“One year ago today.” Princess Celestia intones to the crowd before her, “Princess Twilight and Princess Luna banded together to make it impossible for those creatures to ever find us again.” I am in an EUP uniform, as the leader of the Dragon Corps, I have to project an image, I look over at the Princess of the Sun, “The threat was ended to Equestria, and the entire world.”
She looks around at all of her subjects, “That war had a heavy toll. Tens of thousands of dead on our side. Ponies, dragons, griffins, yaks, and buffalo, among others, have died. Today we remember the honored dead. Many of you served with the Guard during the war.” Her ears flatten, “Many of you were injured, or knew others that were killed or injured themselves. This war touched every facet of our lives.”
As she continues to speak, I look around. Rainbow Dash is there, among the 1st pegasi. She refused retirement after the war. Her new mechanical wing is folded at her side, gleaming in the bright sunlight. Applejack, though, isn’t among the military members. She resigned right after the war, and she stands with the other element bearers. The Wonderbolts flew over the castle earlier. Only one original member survived, Spitfire, and she was among those flying in the missing pony formation. Their formation is much like the missing man formation I’ve flown as a human on occasion.
I look down at the crowd filling the courtyard. It’s packed with ponies of every hue, many were directly affected by the war, ponies missing hooves, or ears, or wings, or even a few unicorns that have lost their horns. Pony healers helped keep the death toll as low as possible, but many required a lot of work. Prosthesis makers will be busy for years to come.
Pegasi fly around, drawing my eyes to what has been done in the last year. The walls of the city on the mountain have been expanded and strengthened. Construction is ongoing in repairing the damage. Scaffolding is around hundreds of buildings. The ponies have many of the modern conveniences that I’ve had has a human, though they tend to use magic and technology blended together to make things work. I can’t find an electric line anywhere, but the houses have power.
Celestia’s voice draws my attention back to her, “With many thanks to Princess Twilight and Princess Luna, go in peace.” I watch her turn and head back into the tower. I look over at Twilight, who steps forward and nuzzles me, then her magic lights and our foals are brought over to us from Pinkie Pie’s protective watch. Since the war, she’s been pretty much a full time nanny for us. Noe because we particularly need her, but she wants to, and the foals adore her.
Twilight nuzzles each filly in turn, then she turns to me, “Nick.” She looks unsure, “I need to talk to you…Love.”
I find my ears flicking at her tone of voice, she only sounds like that when she’s fighting something internal, “Certainly.” Is what I say.
She floats the foals back over to Pinkie Pie, who herds them towards the stairs down to the exits. Twilight turns and starts walking, gesturing for me to follow, I walk sedately beside her. She is silent for a long time, but finally she talks, “Celestia had a talk with me, while you were gone. While you were captured by that monster.”
I furrow my brow, “She’s working to atone for her crimes. Celestia has her supervised at all times. And she’s forced to wear that charm that removes her ability to shape shift.”
Twilight shakes her head hard, “I know all of that, Nick. But I’m talking about what Princess Celestia told me.”
Huh? I remain silent, waiting for her to continue speaking, after a long time, “Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are connected to me, via the Elements of Harmony. What that means is, this, my being an alicorn, I will not age, and I will live for millennia.” She sighs, “And so will they.”
That almost gets me to stop walking, but I continue, “And me?”
She nearly sobs, “That connection was made before I became an alicorn. It was a long time before I met you. I can’t just give you my abilities, I can’t make you live nearly forever with me.”
I sigh, and smile a bit, she’s so cute, even now, “Twilight. It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not.” She moans as the tears start to fall. “The last several months, I’ve been avoiding telling you. Because I don’t want you to leave me. But you will eventually notice, you’ll get older and I won’t…” She stops talking with my wing on her lips.
We turn into one of the many sitting rooms in the Royal Palace, I smile at her, “Twilight, do you honestly think I would leave you, because you’ll outlive me?”
The tears burst forth, she sobs as she nods, I rush forward and hug her, bringing my wings into the hug, “Oh Twilight, you never need to worry about that. Why would I leave you?”
She continues to sob, “Because you deserve somepony different, one that isn’t some sort of nearly immortal demigod.”
I pull back a bit, looking at her, “Are you saying that when I’m old and gray, you’ll not want me anymore?”
She stops, looking at me in shock, “What? Why? I would never.”
I smile at her, “Then don’t worry about me, hell. You’ll end up with a broken down old pony for a husband, I get a young, hot, wife until my dying day.” I wiggle my eyebrows, “I think I’m getting the better end of the deal, Twilight.”
She sniffles and looks at me, “Huh?”
I kiss her quickly, she responds but I pull away quickly, she opens her eyes and looks at me, I smile, “Twilight, you don’t need to worry about me leaving you. You must have some odd ideas about patriarchal societies.”
“You are saying you humans don’t divorce?”
I shake my head, “No, divorce happens, all too often in my world. But why would I divorce you?”
“Because…” She looks unsure, “I’m not going to be able to share your experiences with you, I won’t age like you, I’m always going to be different.”
I lean forward and kiss her, the kiss goes on for what seems like forever, and ends way too soon, I look at her, “Twilight, I don’t care about all of that, you are the pony I love. I’m never leaving you.”
She hugs me, hard, “Oh, Nick. I love you, forever.”
I squeeze her back, “Twilight, let’s go home. We have a life to live together.”
She nods as she wipes her tears away, “Yes, let’s go.”