go in the water?” Twilight asked teasingly.

“I have found sunning oneself in the warm ocean air to be one of the most relaxing things I have ever done, and thus it is and always has been my favorite part of coming to the ocean,” Luna said with a curt nod.

“That’s a rather odd thing for the Princess of the Night to say,” Rarity sniggered.

“Perhaps, but if anypony were to criticize me for it, all I would say to them is to try it for themselves, and only then may they tell me I’m wrong,” Luna retorted haughtily before laughing at herself. “Of course if they did, they would most certainly be lying.”

“I can’t argue against that. As for you, Twilight, Fancy Pants has told me that things have been a bit rough for you up at the castle,” Rarity stated, a smug smirk crossing her face at the thought of tantalizing gossip.

“Yeah, Luna can tell you all about that,” Twilight snorted, causing Rarity to turn back to the older Princess.

“I have been reworking which one of us performs which duty required of us. I have been assigning Twilight to duties that she is not yet proficient in, while taking those she has an understanding of for myself,” Luna said with an affirmative nod. “It is important that Twilight be able to perform all royal duties, instead of just the ones she’s good at, so I have been removing her from her comfort zone, so to speak. She’s been attending almost entirely to military matters lately, being tutored by some of the world’s best military minds and sitting in on all military events. Meanwhile I’ve taken over civic, diplomatic, and budgetary matters, except for the pet projects Twilight has started.

“I wish I could cancel court for her since that tends to be the biggest time sink, but everypony likes her too much; it would not be fair to the common ponies who would be unable to see her otherwise.”

“Hmm. That makes sense,” Rarity muttered.

“It makes sense, but it doesn’t make things any easier,” Twilight grumbled.

“Don’t fret, Twilight. I will not let you make any serious mistakes, and should something occur that requires military action, I will step in for you,” Luna replied encouragingly.

“I don’t mean to tell you how to do your job, Luna, but wouldn’t it be better to let Minister Ironside handle that?” Rarity asked concernedly.

“I happen to be an effective unit leader and an exceptional duelist,” Luna retorted defensively. “I have simply not had a reason to show such skills off lately, and for that I am thankful.”

“So you’re a dancing dueling diplomat?” Rarity asked, snorting with laughter.

Luna stared at her quizzically for a moment. “Yes... Yes I suppose I am,” she giggled softly. “There was a time when the nobility judged somepony based on their aptitude in those three skills rather than any more relevant abilities. Of course nowadays they judge other ponies based on their wealth and ancestry. I can’t say that’s an improvement. But enough of this; I came here for enjoyment, not to speak of politics! Where is the cooling chest?”

“Uhhh, you mean the ‘cooler’?” Twilight asked bewilderedly.

“Yes! I want a drink and if I know Rainbow Dash, she would never come to a place like this without bringing some,” Luna stated, standing up and emphasizing her point with a stomp of her hoof.

“You do know Rainbow Dash,” Rarity smirked. She pointed to a spot several yards away. “It’s right there. She and Pinkie Pie half-buried it in the sand for some reason.”

Luna gave Rarity an appreciative grunt and took a step towards it before stopping and turning back to her. “Would you like anything while I’m there? How about yourself, Twilight?”

“Yeah, but I think I’ll come with you. I don’t really know what I want,” Twilight mused, standing up and starting to walk towards the cooler. She only made it three steps before a voice from the water stopped her.

“Wait, Twilight! I gotta ask you something.” Twilight turned and saw Pinkie bouncing towards her.

She turned to Luna and smiled. “I’ll catch up.” She trotted down to meet Pinkie and greeted her with a hug. “Oh, you’re soaked... Anyway, what’s up?”

“Nothing!” Pinkie grinned. “I just didn’t want you to get too close.”

“Too close to—”

An ear-shattering blast shook the ground and Twilight wheeled around towards it source to see Luna standing motionless by the cooler, covered horn to hoof in pink glitter.

“That.”

“Pinkie!”

“Oop! Gotta go!” At that, Pinkie took off towards the water with Luna barreling after her with the fury of a freight train.

Twilight shook her head and continued on to the cooler. She inspected its contents, which were somehow glitter-free, extracted a bottle of water and returned to the blanket, nestling down next to Rarity.

“How Fluttershy slept through that racket, I’ll never know,” Rarity muttered.

“I didn’t. I’m just too comfortable to move,” the pegasus murmured.

“I don’t blame you,” Twilight said with a content sigh before turning to Rarity. “So, anything particularly interesting happen around Ponyville lately?”

“Yes. Well, no. Just something I’ve noticed recently,” Rarity whispered, motioning for Twilight to come closer. “Look at Rainbow Dash for a moment.”

“Okay...”

“Notice anything about her? Anything different? Anything odd?” Rarity asked, pointing towards her.

“Not really,” Twilight muttered, slightly confused.

“How she’s a little wider around the middle than she used to be? Like she’s gained some weight?” Rarity asked, her voice rising a bit. “It’s very, very slight. Most ponies would never notice it. Heck, the only reason I do is because I’ve memorized all of our measurements.”

“Ooohhh... I think I see what you mean,” Twilight muttered, squinting at the pegasus for a better look. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at though, ponies gain and lose weight all the time.”

“Yes, but Rainbow Dash is a professional athlete, and a highly active mare. Keeping that in mind. Why do you think she’d be putting on any weight?” Rarity squealed excitedly.

“I don’t know; you tell m—” Twilight stopped speaking as the meaning of Rarity’s words hit her. “You don’t think? No!”

“She’s a married mare, Twilight. Even if she and Macintosh weren’t trying, it’s quite possible,” Rarity replied with a mischievous grin.

“Do you think she knows?”

“I doubt it. To be honest, there’s many reasons to think I’m wrong,” Rarity breathed. “But I have a hunch that I’m not. A strong hunch.”

“What do you have a ‘Rarity Sense’ or some—” She ceased speaking again as a trail of smoke descended from the sky.

Everypony stopped. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash; even Pinkie and Luna halted their playful attempts to drown each other to stare at the smoke as it began to form into a scroll in front of Twilight.

But she was gone before it hit the ground.


Twilight appeared in the central square of the Crystal City and launched herself into the air, flying higher and higher. Gazing around, she spotted the City’s medical clinic and charged her magic again, teleporting to the building’s doors and barging in.

A crystal pony in the lobby galloped up to her, speaking quickly. “Second floor, right at the top of the stairs, third door on the left!”

“Thank you!” Twilight gasped, immediately making for the nearest staircase. With a hard flap of her wings, she threw herself up to the top, landing on the wall and pushing off so that she rocketed through the door and into the hallway. She galloped down to the third door and stopped, gently pushing it open.

She stepped into the room and her eyes were immediately drawn to the hospital bed, where Princess Cadance lay. She glanced from the alicorn, to her parents, to her brother, and then to Spike. “Am-am I too late?”

“By about five minutes,” Spike muttered. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I told you that the scroll would take a while to get to you once I sent it.”

“I know, Spike. It’s okay,” She breathed, her legs mindlessly carrying her forward. Her pulse quickened and her breathing became shallow as she found herself unable to take her eyes off of the small bundle of cloth in her brother’s hooves.

He turned to her, an expression of pure disbelief, pure joy in his eyes. “Twiley... It- it’s a colt.”

“A c-colt? It’s a colt?” she stammered, her entire body shuddering. “Oh my gosh...” She stopped next to him and glanced into the blanket. “He looks like dad... Does he have wings?”

“No, just a horn. He has his mother’s eyes though,” Shining Armor whispered.

“He opened his eyes? Already?” Twilight gasped.

“Yes he did,” Cadance said with an exhausted sigh. “We named him Dusk Shine; after his Aunt.”

“You named him Dusk Shine...” Twilight murmured, her mind overloaded with a whirlwind of emotions.

Cadance giggled at her softly. “So, would you like to hold him?”

Twilight glanced at her excitedly and nodded vigorously, sitting down on her haunches and holding her front hooves out. Shining smiled at her and gently shifted the foal’s weight into her chest.

Twilight tried to speak; tried to say something, anything to express how she felt, but she couldn’t. Her entire being was just too preoccupied, staring happily at the newest member of her family.