Epilogue
Sins Never Die
“It’s over...? N’por ‘Tumai and...Aldurmaax...are dead?”
“Yes, Princess Celestia. Equestria is free from the Covenant, and Aldurmaax’s reign has ended. The Griffons felled him, and I felled N’por personally.”
“I see. There is still much to do. The rebuilding process is to begin, and there is a matter of justice to be carried out.”
“Justice? For whom?”
“Twilight Sparkle. She attempted to...take my life, in retribution for what she felt were betrayals to Equestria’s peaceful ways. She lies in stone, awaiting the trial. I alone shall decide her fate, as the living victim. So is Equestrian law.”
“What?! Twilight did that? Unbelievable... What are you going to do with her?”
“What I must do, what I have to do... What I don't want to do...”
It was the perfect day in Equestria; the sun warm and welcoming, the sky cloudless, a lovely blue. It was peaceful, quiet.
Somber.
Gathered at the Great Stage at the end of Canterlot was a massive crowd, a stone pony set before the crowd at the front of the stage. It was here where justice was doled out in Canterlot, as it always had been. It was here where justice would once again be delivered.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood at the back of the stage, Captain Adam Kuyaki next to them, Chancellor Steelbeak and Emperor Steel Hide in a booth at the very front of the crowd, observing Equestrian justice.
“This is it, isn’t it? This is where I will face my star student, and render unto her a great punishment? Tell me, sister, how can I face her? How can I do this?” Celestia asked. “I practically raised her. I taught her everything there is to know about magic. She was my pupil, and my friend. She was the Princess of Friendship, an embodiment of our peaceful ways.”
“And dragons once ruled the skies, and the Minotaurs once knew nothing about magic. Just because something is, does not mean it is meant to be” Luna commented.
Celestia nodded, and stepped forward, her sister accompanying her. The crowd watched silently, waiting. The Princesses stopped at the flanks of the entombed Twilight, looking at each other. Luna lowered her head, casting the spell. Twilight’s head and neck were freed from the stone, and she looked up at the Goddesses.
“What year is it?” Twilight asked.
“The same year it was when you were encased” Luna flatly said. “Twilight Sparkle, you stand guilty of the crime of attempted assassination on a Princess of Equestria, and a Goddess of the Cosmos; Celestia. By Equestrian law, you are given the chance to explain your actions, and the living victim shall deliver your punishment. Given your former position and status as a significant figure of Equestria you are also extended the privilege of speaking privately to your friends, but also shall your sentence assuredly be more severe.”
“I understand” Twilight replied, finding the floorboards at her hooves more interesting to look at as she searched for her words. Nothing she could say would excuse what she did, or lighten her sentence, but in a way she was glad for this. She did not want to hide from her just punishment. “I was wrong. I realize that now" Twilight started. "I thought that Princess Celestia had betrayed our peaceful ways, had turned her back on what our country stood for. But she didn’t. She saw a future only she could see, and remembered a past that only she could remember. She knew that Equestria would have to change, that we could still embrace peace, but would have to be prepared to fight for it. She knew we could stay true to our ways, but still have the means to defend ourselves from the unreasonable. I actually realized that before I...shot her...but it was too late... There’s nothing else to say, everypony. Know this, though; I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. If I could take it back, I would.”
“Take your time with your friends, and prepare yourself for your punishment” Princess Luna coldly said, turning away as Twilight’s closest friends came to speak with her. Spike, Cadance, and the other Element Bearers. Fluttershy and Pinkie sobbed uncontrollably, Rainbow Dash seethed, but masked it, understanding that this could very well be the last time they would speak. Rarity and Applejack chided her, but offered their forgiveness. Twilight could not accept it, but thanked them all the same.
Spike and Cadance merely cried and hugged her.
As the last of Twilight’s friends walked away Adam Kuyaki approached, crouching to one knee to level with Twilight. He smiled a smile of assurance, that she would be OK. It did nothing to soothe Twilight’s nerves; she was utterly terrified.
“T-Tell me, Adam; do you ever think about the future? Did you ever think you’d be where you are right now, seeing what you see now, knowing what you know now?” Twilight asked, her voice hitching. Twilight could have never dreamt this was to be her fate; a star pupil of Princess Celestia, a Princess of Friendship, and bearer of an Element of Harmony, now faced with the fate of stone. Guilty of a great sin.
“You know, I think, maybe, that I knew a lot of things that would be held for me in my future. Maybe I knew there was an alien alliance burning through our worlds when I signed up. Maybe I knew every ship had a 3 in 5 chance of being destroyed by the Covenant. Maybe I knew there was probably no chance of ever returning back home alive. Maybe I didn’t give a damn about all that... But I don’t think I ever knew I’d end up where I am now” Adam said.
“Me too... I will never forgive you for what you did to us. You killed my brother, you killed thousands of ponies... But you saved us. You saved us from the greatest enemy we’ve ever faced. I hate you. I actually, and thoroughly hate you. I’ve never hated anypony, or anyone, but you; for what you did to us. But I thank you for saving our species, our planet. I have one wish to ask of you before you go; erase all records of our world, and take no races of it with you to fight the Covenant. Leave us in peace, forever” Twilight requested.
“You have my word” Adam said, saluting as he turned away, silently standing to the side.
Finally, Princess Celestia approached. It was time. Twilight’s mentor and teacher lowered her head, touching her horn to Twilight’s. She quietly looked at the floor. “I forgive you, my Twilight, and I commend you for realizing the error of your ways. I commend you for standing for what you believed in, too, even if it lead you down the path it did. I have decided to keep you in stone, for the time of 5,000 years, but I will keep you in the royal library. Both as comfort, for it was your favorite place in the palace, and as a reminder of your deed... I forgive you, my student, but I am ashamed of you” Celestia said.
“I understand... OK, I’m ready. But, Princess... Will anypony else ever forgive me for what I did? Can I ever be forgiven?” Twilight asked, steeling herself for what was coming. 5,000 years of solitude, of silence, of stillness. She tried to find peace with it, tried to find a shining light in the coming slumber, but couldn’t. There was nothing redeeming about what was coming to her, it was just what it was. It was what she deserved.
Princess Celestia stepped back, her horn glowing. “Twilight Sparkle, for the crime of attempted assassination and murder on a ruling member of Equestria, I condemn you to 5,000 years in stone. May you find peace in the sun’s embrace.” Celestia’s horn released its spell, the stone once again encasing Twilight. It spread up her neck, slowly wrapping around her head. Her heart quickened, a mild panic setting in as her vision darkened, her mind desperate to savor the last moment of vision.
“Sins never die, Twilight” Celestia said, answering Twilight’s question. Those words the last she heard, the peaceful sky the last she saw.
And darkness took her.
Adam Kuyaki stood on the airship dock in Canterlot, a Pelican’s engines whining next to him, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Chancellor Steelbeak before him. The sun was setting on Equestria once more; the last Equestrian sunset Adam would see.
“Twilight has been moved to the castle library. She will remain there for the duration of her sentence. My sister and I have taken the mantle of the Elements. We alone shall bear them, and distribute their power when needed, solely. It pained me to see her in stone, the most severe punishment we administer, but it had to be done. Our civil war has ended, as well. With Aldurmaax and N'por dead, there were no symbols to rally around, and with the primary war over those who stood against their own now have no reason to do so” Celestia said. “This is goodbye now, human. Leave us now, and never return. You saved us, but you ruined us. The lasting effects of your flash-bombs will plague us for a millennium, and have no doubt poisoned future generations. But, you saved us from the most horrible enemy we’ve ever known, and for that you have my thanks.”
“The dragons have pledged their allegiance to the Griffons, and a new High Lord appointed; Vinturak. Their whole species swears fealty to the Griffon Republic, and by proxy the Equestrian and Minotaur Empires. Our alliance is one that shall forge a new era of peace and prosperity for our countries and world, and thanks to your contributions, as well as our shared knowledge, we have woven a mighty barrier with which to shield ourselves from future conflict. Out of respect for Princess Celestia, and our new alliance, I must, however, agree that you are barred from ever returning to our world, and your species as well. You are to never speak of us, to never see us” Chancellor Steelbeak declared.
“I understand fully” Adam replied.
“When you arrived at our door, we could never have dreamt of the events that would transpire in the weeks to come. The expansion, the aggression, the war. N’por and the Covenant, Aldurmaax and the dragons turning on us. Truly, this marks a new age. However, it is all not sullied by the tragedies and hardship we endured. Peace reigns once again, and a new alliance, a better understanding of the other races, ensures that the events that catalysed our war with each other shall never come to pass. I curse you, human, but thank you” Princess Luna stated.
“And now you must go. All your hands are accounted for, your vessel is ship-shape, and nothing more binds you to this earth. Leave us now, and never return” Celestia commanded, Adam bowing in response. He boarded the Pelican wordlessly, eyeing the natives as they stood on the dock, watching him. His eyes savored their sight, regaled in their otherwordly elegance.
The hatch closed, the last glimpse of flowing mane and golden fur now but a memory.
Princess Celestia stood in the tomb of De'mah 'Tokam, the silent chamber illuminated softly by the glow of the great mural hall, and stared at De'mah's tomb. The Sangheili's sarcophagus nondescript, the only sound that of Celestia's own breathing.
"I beat you. You lost. So close again was your kind to erasing our species, our world. Dragons fought at your side once more, but a powerful ally crushed them, and together we forged a mighty alliance with the other great races of this earth. Your revenge shall never come to fruition, De'mah. I shan't allow it. Dragons swear fealty to our allies, and again did one of your kind fall in single combat against what you would have no doubt christened a lesser being. The sins that marred my past are atoned, and there are no more lies. I won, and you lost" Celestia quietly said to the tomb.
"If you'd never found us, never fought us...what could have been? If I did not know of your kind as I did after fighting you, would I have allied with N'por 'Tumai, and doomed our world to extinction? Or slavery?" Celestia wondered. "I despise you, but fighting you taught me a valuable lesson, one that saved us from your kind and their Covenant when they returned again."
Princess Celestia turned away from the tomb, sealing the door behind her. The energy sword imprint on the door, that once shined red, glowed white today, the brilliant light dancing across the mural hall, the walls again depicting Equestrian history as cast from Celestia's mind. Celestia stared at the glowing door, curious of the color change, before writing it off and ascending the steps out of the tomb.
"I won, and you lost" Princess Celestia remarked once again, this time with a smirk.
One whole system away from Equestria the UNSC Kabato sat in dry dock, attached to a repair and refit vessel, two destroyers and a Halcyon-class cruiser accompanying the repair and refit vessel. Adam had erased all mention of Equestria from the computer’s logs, wiped the navigational data pointing to it, and erased its existence from Excalibur’s data banks. To humanity, it exists now only as a memory of the crew and Marines who witnessed it.
The ONI spooks had not been pleased; they had blustered and threatened court-martials for the entirety of the ship’s hands, but Adam knew their words were hollow. The UNSC couldn’t afford court-martials, particularly when the war was looking so dire. Adam seethed, however, knowing his mission was a failure. He had done so much, sacrificed so many lives, for nothing. No gain. He had sent thousands to their graves, holding out just to see the war end so he could bring the worthy species back to UNSC space. All of it had been a waste; the many diplomatic talks, the war with Equestria. The war with the Covenant and dragons, the Equestrian civil war. Hundreds of thousands dead, a whole world sundered, several species irrevocably scarred, a destiny tampered with by outside meddling... All of it for naught. If the Covenant had never shown up, if Adam had never told the Princesses of the true nature of his presence...
It was no matter. What was done was done, and all there was left to do was fill out the mountains of after-operation reports and miscellaneous paperwork that came after such a mission. All of it would be lies, of course. As much as the total failure pained and angered Adam, he had made a promise, and he was a man of his word.
The ONI spooks had left long ago, the Kabato’s refitting was coming along nicely, and all hands relaxed quietly in their bunks or the common rooms. Adam stood in his private quarters, silently looking at his pictures of Equestria, the books about Equestrian history and culture hidden away in his footlocker, waiting to be read. Forever more would Adam Kuyaki think about Equestria, and what could have been.
For now there was a war to finish, a species, HIS species, to be defended, and a galaxy to be saved. Perhaps, many a year from now, Adam would return to Equestrian space, silently watch from above, and wish those he knew upon the planet a future of peace and tranquility.
One could only dream.