Chapter 11: The Garden and a Final Farewell (Ending)
Two weeks later, Celestia’s internal clock woke her from a brief nap, and she sat up to find herself in the shade of her favorite tree, in the middle of the Royal Gardens where she had nodded off a short while ago. Not too far away, she could hear the rickety wheels to a carriage coming to a halt outside the entrance.
Right on time… She thought, grimly, running a hoof through her mane a few times in an attempt to erase any form of bedhead from her image. She was just levitating her crown back to the top of her head, from where she had lain it aside for a relieving moment, when she heard several sets of hoofsteps heading towards her along the stone-brick pathway.
Twilight came around the corner, smiling wide when she saw Celestia, and the younger alicorn ran up to hug her mother in greeting. Celestia smiled, returning her daughter’s embrace with all the love of a parent, running her hoof gently through the younger alicorn’s mane.
“How are you, Celestia?” Twilight asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Hello, princess.”
Celestia gulped, clutching Twilight tighter against her as she looked up at the new voice. Sure enough, there stood Night Light a few feet away, with Spike sitting on his back, both of them looking at her with a neutral expression and a smile and wave, respectively. Flash Sentry, in one rare instance without his armor at all, stood behind them, looking at Night Light uncomfortably- as if he was a ticking time-bomb.
Time to- what was it called, again?-‘face the music’.
“Hello, Night Light.” Letting go of Twilight, Celestia approached them and bowed her head in respect, “I trust that you’re doing well.”
Night Light nodded, slowly, “I am.”
“I truly am sorry to hear about Velvet.” Celestia said, honestly, “I trust that you now know how close we both were to her.”
Another nod, and Night Light glanced at Twilight before answering, “I do, and if I’m honest, I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together that very first day.”
The slight anger in his voice unnerved both mother and daughter.
“I’m sorry, Night Light.” Celestia looked away, deciding to finally address the elephant in the room.
“For what?”
She looked at him in surprise, “What do you mean?”
“I slept with YOU, princess, I was the unfaithful one, and yet you’re the one apologizing, the one who took the fall.” Night Light stepped closer, “What have you done? Given me a daughter and let Velvet raise her as her own? Visited Velvet’s grave, according to Twilight, and while she was alive worked with her as a friend, associate, and mother?”
He let his words hang in the air, allowing them to sink in before Spike spoke up,
“You just seem, uh, kinda angry.”
Night Light looked at the small dragon, “I’m angry, alright, and you wanna know why?”
“Why?” Celestia asked, nervously.
“I’m angry that Velvet kept this whole thing from me, letting me stew and worry about what would happen if she found out, though she DID tell me a good portion of the truth. I’m angry at YOU TWO,” He pointed at Twilight and Celestia, “for not telling me two weeks ago, instead keeping it until now and leaving me worried sick about you, Twilight.”
“Most of all, though,” He sighed, bowing his head, “I’m angry at myself.”
“Why should you be mad at yourself, Dad?” Twilight asked, sharing a sideways glance with Celestia.
He looked at Twilight, and then up at the sky for a moment, before answering her question, “For being so blind! I made myself look a fool two weeks ago, when I only repeated the story that Velvet WANTED me to give you. I told myself to regret that time with you. In fact, by then, I had almost completely forgotten about,” He looked at Celestia, “that night.”
Celestia smiled in understanding, “I guess they WOULD seem unrelated, given the circumstances. The only way I remember that night at all is because,” She drew Twilight close with a wing, “the results are right here.”
Twilight blushed, “Mo-om!”
“What?” Celestia smiled at her, “It’s true.”
“If I regretted that night, then I would end up regretting my own daughter.” Night Light said, smiling at the scene.
“So,” Celestia smiled, “you forgive me?”
“Like I asked: For what?”
Not knowing what else to do, Celestia stepped forward and hugged him, whispering a ‘thank you’ in his ear to which he nodded and smiled.
As they hugged, Twilight pranced over to Flash Sentry and sat down on her haunches next to him, leaning into his side. He smiled and nuzzled the top of her head, kissing her forehead softly.
“So,” He said, “did you find all that you were looking for?”
Twilight looked up at him, and then over to where her biological parents were reconciling, her mother and her father. Finally, she looked up at Flash, meeting his eyes and then his lips in a kiss, “Yes. I did.”
“Good.” He thought for a moment, “So, you really are a true princess of Equestria, huh?”
“Don’t get any funny ideas, Sentry.” Twilight warned, playfully, “You know I don’t like the unwanted attention on most days,” She sighed, “I might never be able to muster the courage to reveal that I’m Celestia’s daughter, publicly.”
“Why not? Shouldn’t everypony else know?”
“Maybe, maybe not. I can tell my friends, but they're not the problem. There are still plenty of corrupt nobles in Celestia’s court, some of them my father’s political rivals. If word eventually got out about their one-time affair…”
Flash nodded in understanding, then smirked, “Does that mean you’re off-limits, too.”
“Really, Flash?” Twilight deadpanned, “I hope our relationship wasn’t just for you to get me into bed.”
The guard pegasus chuckled, “No, no, it’s not.”
“Good.” Both jumped at the sound of Night Light’s voice, the out-of-character glare that Flash received from the stallion causing him to pull away and put some distance between them. Celestia stood behind them, trying to stifle her giggling, “I’m ALSO angry that Twilight didn’t tell me about you two getting together, so I would hope it’s not for your personal gain. Because, if I EVER hear of you hurting her in any way, physically or emotionally, I will-“
“-skin him alive?” Twilight guessed.
“Yes!” Night Light affirmed, but then smiled, “So be careful with her, colonel.”
“Y-Yes, sir!” Flash saluted the former guard captain, who chuckled. Then he gulped, and then looked over at Twilight, “Your family is a lot more horrifying than I thought they’d be.”
“I like to think that they’re ‘overprotective’.” Twilight said, wearing an apologetic smile.
“Speaking of family,” Celestia lit her horn and a picnic basket floated out from a nearby bush where she’d hidden it, “I thought it would be nice to have lunch together, if you two would like.”
“Oh, Princess,” Night Light’s eyes widened at the basket, “you don’t have to do that.”
“I insist. Besides, how many times did you and your wife invite me in to breakfast at your house?” Night Light was silent, “Several times. I think this is an adequate thing to do in return, for once.”
Night Light sighed, but he smiled, and then nodded, “Fine- but only if you and Princess Luna agree to attend hearth’s-warming dinner at my home in a few months, along with Twilight, Shining, and Cadence."
“Deal. I will check my schedule.”
“Flash, you’re coming, too.”
“Me?” Flash’s eyes widened as Twilight giggled, “You want ME, there?”
“Trust me, colonel,” The old stallion smiled, nodding to Twilight who had retaken her rightful place, leaning against his side again, “from the way she acts, you’re practically family, already.”
“Hey! Will you guys quit with the sappy stuff, and dig in, already!” Spike, who had remained silent up until then, shouted, his mouth visibly watering as Celestia finished setting out the last of the picnic- and the delicious dishes that her chefs had prepared.
As they ate, Twilight looked up from her place at Flash’s side from time to time and noticed that while she listened to Night Light and shared small-talk with everypony else there, Celestia’s eyes seemed to drift upwards slightly, looking up towards the clouds and the Sun beyond it. Twilight waited until their eyes met to ask her the mental question.
Celestia smiled at her daughter, and then tilted her head upwards. Confused, Twilight turned her head slowly, and looked up, following her mother’s gaze- and her jaw dropped.
Twilight Velvet sat on a cloud above them, looking as healthy as she did in life, and looking down at the scene with a smile on her face. At her sides were a pair of silver, angelic wings, and hovering over her head of grey and purple was the bright ring shape of a halo. Meeting Twilight’s gaze, Velvet smiled at the mare she helped raise and mouthed something. Twilight’s eyes widened, when she read the words as, “I love you, Twilight.”
Tears threatening to appear, Twilight mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
Velvet only shook her head, smiling, and mouthed silently back, and she heard the words in her mind, “Don’t be, I forgive you. Now go, be there for the both of them- Night Light and Celestia.” With that, Velvet’s ghostly body became translucent, and in seconds, she had disappeared to that other home in the sky.
Before she disappeared, Twilight made sure that her adoptive mother’s ghost saw one last sentence on her lips, “Goodbye…Mom.”
No one noticed the tears in her eyes, nor what had transpired, except Celestia, who had moved over slightly to brush the tip of her right wing gently across Twilight’s own, offering comfort to her daughter. Twilight unfurled her left wing and intertwined her feathers with Celestia’s.
The picnic went on, as if all was accomplished, yet only mother and daughter knew that the final piece of the puzzle had just then been put back in its place…
…with one last goodbye.
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I really loved this story. How you just put it together. I can't say something els in that.
LE GASP! I inspired someone!
>>Foals Errand whoops. My bad. Thanks for the correction. I thought I had gotten it backwards when I noticed more fics involving Mare Do Well.
7797470 Trust me, Backlash, the idea seemed to pop in my head when I finished reading your fic. Thanks a lot for that story, by the way.
MY FEELS JUST DIED
That was very good, a fine story and you now have an excellent starting point if you wish to continue with more stories.
nicely done.
7797615 I can't help that you went and released all the chapters in one go. If you want more comments and constructive feedback, release the chapters one at a time, on a regular basis. This will slowly but surely draw in more readers who will leave a comment stating your strong points and offer constructive criticism.
7797772 I can't promise any future stories will be as good as this one is, but you're right.
7797847 Man, I spent four to five MONTHS on this whole thing and I STILL missed those mistakes? Thanks for pointing it out?
Loved it up tell flash but other wise good job
I was a little unsure at the start, the POV bit was a tad off putting, but this story has just gotten better and better to the point that I have been reading for 3, 3 1/2 hours? Could not stop till I had finished, a magnificent piece of writing!
7798664 Yeah I felt I should've removed that.
That last part, right in the feels
7799301
You've made the featured box, which means you've done well enough that you've caught quite a few eyes. Same thing happened to me, and I don't mind saying I felt a glow for the next day or so.
Do you want to try for a second, or will that do it for you? There are some authors here who pretty much automatically reach the featured box whenever the write something.
Wouldn't it be neat if you were one of them?
Huh, interesting that someone who isn't a fan of the show would choose to write a fic with it.
Also now that I see you've already responded to the Mare do well thing I'd say that the want it need it spell incident wasn't really comparable to the changing invasion incident.
Since you haven't seen the episodes Twilight was kind of out of line in Lesson Zero (with the want it need it spell) Celestia just descended from the heavens to scold her with that disappointed look for brainwashing the entire town into a riot.
During the Canterlot Wedding though, Celestia was at fault so that was right.
7799442 yeah I think that's the flower I meant.
7800353 with the want it need it spell I was just listing a point in Twilight's life where she had a negative interaction with Celestia, not necessarily who was at fault for it.
7800091 It sure sounds like it. I'd definitely read that story.
7799440 I will definitely try to post more fics out here in the future but I doubt anything I write will be able to top this one given how good it seems to have been overall (which is still a surprise to me). I will say one thing, though, if I write another romance fic I think I'll try a different pairing and see how that goes.
7800402 Ah I thought you were going for moments Celestia failed her as a teacher and, unknown to Twilight at the time, mother.
Very well done. While I was able to figure out Celestia's first secret very early on, the other secret she had just made my brain hurt. Just like poor old Mr. Gumby. BTW: Skip to 1:25 if you want to hear what Mr. Gumby says.
Really interesting story.
I'm a big fan of Fics where Celestia is more like a mother to twilight.
The things tha seemed a bit off are easily explained by you not watching the show, for that you've done a really good job :)
Somehow I hoped that it would turn out that mirror Sombra is her dad, but your version worked out fine too. :)
Looking forward to the possible sequel.
Kinda funny like lots of people for some reason assume that Luna controls stars and "paint" constellation when canon never suggested that she control anything beside Moon.
I'm pretty sure that this idea grow from the fact that "stars" helped Nightmare Moon escape her Moon imprisonment.
And that pretty much cheapen Twilight achievements. It's not her hard work and friendship achieved ascend her to Princess status. She just born that way.
7803065 Oh, I'm very aware. :)
poor poor poor flash, one mistake and he a dead pony,
now this was good story,
You finished this on my birthday. It's a great fic! Keep up the good writing and I look forward to your next bit of work!
7800304
haha no worries--there are WAY too many things in this show to remember
>>Fallen Knight Yeah, I figured someone would mention that line. It was originally supposed to be that Night Light knew who her mother was, like in Golden Secrets, but I changed the entirety of Twilight's origins at the last second so as not to take away too much of Backlash's canon. Given what Twilight Velvet seems to be like in a lot of other fanfics, I had hoped it could be an implication that he's betraying a promise he made to Velvet, who seems to be the leader of the household.
Given that Velvet actually told him to reveal the secret should she pass, however, you're right that it became pointless. It's really nothing more than what causes Twilight to think about going to Celestia in the first place- THAT'S why I left it in the story.
>>mfkdso I freaking KNEW IT! I knew someone was gonna pull out the Empire Strikes Back!
>>Comnislasher If that disappoints you, then I'm sorry. Yeah, when you put it that way, it DOES seem to cheapen her achievements, but I don't know, something just told me that having it come natural would be more...I don't know, 'special', perhaps? I really don't know how else to word it. All I know is that I'm a familial sort of person, and I was trying to show that with this fic.
This story makes me miss my mom
Huh... I'm surprised I didn't read this sooner... have yourself a lunamlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-2135006-2-cHFMeye.png
>>The Collapsed Library
Thank you very much
7875399 I think I've mentioned this before, but yes you're right- the tag for the POV change wasn't really necessary and I DID write Celestia a bit too shallow in some places, didn't I? Well, I can't get perfection on the first try, though I honestly have no idea how I can go back and revise that without messing the entire chapter up.
I can fix the POV tag, though.
For those of you who mentioned the POV bit in Chapter 1, thank you for mentioning that. Im trying not to mess up the entire fic with major revisions, but I at least removed it. Again, thank you for the feedback.
7877783 As for that first one, no one could've expected for Velvet to die. After all, death can come to those of us who LEAST expect it. She probably thought she would live for a least a few more years before the events of this story had to take place.
As for your second comment, regarding Flash's rank
my mistake!
I'm not that much of a military expert and whenever Ive seen or read anyone in movies or books with the rank of corporal, they always seemed to be just below the captain. I'll see if I can change that.
And regarding why Velvet only mentioned Big Macintosh and not Flash Sentry, think of it this way: knowing Twilight, she would most likely expect her to be with either minor nobility or a commoner from near where she lives in Ponyville, and not a royal guard from Canterlot or the Crystal Empire. She could've either dropped the idea of Flash Sentry or had forgotten about it.
Really good story, I like it.
7956476 Well, a big thank you for liking this story as a whole. I really do appreciate it.
As for that particular passage, yeah, I now realize the goof now. Considering what I've read of the whole Want It, Need It thing in the show, I assumed at that time that it was not just a one-time thing. My mistake.
Wow, dude you wrote this whole thing without watching a single episode?! Props to you man, I'm impressed! I'm not sure how you could pull off a sequel with what you have left. It seems just about everything you had here was resolved. I quite enjoyed how much you harped on Flash though ;) Keep up the good work man! I always enjoy a good MommaLestia fic!
7977766 I honestly just put romance in the fic because (1) I wanted some other interaction besides the one between Celestia and Twilight, and (2) I felt the need to have SOMETHING happen during the gala before the 'big reveal'. Honestly looking back, I COULD HAVE chosen a different pairing for Twilight, but Flash Sentry just seemed like the best option at the time (especially since I already had Cadence say that her friends were all still in Ponyville). As for their romance seeming forced and such...yeah I can actually see that, and I regrettably do not know a way to revise that without somehow screwing the whole chapter up.
However, it only occurs in that one chapter and a bit in the last (spoiler), so if you still want to finish reading this fic (if you haven't given it up already), I assure you that Chapter 7 is the fullest extent to romance in this story. Also, like I keep saying, I haven't been into MLP for very long and I honestly have only been writing fanfiction for others' enjoyment for a shorter amount of time, so yeah....this would have a few novice mistakes on my part.
7967990 Thanks, my friend. I plan on doing just that!
I have finally found another story with the momlestia and twilight theme
! I love these stories but they are so few and far between or when I do find one, its only 3000 words (which is too short for my tastes
).
7993958 I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was having the same problem until I said, "You know what, I'll just write my own!"
7994139 I would do the same but me no write well or in good grammer
7994541 Trust me when I say this, the first time I proofread this before I posted it, you would not believe all the grammar mistakes. I no form sentences correctly sometimes.
8081866 I sort of viewed it as "Twilight won against her, the reigning champion, so she claims the title and her spot on the winner's stand" sort of deal. I honestly don't know how else to explain it.
a sequel pleasseeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8150955 Ive had the idea for awhile, but I haven't been able to come up with a good story yet.