Homecoming

by Rose Quill

Chapter Eleven - Saying Goodbye: Ashes

My sisters and I took turns carrying the urn that held Mom's ashes as we climbed the path that led to one of the peaks that overlooked Canterlot. The day was warm for the late autumn, with a bright sun and few clouds. It was a day Mom would have loved to have painted. That thought alone made it hard to enjoy the day.

"You doing ok?" Dew asked, her jade aura keeping the urn aloft. The puffiness around her eyes had gone down, but you could still see the red from her tears.

I sniffed and nodded. "I think I'll do ok," I said, taking the urn in my teal aura. "I think it'll be a while before the tears totally stop, though."

My sister nodded, not meeting my eyes. She seemed like she wanted to ask me something but was waiting for the right moment. As we turned a corner on the path, she looked at me, her eyes intense.

"Will you be able to stay long?" she asked quietly.

"Not really," I said. "A few more days maybe. I've got some responsibilities that I have to keep up on."

"Responsibilities?"

"Given to me by the Princess of Friendship," I said. It was true, after all, being her student in friendship and friend in general. "She's asked me to look after some things in her stead.

"Royal request does take precedence, I suppose," she murmured as she looked back at the trail. I knew she wanted to know more and I wanted to tell her, but the whole other world thing was something Twilight wanted to keep to as small a group as possible, and it was already up to nearly twenty if you counted Flash.

I felt lonely at that moment as I isolated a part of my life from my family. Twilight was right, I did need a friend beside the Princess. Even my family was held a little distant because of the secret I need to keep from them.

Glory came to a stop ahead of us and raised her veil, showing the running makeup from her crying. "We're here," she sniffed.

I looked out at the landscape, large grassy plains with a river snaking along until it was lost in the White Tail Woods. It was serene, picturesque even.

The perfect place. I raised the urn up and saw the teal mix with jade and lilac.

"Goodbye, Mom," I whispered.

"Until we see each other again," Dew said.

"We love you, Momma," whimpered Glory as tears started leaking down her cheeks again.

As we pulled the lid from the urn and cast the ashes to the wind, I heard her voice in the back of my head.

Always

---

As I reentered the castle, I saw Twilight practicing with Sunshine on her telekinesis. They were doing what looked like slow motion juggling of a handful of books. While Sunshine looked a little fatigued, her grip was much more sure and her horn glowed with a steady azure light.

"Good," Twilight said as she sent the books back to the side table and giving me a quick smile of greeting. "That was much better. It seems like you have a basic grasp of levitation already and just needed to figure out Unicorn magic."

Sunshine nodded. "When we got our geodes at Camp Everfree," she said, aura staying lit to adjust her glasses. "I got telekinesis from mine. It seems like the same process, just a different muscle, so to speak."

"Telekineses?" Twilight mused. "Interesting. And what did you get, Sunset?"

"I can apparently see the surface thoughts and emotions of anypony I touch while wearing my geode," I said. "I don't know why I got that when everyone else got something similar to their pony counterpart's abilities."

"Except Pinkie," Sunshine said with a wince.

I glanced around, waiting for the burst of confetti that heralded her arrival. Twilight looked at me with an odd glance.

"Pinkie went to visit her family for the weekend," she said, knowing my reason for caution. "It's her parent's anniversary. What did Pinkie get across the mirror?"

"You don't want to know," I said. "Trust me, you'll sleep better."

Sunshine came over. "Did everything go alright?" she whispered.

I nodded. "Her ashes are spread across the western plain," I said quietly. "And I owe you an apology. You were right, I didn't realize how disconnected I'd feel even from my own family, mostly because of where I live now." I gave her a brief hug. "Thanks for coming."

She hugged me back a little hesitantly as if shocked by the motion. Twilight spoke up as we separated.

"Well," she said in that leading way of hers. "If you want to take care of that, tomorrow is our regular critter picnic. I have to be in Canterlot for a conference and Rarity was called away for a friendship mission. You're more than welcome to take our places and get to know the other girls."

I blinked. "I don't know if you noticed, Twilight," I said not unkindly. "We both seem to be one pet short."

"It's not a requirement," she said, waving a hoof. "Dash came for a few weeks before she got Tank. And I know it will mean a lot to the girls. They really wanted to go with me the times I crossed through the mirror for both the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands."

I thought about it for a few moments, glancing at Sunshine. "What do you think?" I asked.

She hesitated, shifting from hoof to hoof.

"Oh, and Cadence and Shining Armor are due to arrive later tomorrow night!" Twilight started pacing in excitement. "I haven't seen them in a while, I've been so busy! Oh, I can't wait!"

"Shining Armor?" whispered Sunshine. She glanced at me and I recognized the look of curiosity in her eyes.

"I guess we're staying, Twilight," I said. I lit my horn and loosened some of the ties that held my dress on. "I'm going to go change and get some rest. It's been a trying day."

I laid in my bed and stared at the ceiling. Despite the hole in my heart, I felt ok. I had gotten to say goodbye and apologize for missing so much time with her. I got to see my sisters again, and we were going to meet one more time to go over what to do with the house. All I could bring to mind were happy memories of foalhood.

And the broad smile of my mother was with me as I fell asleep.

Comments

[BenRG]

I'm wondering if Flurry Heart will be coming too (one way or another)? That will be a strange experience for Sci-Twi as I suspect that her Cadence and Shining Armour are still at the stage of 'awkwardly dating with feelings of breached boundaries because of the teacher/former student thing'!

The earlier scene of Sunset's mother's final journey was heart-warming too. I think that the biggest revelation to Sunset of this journey has been that she isn't quite as resilient, strong and detached from the pony world as she thought.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

I sniffed and nodded. "I think I'll do ok," I said, taking the urn in my amber aura. "I think it'll be a while before the tears totally stop, though."

Sunset's magic color was turquoise, same as her eyes. As of Most Likely To Be Forgotten it's red.

[Thor447]

9145303
Cannon messed up and changed it

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

When saying goodbye to a member of a family is always sad, I was in the exact position as sunset was back in march 2020