//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: The Red Dawn // by SPark //------------------------------// The late morning sun was warm and pleasant on Twilight's back, though it still made her eyes sting more than a little as she stood in the open, beside a dusty road. A list floated in front of her, and she meticulously checked off the last item on it. "Buried at a crossroads, check," she said, then rolled the paper up and tucked it under her wing. "Satisfied now?" asked Celestia as Twilight turned towards her. Her smile was amused, though there was a tinge of sorrow to it. Twilight nodded firmly. "I've done absolutely everything from every myth and story I know about how to keep a vampire from rising. Well, except the bit about feeding his ashes to his friends and family, I think I might skip that one even if I knew he had any. Whoever came up with that needs to get some therapy; that's just not right." Celestia chuckled, and Twilight smiled as well, but it was a thin, pale smile. She didn't really feel like smiling. And anyway, smiling too broadly would show her fangs. She should probably get in the habit of keeping them hidden. The last of her smile vanished at that thought. She had died before Bela, so there could be no cure—she was a vampire, and a vampire she would stay. She looked over at Celestia. "So... what do we do now?" Celestia looked to the west, where Equestria lay far beyond the horizon, and sighed softly. "Go home and get on with our lives. What else can we do?" Twilight echoed her sigh. "I suppose so. I guess it could be worse. I just..." She looked over at Celestia again. "I'll miss being able to hug you. I know that I'm not your student anymore, and that we're just... friends, I guess. It'll be difficult, but it's not as though we're lovers or something." Twilight found herself blushing at that thought, and part of her wondered how blushing even worked, now that she was undead. Celestia's cheeks were flushed with pink too, and she replied, "No, we're not lovers. And yet..." She sighed and looked away from Twilight. "Sometimes you don't know what you're missing until it's gone. I... I would miss your hugs a great deal. I think we are, or could be, something more than 'just' friends." Twilight felt her blush growing stronger. Her ears went back in annoyance, though, as Celestia finished speaking. "This is already hard enough, not being able to touch you without pain. I don't think you should dangle 'more than just friends' in front of me just as it's become impossible," she said, aware that she was perhaps being harsher than necessary, but her emotions were too frayed for her to come up with calculated, diplomatic replies. Celestia unfolded and refolded her wings, looking uncharacteristically uncertain and nervous. She shifted a few times, opening her mouth, then shutting it again. Twilight scowled irritably. She knew that Celestia was no doubt frayed and frazzled too, and Twilight wasn't sure they should even be talking about this right now. They should probably fly home, rest, recover, figure out how Twilight would manage her everyday responsibilities now, and get everything settled before discussing their feelings for each other. Yet she found words hovering on the tip of her tongue all the same, and finally, when Celestia continued to be silent, she spoke. She might as well get the pain over with right now. "Look, Celestia... I suppose it's easy enough for me to admit that I like you. I always have. Sometime since I became an alicorn, my schoolfilly crush on you has turned into the admiration of an equal. Up until just now, I would have jumped at the chance to be with you. I guess I should have before this, because that chance is over, so please, please, don't pretend it isn't. I could barely stand to touch you before I finished turning, I'm sure it's even worse now. We can't hug, we can't kiss, we can't be lovers. So whatever it is you're going to say, just say it, and then we can move forward and get on with our lives." Celestia looked at her, and Twilight was startled to see tears gathering in her violet eyes. "I shouldn't do this," said Celestia almost under her breath. "Sun damn me, I know I shouldn't, but I'm going to." Then the light seemed to drain out of her. The subtle pearlescence of her coat, that had persisted even beneath the dust and grime that covered her, faded. The colors of her mane drained away, and it dropped to hang limp like ordinary hair, colored a light, somewhat bedraggled pink. Even her cutie mark seemed duller, less like the real sun and more a simple image, and she shrank—still taller than Twilight, but far shorter than she had been mere moments ago. Even as Twilight gaped at her, Celestia flung herself at Twilight, wrapping her hooves around her and pressing her muzzle to Twilight's in a fervent kiss. Twilight stiffened, expecting pain, but none came. Confusion ran in circles in the back of her mind, but the rest of her didn't care, she put her hooves around Celestia and kissed back with matching passion. When they finally broke apart, they were both flushed, and Celestia was panting a bit, but Twilight was still not breathing at all. Though she drew a breath to ask, "How? What?" somewhat incoherently. "I put down the sun's power. For this moment, at least, I am no longer Celestia Sol Invictus, I am merely Celestia. I can't do it for long; the sun is capricious, and I do not want her to go out of her course. But for you, Twilight, I could do nothing else." "Thank you," said Twilight, everything that had happened boiling up in her suddenly, her eyes tearing, her hooves tight around Celestia, her body trembling as she pressed close. Celestia spread her wings and folded them around Twilight, enveloping her in soft, white feathers. "Thank you so much," repeated Twilight. "You are wonderful, amazing, beautiful... everything that's good. I love you." "I love you too," said Celestia gently, wonderingly,. "I had almost thought I'd forgotten how, but I do." They stood there, together, for a moment that was both long and could never be long enough. At length Twilight pulled back with a deep sigh. "I can hear your heartbeat..." "That bothers you?" said Celestia gently. "A little. I nearly killed you. I worry, a bit, about needing to drink blood. I'm not hungry now, but I'm sure I will be soon. What will I do then?" "I am harder to kill than that, my dear Twilight. I haven't lived over a thousand years by being fragile." Celestia's smile was amused, but tender. "Don't fear for me. As for what to do, you have many friends who will no doubt be willing to donate on occasion, and some arrangement can probably be worked out with a blood bank if needed. You'll manage. You're Twilight Sparkle. You were my best student, and you are still perhaps the finest mind in Equestria. I have complete confidence in you, now as always." "Thank you," said Twilight again, softly. "Now I'm afraid I must take up the sun again before she wanders." Celestia stepped back from Twilight. A golden glow gathered around her, and when it faded she was her usual self again, towering over Twilight, her mane and tail flowing in an unseen breeze, her coat gleaming beneath its cover of dirt. "I'll speak with Luna, when we get home, about some kind of arrangement, so I can have time off to be with you." Twilight smiled. "Home. I like the sound of that." "So do I. Let's go home, Twilight." She spread her wings, and Twilight spread hers too. Together, they flew into a clear, blue sky; towards Equestria, home, and whatever might come.