//------------------------------// // 26: Epilogue // Story: My Little Pony: The Seal of Death // by Azrael the alicorn //------------------------------// It is said that the one who turns around to see his past could be considered a person to have doubts about what he has done with his own life. But sometimes, turning around and seeing what you have done is the only way to see how far you have come and to understand all the difficulties that you have passed. I am, without a doubt, the latter. My life has not been easy. Somepony I know could make a metaphor of it being like a rolling coaster, with few ups and a lot of downs. But that part is over. Now I am no longer alone. I am surrounded by people who see more than an angel of death. They seem me as a friend. I’m not sure I will ever be capable of thanking them enough… but I will try. Because they are worth it. Azrael looked at what he had just written on his diary, satisfied. “Are you alright, Azrael?” asked Princess Luna, entering in his room. “Yes, I just had to write this down,” he replied, showing his recent addition. “I think you are much too kind,” said Luna, smiling at him. “Don’t undervalue yourself. You helped me more than you think, just like you are doing now.” He moved to the door “Shall we?” Luna nodded and followed him. In the main hall, the Mane Six and Spike were fixing all the damage that Sombra had done, cleaning the place from all its dust and webs. At first, Azrael proposed that instead of focusing on his castle the attention be to the palace of the royal sisters because, unlike his castle, it was completely wrecked. But because there were both the ponies of Canterlot and Ponyville working there, Celestia stated that she had all the help necessary to rebuild their homes. Now Azrael’s castle was no longer under the intangible spell, so it was much easier for the Mane Six and Luna to get in. The group didn’t waste any time in starting to clean the place up. Everyone except a certain spirit of chaos. “Been somewhere, you two lovebirds?” asked Discord, teasingly. Luna and Azrael glared at him. “What? Don’t tell me that you are still mad for me showing Cadence your hug, are you?” “Yes,” they answered at the same time, bluntly. “Why don’t you stop messing with them and start helping us?” asked Applejack, annoyed. “Oh, but I am helping you,” replied Discord. “How? All that you’re doing is watch us do the work while you eat a sack of popcorns?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Spiritually I’m doing a lot.” “You know you could clean this place with a snap of fingers, right?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “Oh, but then what would be the point for you to have a cute friendship moments?” “In that case why don’t you give us a hand… please?” asked Fluttershy. Her tone of voice was so cutesy and pleading that Discord couldn’t help but comply, thought he groaned in annoyance. “I swear that the more time I spend with you the softer I get,” grumbled the spirit of chaos, joining the ponies in cleaning. “If only softer would made him less irritating,” commented Azrael with low voice, making Luna and Twilight giggle. “I wanted to tell you something, Azrael” said the purple alicorn. “I want to write down a book in which I’m going to talk about you and Death, showing the world your true personality.” “Too kind, Twilight,” replied the angel of death with a kind smile. “By the way, have you checked out the west wing?” “No. Why?” “Something tells me you should,” was the enigmatic answer. Twilight did as his friend told her, wondering what there might be there. A few minutes later everypony could hear the princess scream in joy. “Let me guess, she has found your own personal library,” said Princess Luna. “Yup,” Azrael replied. The two exchanged a sweet glance, then joined the rest of the group into cleaning up. * Death was watching them from far, far away, happy to see his adopted son getting along so well with his new friends. Everything seemed perfect: the Mane Six had found the secret of the Elements of Harmony and unlocked their true powers; Azrael was finally free from his burden and had finally made friends and he was free from the Seal, ready to take back his place as the guardian of Balance. Yet he knew that appearances can be deceiving. He had told Azrael that there would be threats in the near future. The Elements of Harmony had proven to be greatly powerful in using their combined power, but now they would face challenges without the full power of Harmony. These future hurdles would grow even stronger for the inevitable conflict that was coming. They would have to be prepared for this… and he would have to be too. And speaking of conflict… The Grim Reaper turned around to see the arrival of another creature. The figure wasn’t as tall as Death, (an apple and an half less), but what he lacked in height he made up for in mass. He looked more muscular than the Grim Reaper; and, unlike Death, he wore an actual armor which seemed so heavy that would have crushed whoever tried to wear it. The armor was partially covered by a hood, as red as the most blazing flame. But the hood did little to hide the glacial white-and-blue eyes of the creature, which graced a muzzle which would have made the tough guards of Canterlot look like newbie’s, as faint as it was. All this things would have made this new being seem much stronger than Death. Yet, it was Death the most powerful of the two. “It’s been a long time, Death,” the bulky figure said with respect, his voice deep and baritone-like. “Indeed it was… War.” Death - Micheal Wincott War - Liam O'Brian