Epilogue A: To Leave Behind
When a new stained-glass window is unveiled in the palace, it’s usually an excuse for a party. Not a large party, but an informal get-together as ponies mingle. A chance for princesses to chat with their maids, nobles to compare notes with soldiers, and everypony to learn a bit more about the event depicted. Some might take the opportunity to wheedle Celestia for her own views, while others would simply admire the craftsmanship. A few saw it as a pleasant ritual. The windows often marked some crisis, and the little celebration felt like the official ‘end’ of whatever bad times lay behind.
Not this time, though.
The window stood in the middle of one of the great antechambers, well-lit from the stylized sunroofs above. When the glassworker lowered the velvet curtain, only two ponies looked on.
Two alicorns, both with faces in tight frowns. The artisan quickly bowed and made his exit.
Neither sister looked at each other. For several minutes, neither spoke. They just watched the colored glass, taking in the details.
It was… nice. A blue background, different from the yellows and pinks more commonly used. The only figures on it were Blueblood in radiant white and Ironshod in grey, stabbing into each other with swords. It was simple and obvious. The tyrant fell. The sisters’ reign would go on.
“So that’s it.”
Luna’s words broke the silence, stern and unhappy. Celestia glanced to the side, seeing her sibling still looking at the window.
“He saves us all,” she continued, bitterness tainting the words. “The country. The future. Everything. And in exchange, we give him a glass picture in the East Wing. That’s fair.”
Celestia opened her mouth to say, ”It’s all we can give.” But they both already knew it, so she said nothing.
Luna turned her head, looking to her older sister. She was angry. There was accusation in her eyes. “What happened, Tia? He was alive.”
Celestia willed herself to look back, but her gaze quickly returned to the window.
She sighed, reluctantly pulling up the memories. “The hospital was still in chaos when I got there. The chains were fading, but everypony was barely conscious. Their limbs and magic were still numb. The doctors and nurses did the best they could, but they kept fumbling the instruments, and…”
“So YOU could’ve held them!” Luna snapped back.
Celestia flinched backwards, ears flat. Her words tumbled out in a babble. “I, I tried, but my grip was shaky, too. It was hard to focus. You know how it was. Summoning my corona took all I had left, I couldn’t…”
She shook her head violently, eyes clenched closed. A few tears flew off with the motion.
Luna’s expression softened in an instant. She took Celestia’s neck in a foreleg, pulling her close for a tight embrace. “I’m sorry! I’m… sorry.”
She held the grip a moment before drawing back. The hug was hasty, awkward. Now it was Luna’s turn to look away. “It just feels so wrong. I didn’t know him, but it’s wrong all the same. This is how we reward heroes? We make them part of the scenery? A year from now, not one castle bureaucrat will think twice as they brush past this.”
That was the way life worked. But they both knew that too, so Celestia said nothing. She blinked out the last tears, returning unsteadily to her practiced composure.
Luna approached the window, peering into it with narrowed eyes. “I like this not.”
She abruptly turned about, looking back to Celestia. It wasn’t accusatory anymore, but still probing. “So why aren’t you in this scene?”
“Hm?” Celestia tilted her head, frowning. “Because I’m not the subject.”
“Don’t be you.” The blame was gone from Luna’s voice, but questions remained. “This isn’t how it happened.”
She reached a hoof up to rap none-too-gently on Blueblood’s sword, now and forever stabbing into the glass Ironshod. “I saw it. He threw the blade and cut your bonds.”
Her hoof snapped forward, rapping the glass even harder. It held firm, but might not if she did it again. “Why the lie, Tia? Why the immortalized, useless lie? Are you simplifying it for the masses? ‘Bluelood kills Ironshod,’ easier to follow than ‘Blueblood frees Celestia, who does the same?’”
Luna looked to the side, seeing Celestia’s tail recede. The sun princess was walking away.
Anger twisted onto Luna’s face. “TIA!”
Celestia halted at the command. She turned her head back, peering through her mane. The eye was wide, and the pupil small. She looked haunted. Hunted.
She wasn’t being haughty, or dismissing her sister out of hoof. Luna understood that. Tia was scared. Doubting herself. She didn’t want to answer, so she was leaving.
But Luna needed an answer.
“Sister-mine. Tell me.” Luna’s words were gentle, but they brooked no debate.
Celestia swallowed, and gave a nervous little smile.
“I think…” she trailed off, swallowed again, and went on. “I think I have quite enough stained glass windows of myself. Too many, really. I should get rid of some. Then maybe ponies will stop-“
She caught herself, falling once more into silence. She was still looking back at Luna, eyes begging for that to be ‘enough.’
It was. Luna nodded. She didn’t know what her sister was thinking, but no sense lay in pressing the issue. There would be time later.
Luna cocked her head, a thought coming to her. “The Elements will be here soon. I don’t know if you know this, but Applejack was awake for the fight. She may take poorly to the falsehood.”
Celestia winced at that last word, hesitating a second before offering a weak “oh.”
The Sun Princess kept staring back, eyes frightened. As if waiting for dismissal.
It was not a side of her Luna was used to seeing. The younger sister bit her lip, anger fading to worry. “Tia?”
“Yes, Sister?”
“Are you going to be okay?”
Celestia looked at her for a last second before turning away. “Yes. Eventually.”
Head bowed slightly, Celestia trod out of the room. ‘Okay’ would take a while. Composure would come by the time she reached her throne.
It wasn’t here yet, though. Another tear fell. She breathed in, and exhaled in a sob.
So wrong. So abrupt.
A month ago, she thought she had time. Time to show her many-times removed nephew how wrong he was. About himself, and her, and so many things.
There wasn’t time, after all.
Another tear. Just one more.
I wish you had listened when I said you were special. I wish you saw it. I wish I could say it again. And again, until you believed me.
‘I wish, I wish, I wish.’ They never did any good. Celestia stopped herself.
Blueblood was gone. Wishing did nothing.
Her composure returned, as it always did. Celestia paused her steps and breathed again. No sobbing this time. No tears.
She pushed open the last door, returning once more to the throne room.
Goodbye, my dear. I’ll love you forever.
Thank you.
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That was good, I think it fits the story pretty well.
Wow... Definitely a fitting epilogue following his death, should that be the ending we choose to make canon in our heads. Very well done... I'ma gun read the happy ending now, so I can feel more conflicted as to which is the 'better' ending...
Wow.
I love the feels.
We all know why Celestia is doing this, don't we?
Disregarding my latest comment, I'll at least hand it to you:
You did at least make a decent "Epilogue A" to this.
~Skeeter The Lurker
These feels...
As good as this one is...
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3878024 Uh, love as a family member? It doesn't always have to be shipping, you know.
Touching...
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— took the left.
Blueblood:Im not a hero and i will never gonna be one
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That was... haunting. No real closure. Just dissatisfaction and regret all around. I like it.
This was really well done. I'm impressed by your style and really enjoy the way you think.
This is a fitting view of the horror that is eternal life. It's amazing that the Princesses even try, but I guess that's the point they know no other way just simply keep going.
Thank you for including Luna it's always nice to see her.
"Look at you, Princess. Crying over a dead dust mite."
This is what I imagine Blueblood saying in this scene, from beyond the grave. I love this ending, it feels very human. God looking down on His beloved humans, wishing they would realize how special they really are, as the humans ignore Him and convince themselves that they are useless and unoriginal. It hits home for me. I might need to revaluate my worldview.
No matter how many times I read this fic, this chapter in particular, I find myself tearing up every single time.
You sir are a true master or the story writing craft.
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One of the greatest lies the Deceiver tells us: we're nothing. If only more people would realize the good they can do, the glory and goodness in the simplest of things in life. Even as a man who believes in God, I still have to remind myself that I'm a child of God from time to time and remember that my life has value on that alone. But the fact is, even if you don't believe in God, your life still has value, because a life cannot be judged by the things that are around it, by other lives, by events, even by death; life can only be judged by what you try to do with what's in front of you.