She Said No
Epilogue; Aftermath
Twilight Sparkle sat on her bed, staring out her window into the cold darkness of night. On the very edge of the blackened horizon she could still see the angry orange glow of the fires raging through Fillydelphia. A newspaper, tear stained and crumpled, lay discarded on the floor. Across the front page in large, bold letters was the headline, “Havoc in Fillydelphia; where were our heroes?”.
The solitary sound of quiet sobbing filled the crystal room, bouncing around the walls and battering Twilight's ears. But behind her sobbing she could hear another noise, a noise she knew wasn't there, but somewhere far, far away. The noise coming from the fires raging through the heavily populated down town district of Fillydelphia.
Twilight Sparkle could hear screaming.
Some in fear, some in pain, some in confusion, but all of them screaming. She could hear all of them. Feel all of them. Her heart ached a pain worse than any physical wound could hope to.
The pitch black room was illuminated briefly by a lightning crack of light and a thunderous boom. Celestia stood at Twilight's window, gazing out across the land towards the raging fires.
“Do you know why Fillydelphia is in flames?” She asked quietly, barely a hint of sadness contained in her tone.
Twilight sobbed harder.
“I thought as much. Do you know why I'm here?”
Twilight didn't answer for a few moments, before weakly shaking her head.
“I didn't think so. We managed chase off the dragon that was attacking, at the cost of many of my guards and innocent civilians. Just like the dragon itself, its fire cannot be touched by magic, and can spread to any material. Ponies are working around the clock to try and contain it, but I fear the fire will have spread to over half the city before this night is over. I left Luna at the city to organize a search and rescue effort, and I'm expected to be back there soon."
Finally, Twilight spoke in hushed, broken words, “W-Why are y-you here?”
Celestia took her eyes from the window and looked at her former student, huddled in on herself and crying openly on her bed. “Luna and I are the only two who know why it was the Guard and not you and your friends who opposed that dragon. We haven't told the populace anything, but I will not lie to my subjects, and if they ask I will tell them what happened this afternoon between you and I.”
Unable to say more, Twilight lifted the discarded newspaper in her grasp and weakly levitated it over to Celestia, who took it in her own magic.
“It seems they have assumed as much,” the older alicorn summarized, briefly reading through the article before tossing it onto the vanity against the opposite wall. “Have your friends been to see you yet?”
Twilight nodded.
“Did you lie to them?”
Hesitating, Twilight bit her lip before shaking her head slowly.
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I gather they were rather upset?”
“T-they left an hour ago, t-to help with th-the fire,” Twilight whimpered, finally forcing herself to sit up in her bed, wiping away the tears, both dry and wet, as more continued to fall from her eyes.
“Why did you not go with them? Are you still exercising your free will?”
Twilight cringed at the words, salt being thrown in an already festering wound. To her surprise, Celestia winced as well.
“I apologize; that was uncalled for. You had no way of knowing what would happen.”
“They... they told me not to come,” she admitted quietly. Sniffling loudly, Twilight asked again, “Why are you here?”
Celestia sighed, hanging her head. “I'm here to say I'm sorry, Twilight. I've known for a while you were feeling like this, but I didn't take action. Just like with Luna, so long ago, I thought you would pull yourself out of it. I could have saved you so much heartache and so many lives if I'd had this talk with you earlier.”
“You... you knew?” Twilight asked, eyes wide.
“Twilight, I have known you your entire life. I have watched you grow and learn and play. I watched as you made your first friends, and I hope to be there when you meet the love of your life. In many ways I consider you akin to my daughter, and I know you think of me as a second mother, not just a mentor. It would be rather shameful for a mother to not know how her child is feeling,” Celestia explained gently, finally peeling herself from the window and walking over to Twilight's bed, climbing on slowly and sitting next to the smaller mare.
“I made a mistake when I did not talk to Luna sooner, and as a result Equestria fell into a civil war, and I lost my sister for a thousand years. I did not learn from it, and made the same mistake with you. As a result, ponies have lost their lives and loved ones. Yes, Twilight, you made a mistake today, but the blame for your actions rests on both our shoulders.”
Twilight didn't respond, allowing the room to drift into darkness. Eventually, Celestia asked, “Do you regret your choice from this afternoon?”
“It's cost me my friends, my position as princess, and countless innocent ponies their lives. The guilt is eating me alive. Of course I regret it.”
“Do you still think that I consider you and your friends as nothing more than pawns and pieces of a weapon?”
Twilight didn’t answer.
“I thought so.” Celestia sighed, sparing a glance at the smaller alicorn out of the corner of her eye. With a gentle, fluid motion, she extended one of her large wings and wrapped it around the mare, completely covering her in a downy blanket of white feathers. “I can't blame you for that, either; I have not been the most... open with you and your friends. However, I ask that you believe me when I say that I consider every single life in this world sacred. From the ponies and the griffons and the horses who live here to the dragon flies and mice who inhabit our planet alongside us. The same is true for you and your friends, Twilight; I hold all of you close to my heart, and your pain is my pain.”
“My friends...” Twilight whimpered, looking out to the fires where her former friends were helping battle the blaze she had neglected to prevent. “Will they ever forgive me?”
“I... cannot say. If they can, it will take a lot of hard work on your part to ever earn their trust again.”
“I'm willing to do anything for them.”
Celestia gave a small smile. “I knew you'd say that.”
“And... if we can repair our friendship... would we be able to act as the Elements of Harmony again?” Twilight asked hesitantly, a slight waver in her voice.
“If you can earn their forgiveness, you truly deserve to act as the Elements. However,” Celestia paused, Lighting her horn briefly and bringing forth an object with a flash of teleportation. She levitated Twilight’s crown over to the pair. “It is clear to me you are not yet ready for the role of princess.”
“I... I understand.”
“Do not mistake me, Twilight,” Celestia added quickly,” I blame myself for this; I should have waited longer to give you Starswirl's journal. I never gave you a chance to truly enjoy life, and that is the biggest mistake I made with you. I let you discover the magic of friendship, and before you could even enjoy it I shoved your destiny upon you. From now on, you are just an ordinary citizen of Equestria.”
Celestia slowly retracted her wings from Twilight's back now that the tears had stopped. She stood from the bed and walked back over to the window. “You know,” she started casually, looking towards the fires. “The midnight train to Fillydelphia leaves in 45 minutes, and they could always use more help down there.”
Twilight's bloodshot eyes widened as she realized what Celestia was telling her. “You mean I should...?”
“The newspaper was asking where their heroes were. Five of them are there already; where's the sixth?”
Without waiting for another word Twilight shot off her bed, rummaging through her vanity for enough bits to buy a ticket. When she'd found all she needed, she rushed to the door, but stopped when it was held closed by a golden glow. She looked at Celestia.
“I'm leaving this with you,” Celestia said, placing the tiara on Twilight's vanity. “Come to me when you think you're ready to wear it once again.”
Twilight frowned. “After everything I've done... do I even deserve that anymore?”
“My mistake caused the corruption of my sister and a civil war, and I'm still a princess,” Celestia explained quietly. “One dragon attack you didn't even truly know about is hardly as bad. You have a long road of hard work ahead of you Twilight, but I know you can do it.”
Twilight gave a small, timid smile as her door was opened for her.
“Just... next time, talk to me about how you're feeling before a disaster comes, okay?”
“I will, Celestia,” she affirmed. “And... thank you, for everything. My entire life; I wouldn't be me without you. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.” Twilight ran over and gave the alicorn a tight hug.
“Good luck, Twilight. Now go; your road starts on that train.”