Of Love and Loss

by tom117z

25 - Epilogue

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria.

There were once four alicorns who ruled Equestria during an age of harmony and peace. The four alicorns were Celestia, keeper of the sun. There was also Luna, Celestia’s sister and caretaker of the moon. The youngest were Mi Amore Cadenza, alicorn of the heart, and finally Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and bearer of the Element of Magic.

Princess Twilight and her friends protected Equestria from many threats, their unbreakable bond shielding the land from many evils.

But one day, tragedy struck. One such evil succeeded in striking down Celestia, bringing on a darkness that would increase over the years to come.

Cadenza would become reclusive, leaving her duties to her daughter, Princess Flurry Heart. The Element Bearers would be claimed by time, and the darkness in Princess Twilight’s heart wold grow.

Then, one day, it grew too much. The visage of Twilight Sparkle was stripped away, leaving behind a mare of darkness and destruction.

Nightmare Nova.

Nightmare Nova, in control of the sun, strived to bring Equestria under an eternal day of fire and destruction.

But alas, it was never to be. For the love between Princess Luna of the night and Princess Twilight proved too powerful. Nightmare Nova was vanquished, and Princess Twilight was restored.

And so, Equestria would enter a new age of friendship and harmony. Cadenza would return, and Twilight and Luna would be joined in matrimony.

With love victorious, the four alicorns continued to rule Equestria benevolently, and harmony has been maintained throughout the generations ever since.

---

Canterlot Castle, a thousand years after Nightmare Nova

Twilight closed the book she had been reading to the small foals snuggled soundly into the bed. Twins, one a filly and one a colt, both alicorns.

Twilight’s children.

Both foals had drifted to sleep as Twilight read them their bedtime story. They were snuggled against one another as their soft snores signified their departure into the realm of dreams where Luna would likely frolic and play with her children in the most wonderful dream she could conjure for her little ones.

Twilight herself would likely join them, but first she had some things to take care of.

“They look peaceful,” Celestia smiled, standing behind Twilight.

“They are so well behaved,” Twilight stated with a soft smile. “Most of the time anyway.”

Twilight got up and walked out of her children’s room and into the corridor, passing by guards who nodded to the pair.

“I take it there are no problems with the obelisk?” Twilight asked, thinking of the artefact they had painstakingly transferred to Canterlot Castle centuries prior. Even if they couldn’t be around all the time due to it being quite taxing to do so, it was nice that Celestia and her Ponyville friends could visit every now and then.

“No,” Celestia confirmed. “It’s working fine again, though we should be more careful with the amount of time we spend in the world of the living.”

Twilight stopped in the middle of the corridor, giving Celestia a light nuzzle. “We’ll work something out. Anyway, I’ve got some things I need to sign, and then I’m going to bed.”

“Then I will leave you to it, my faithful student,” Celestia said with a nod. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Twilight said in return, Celestia fading in a small flash of light a moment later.

Twilight smiled, continuing along the castle corridors. When they had first brought the artefact back, she had suggested Celestia retake her title of princess. But due to her limited time she could spend in the world each trip, needing a relatively close proximity to the artefact and her own insistence that her time had passed, it never happened.

She was just Celestia now.

Still, through all the tragedy and suffering it had all worked out in the end. She was married to the mare of her dreams, had two lovely children and was even in contact with those she lost every now and then thanks to the obelisk. Celestia, her brother, her friends… they couldn’t be there all the time but the time she did have with them was more than enough. It was a bonus that she would treasure for every moment it lasted.

All in all, Princess Twilight Sparkle was happy.

Author's Note:

It's over!

Thank you guys so much for reading this story! It was quite a fun side project while I wrote Change (which shall also be finished soon).

Thank you guys again, and see you in whatever I work on next!

Comments

[Ivbeara]

*is speechles*

[Penguin Lagann]

Good God is this story over already?!

This was the first story I really followed on here, as is was published the same day as the day I joined.

Why am I sounding like a 30 year old?? See you soon Tom!

[Tenth]

Awesomesause!

Loved it. I'll be around for Change.

[YellowHornBrony]

NO IT'S OVER! WHY

[Ratmandango]

The good things end so suddenly!

I'm gonna cry!

[tom117z]

7591352 Just like time took Twilight's friends, it took this story...

[Battlecat]

Congratulations on finishing it up! I have really enjoyed this story!

[ChaosOverlord65]

Well, story's over, time to go home. In all seriousness, this was a good story. It had an interesting premise and very nice buildup, but unfortunately the lackluster climax and conclusion that, to me, felt like it was trying too hard to make it a happy ending keeps this story out of my favorites folder. Still I enjoyed the ride while it lasted.

[ValNitak Choas]

good story

[Harmony Split]

I love me a good TwiLuna with some Twists and Surprises.
Seriously, this should get way more attention!

I applaud you for this nice piece of writing and hope to see more of you soon

[PrincessTwilightSparkle1]

I'm sad to see this beautiful story end. I really enjoyed reading it.

[sexy nightmare moon]

TOM I FUCKING LOVE YOU THAT WAS SO EPIC IT ALLMOST MADE MY CRY IT WAS THAT BEAUTFULL

[shenadri]

Dude, congrats, also...

cdn.meme.am/instances/400x/33668415.jpg

Hope to see a sequel!!!

[ASGeek2012]

I think I agree with Fluttershy that I like happy endings.

This was a nice story. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[DarkSora68]

I can't... Can't believe this is over... This is one of the first few stories I followed... And now that it's done... Wow... I'll miss this story, can't wait for more though Tom!

[EASTON]

Just one question. How did they have children if they are both mares?

[Cowwarrior528]

7608364 Magic.

[Cowwarrior528]

Am amazing roller-coaster of emotions. Very well written! Now to hunt down these damned onion cutting ninjas that were around...

[tom117z]

7608364 I'd assume a spell as involved, and they likely carried one each as they developed.

[tom117z]

7657509

Yes, that is the same actor who plays Discord.

derpicdn.net/img/2014/7/27/684463/full.jpeg

[Penguin Lagann]

7708085
That comment was from 35 weeks ago.

[tom117z]

7849864 That's been on my read later list for a while now, but I have yet to read it.

[rikithemonk]

7849864
So long as the Authors aren't copying each other, I personally don't mind. Some ideas are common, others are even less so. When you have stories that share a common plot or theme, what makes them shine is the creativity and imagination of the individual Author. For example, there are three HIE in Equestria turned wolf stories that I have on my personal library. All three are fantastic reads, and all three are completely different takes on the idea.

The Monk

[Mini Minrie]

Not a fan of the obelisk allowing whoever, whenever, to show up. It completely removed any consequences from the deaths of her loved ones. Celestia, i could kinda see, but every single person with little to no limit? It killed any of the remaining tension that death can bring and removes the tragedy that is immortality. It really should have ended with a brief, final talk with Celestia, but whatever. It's your story. I have plenty more criticism, but it'll just be drowned out by the uninterested praise, so I'll leave it with an "It's okay."

[tom117z]

8155569 The climax is the one thing about this story I regret, should of made it multiple parts I know.

[fanreader999999]

Half.

[tom117z]

9056094
Um... Okay?

[XzareAce]

now that is what i call a Satisfying ending!

[Midnight V]

OKAY!! Now that this story's done, I can finally review it! Yay!

Ok. This wasn't bad.

No seriously. While it did have minor spelling errors and some cliche moments, the characters progressed without so much of a "Wait, what?" I particularly enjoyed this story, and there were a lot of things going on at the same time that all seemed believable. All the characters were consistent, but still changing at a rate where the change was subtle. The settings were nice and the time skips really give a more, "Immortaly cursed" feeling. At one point, it's a party at Pinkie's, then it's just 20 years later, perfect for immortality fanfics.

However, my praise is temporarily stopped for one thing and one thing only. Onions... No, not me crying, but the amount of layers this has. Seriously, we got (prepare for spoilers and long rant) Celestia dying, but still being kept "alive" by a weird obelisk that was discovered by Discord, Princess Twilight rising to the Princess of the Sun, Falling to Nightmare Nova, then rising to Wife of Luna, The crystal empire being ruled by Princess Flurry heart who honestly, I thought wasn't gonna be important, but BOY WAS I WRONG, Sombre making a return as a Martyrdom Device, which literally KILLED SHINING ARMOR, Princess Luna Merging with Nightmare Moon to allow her the ability of like a werewolf but with Nightmare Moon and on command, Spike becoming the Dragon Lord after some strange and honestly minor event, and almost dying to some random dragon, and finally we got Grogar, who all I can say about him is that he's a f***ing d***. While I did like it and it's layers, other people may find it unenjoyable to read due to the massive amounts of information being given to you. Sure, it's given to you slowly while still allowing for enough enjoyment and intensity, but it still just seems way too complicated looking back on it. To be honest, I will give praise for writing this and thinking this all up probably by yourself. But I won't give praise to the amount of information. I did like it, but others might not and it may be too much for others. But, what do I know? I'm just some changeling Pegasus who can't even write anything creative that's longer than a page.

[flowgninthgil]

10686237
when you say it like that it seems a lot more logic, and sorry for all the mistakes, I probably wrote this around 4am and Idon't think I was that awake at that time

[DarkSnowGaming]

This story was amazing, this is definitely going into my favorites list.