Time to stop running

by Allonsbro

Epilogue

Epilogue

Deep in the Everfree forest, Zecora was doing some cleaning in her hut. She had a broom handle gripped in her teeth and was just finishing with sweeping off her front step. She leaned the broom against the wall and paused to admire her work. Turning, she gazed out into the forest. All was quiet, save for the occasional squawk of some strange bird or the rustle of the distant underbrush as a carnivore caught its dinner. The zebra sighed to herself. She enjoyed the quiet life that living in the forest provided her.

As she continued admiring the scenery, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching hoofsteps. She looked down the path leading to her hut and saw a large group heading her way. She smiled when she recognized many of them as the first friends that she had made when she arrived in Equestria.

She was about to call out in greeting to them, but stopped. As they came nearer, she saw the looks of sorrow and mourning on their faces. They were walking, not in a large group as she had seen them do before, but in a long procession with only a few clustered together in small groups. The zebra bowed her head in respect as they passed her hut. She recognized the procession and what its purpose was. She herself had been a part of such a procession a few times before in her homeland. This was a procession on its way to a funeral.

The first in the procession was a dragon. After a few moments, Zecora recognized him as the young one that had gone missing a number of years back. He did not bear the countenance of ferocity and terror his species was known for, rather he bore one that displayed a heart broken at the loss of one dearly loved. His head hung low and he left great dragon tears in the dirt of the path as they fell from his face. Around his neck hung a necklace with a large red ruby embedded in the front.

Beside him on either side walked two unicorns; to his left a lavender unicorn with a violet mane and tail and to his right, a younger white unicorn with a two-tone pink and purple mane and tail. Upon the head of the lavender unicorn rested golden crown adorned with a six-point star matching her cutie mark. In her magic, the white unicorn held a necklace adorned with a purple diamond shaped gem. The two were leaning against the dragon’s sides, crying as they tried to comfort him.

Behind these three came two young mares, an earth pony and a pegasus, walking side by side. The earth pony’s bright red mane was done in a braid with pink ribbon threaded through it and draped down over her left shoulder. She cried openly, sharing in the sorrow of her friends’ loss. The pegasus’s purple mane, which was longer than when she was a filly, was as wild and untamed as the wind through which she soared. She looked as if she were doing her best not to cry, but her eyes were wet and looked as if they were about to overflow.

Next came a red earth pony and a yellow pegasus. The pegasus wore a necklace with a pink butterfly jewel and a light blue butterfly hair clip to keep her pink mane out of her face. The fur on her face had become damp and messy as she wept and mourned the loss of her best friend. She was leaning heavily against her husband, whose normally stoic expression was cracking with sorrow at the seams as tears collected at the edges of his vision. Behind him he pulled a wagon holding a small pile of rocks of various colors.

Two young foals followed close behind the couple; an orange-maned, green earth pony colt and a brown-maned, orange pegasus filly. The filly stared at them curiously with deep green eyes, wondering why her parents were crying. She looked up at her older brother with a questioning expression. He looked down at her with cool blue eyes, giving her an expression that told her he didn’t know why, but that they should try to help. The filly trotted a little faster to reach her mother’s side and gave her a small nuzzle. Looking down at her daughter, the yellow pegasus draped a wing over her back, thanking her for the small amount of comfort.

Behind the family walked a blue unicorn stallion, a pink earth pony mare and a cyan pegasus mare. The mares each wore necklaces adorned with their own jewels; the earth pony’s a blue balloon and the pegasus’s a red lightning bolt. The pink mare’s normally poofy mane and tail had fallen almost completely flat and her pink coat was slightly duller than normal. She and the stallion both wore a small gold ring on a neck chain, a symbol of their recent engagement. The stallion had a foreleg draped over her shoulder and held her close as they walked.

Following these three was a pegasus stallion, an earth pony mare and an earth pony colt. The mare, who was obviously pregnant, wore a necklace adorned with an orange apple-shaped jewel. Her husband had his left wing draped across her back and her head was leaning against his neck. Her son, who was the spitting image of his father, sans wings, leaned against her left side, nuzzling her as she cried softly.

Bringing up the rear were the alicorns of the sun and moon themselves. The masks of political neutrality they normally expressed had shattered in the face of their sorrow. The goddess of the sun had one of her great wings draped over her younger sister, who was leaning against her as they both wept for the loss of a dear friend.

As the procession passed her hut, Zecora looked on in somber silence. When they had passed she looked out and listened to the silence of the forest and said, “Now I too will mourn a friend who has met an untimely end.”

With that, she went back inside her hut and closed the door.

---

Spike led the procession deeper into the forest. It had been about a week since the first time he had brought Sweetie Belle, the morning after he had told her what became of her sister. With her help, he had reunited with all of his friends and had confessed to each of them as well. Each had reacted differently, but all had eventually forgiven him. Sweetie Belle had expressed a desire to hold some sort of funeral to give everyone closure and they all had readily agreed.

Finally they arrived at their destination. They came upon a small clearing in the trees. Nothing but grass and wildflowers grew in this small area. It was as if something was holding the forest back, as if this place held something precious that it was protecting from the darkness and disorder of the Everfree Forest.

Spike led the group part way into the clearing and stopped. Turning behind him, he motioned for only Sweetie Belle, Twilight and Big Macintosh to follow. The two mares and the large red stallion, pulling his cart of rocks followed the dragon into the middle of the clearing. Once there, Macintosh unhitched himself from the cart and left it, going to rejoin his mourning wife.

The two mares and the dragon went to work lifting the rocks out of the cart with claws or magic and dividing them into three groups. When this was done, the mares stepped back. Spike took a few stones from one group in his claws. He looked to the mares and they each gave him a nod. He took a few deep breaths and unleashed his flaming hot breath upon the rocks. As they became superheated, he squeezed them and their now soft, more malleable forms collected into one. He picked up a few more and began heating and adding them to the group as well. When all the rocks in the first group were gone, he began to shape them.

His claws worked over the clay-like, superheated rock, forming it into a diamond shape. When the basic shape was established, he held it out for Twilight and Sweetie Belle and went to work on the next group. Twilight took the diamond shape in her magic a held it aloft while Sweetie Belle used her magic to give the shape more definition and to add the more subtle details. When it was completed, Twilight held it off to the side to cool and took the next one.

They repeated this process until the rocks had all been formed into three diamond- shaped figures, each about as tall as a pony. When they had cooled, Twilight took one and held it in front of Spike. He closed his eyes, concentrating on what he had to do.

He thought of Rarity. He thought of her generous spirit and the passion with which she had lived every day of her life. He remembered the day he met her and every moment he had with her until the day she died. As these memories flooded through his mind, he remembered how much he loved her and his sorrow at her loss washed over him anew. He felt it in his chest, a raging storm that threatened to overwhelm him. He dug his claws into the earth beneath him, took a deep breath and reached inside himself. The storm churned, going stronger and stronger as he fed it. Just as he felt he would be overcome, he released it all in a great and sorrowful roar.

Tears poured from his eyes as he roared, unleashing all of his pent up sorrow upon the rock. Slowly, small beads of what looked like dew began to form on the surface of the diamond-shaped statue. As each area of the figure became saturated, Twilight rotated it, allowing the whole thing to be covered evenly. Soon the entire thing was covered in a shimmering diamond gloss.

Spike fed and churned the storm again as Twilight prepared another rock. He breathed in and unleashed his sorrow a second time, covering the exterior of the rock in a diamond shell as he screamed. As he was about to begin with the third, Sweetie Belle wrapped her legs around his arm and sobbed. He looked down at her and remembered what she had said that night one week ago. She had said that he needed to forgive himself.

Ever since the day that he had left, since the day Rarity had died, he hadn’t wanted to forgive himself. He didn’t think that something so awful as what he had done could be forgiven. Now, remembering how Sweetie Belle had been able to forgive him, and how each of his friends had also been able to, he knew that was not the case.

He glanced down at the fire ruby around his neck. Sweetie Belle had insisted on giving it to him as a gesture that she truly did forgive him, and had even had it resized so that he could wear it. Seeing it, he wondered if Rarity would be able to forgive him for what he had done. He knew that, with her generous nature, she probably would have, just like she forgave him for all the times when he broke something during a rampage in her closet.

With that thought in his heart, Spike roared a third time. With that roar, he released every ounce of his sorrow and anger at himself for what he had done. As the third rock became encrusted in its diamond shell, Spike did the one thing he never thought he would be able to do; he forgave himself.

When he was finished, Twilight placed the rock on the ground. Spike got down on his stomach and held Sweetie Belle as she wept. He motioned for the rest of their friends to join them. The group came into the center of the clearing and the princesses of Equestria took their places for their part in what everyone was here for.

The two alicorns stood on either side of the three diamond-encrusted stones. They both ignited their horns and lifted the three stones in the air. They aligned the three stones to mimic Rarity’s cutie mark. Their eyes closed and the glow emanating from their horns intensified as they wove their magic through the stones, permeating them. When the sisters released the stones from their grasp, they remained suspended in the air, refracting the sunlight. The diamonds of Rarity’s cutie mark would remain in that place until the end of time itself.

Taking up Rarity’s element necklace, Sweetie Belle gave it to the white alicorn. Celestia accepted it, taking it in her magic. She would keep it safe until such time as a new Element of Generosity was found.

The group all gathered around the monument in silence, remembering their friend. No one said anything, but Spike knew that something needed to be said. He looked around at the assembled ponies. Some wept, some merely shed tears, and some stood comforting the ones they loved. The foals, however, did not seem to fully understand what was going on. They stood near their parents, looking at them and at each other, whispering amongst themselves.

“Come here, little ones,” he called out to them.

They stared at him for a few moments. He had been introduced to them and they had been told that he was their uncle Spike. Their parents had even told them about him before he arrived, but they had never seen a dragon before and were still somewhat wary around him. The colts, Jonagold and Blue Skies, looked at their parents and upon receiving a nod of approval, cantered over to the big dragon. Sweet Potato ducked behind her mother’s legs, afraid of Spike from his roaring earlier. A few nudges from her mother coaxed the orange filly out, but she still hid behind her bother as they approached Spike. As they neared, he brought his head close to the ground to make himself seem smaller and less intimidating.

“Take a seat, young foals,” he said. The colts sat down and the filly ducked behind her brother emitting a small ‘eep’ sound. After a few moments, at the urging of her brother and her cousin, she sat down between them.

“Would you like me to tell you a story?” he asked, smiling at them and using as soft and gentle a voice as he could. Blue Skies and Jonagold smiled and nodded their heads and even Sweet Potato seemed to perk up and relax at the prospect.

“Alright,” he said. “This is a story about a very kind and loving mare. Those stones that the princesses just put up are what her cutie mark looked like. We’re here today to remember her. She was an Element of Harmony, just like your mothers and your aunts. She helped them defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord and countless other threats to Equestria.”

The foals leaned forward, hanging on the dragon’s words with awe. They had been told stories about how their mothers had saved Equestria time and time again. This mare he spoke of must have been a very special pony.

Spike looked at the gathered ponies. All were looking at him with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces.

“She was one of the most beautiful mares in Equestria,” he continued. Leaning close to the foals, he whispered, “perhaps even more beautiful then the princesses.”

The foals looked at Celestia and Luna with wide eyes. The two alicorns chuckled and Celestia gave Spike a mischievous smile. He smiled back and continued his story.

“This, my little ponies, is the story of a wonderful mare named Rarity.”

Comments

[Allonsbro]

Well, it's done. I'd like to thank everyone who commented. I'd also like to send out a special thank you to TimeWarped3D and Nuki Mouse, who's comments were especially helpful. This was fun to write and quite a few manly tears were shed while writing it. Please comment and critique, I read all of your comments and they mean very much to me.
Thank you for reading and keep a lookout for my next stories.

[skyscraper123]

569043 good story bro...

[kladdos]

wow... beautiful chapter and story.
Nearly cried there. Got some misty eyes.
keep up the awesome work!

P.S. I haven't noticed any mistakes what so ever. great work!

[ElijahBleu]

this gave me a feel afeel but a feel none the less

[TimeWarp]

A very touching ending to a great story. I have to say, you did a superb job in writing this, and i'll be expecting some more good works soon.
On another note I found it interesting that it was raining when I read this, and once I finished it stopped. Coincidental? I don't know.
Anyway great writing, and If I had to grade it, I would say a 4.5 / 5, so keep up the good work!

[Tundara]

Flawlessly written and very touching. This story was a pleasure to read and brought a couple tears to my eyes.

[Jumpitydude]

Perfect aftermath to a well written story.

[Material Defender]

[Chance]

569043
Crying wasn't on my schedule for today! I guess I can move some stuff around...

[Frankie]

.........

A fitting end.

[Camlio]

Sorry... Crying a waterfall over here... The part where Spike used his anguish to make the diamond shells was especially moving. I must commend you sir/madam* on a well written story. (*It's the internet so I'm covering my bases.)

[nemesish]

The feels...
one of the few fics that made me cry.

Well done.
(Rarity approves)

[APoeticHeart]

Proudly crying here. Wow! Simply awesoe fanfic. I am so touched that everypony else was able to forgive Spike for what he had done, but most importantly Spike forgave himself. Truly touching story.

[Dartagnen]

That. Was. Emotional. I was on the verge of tears because of this. Thank you so much for this story.

[Sirbob]

Liquid.
Fucking.
Pride.
Every.
DAMN.
TIME.

[arcum42]

For some reason, I could swear this should have already been in Twilight's Library. Oh well, added.

[maness1993]

I wanna thank you man. Because of this, I was inspired to write my own story. If you get the chance, check out "The Dark Dragon". If you like it, thanks. If you don't, I'm sorry.

[Harmonic Bass]

2387057 She also...she also forgives...

OH MY SWEET CELESTIA THE FUCKING FEELS!

[one_winged_nightmare]

Damn that was powerful. Good stuff.

[skullgreymon1]

this is a good story but i have one question: WHY have i tears in my eyes?

[Allonsbro]

4479369
Uuuhhh...liquid pride?

[Darth Redbeard]

4490345 where have I heard that one before.

[JusticeDragon]

The feels

This is one of the saddest things I have ever read

[SageBrony07]

That was a wonderful story. Great job. I loved it.

[Shepard Dragon]

Good story
But heart.....cracked.