Students of Heaven

by Gentian

9 - Retrouvailles

9 – Retrouvailles

My songbirds are at it again, and their high melodies perfectly suit my mood; Twilight has returned! I can't keep the smile from my face as I set out a table in my garden. With my own 2 hooves, no less. And maybe, with a bit of help from my horn, here and there.

Cups and saucers here, sugar and cream there. Leaves of my newest prize strain steeping in the kettle, and an assortment of cakes, and treats laid out just so. I'm partial to anything banana myself, but there are plenty of others; Twilight is coming for a visit, and she's bringing a new friend. I am very eager to meet her.

It turns out, the pony I'd smelled in her castle was just as guilty as I'd thought. Starlight Glimmer, quondam leader of Our Town, had hunted my student down, and tried to take her revenge by taking Twilight's past.

Of course, the multiverse being what it is, such a plan could never have succeeded. Those terrible realities Twilight visited were not created by Starlight's actions, but have always existed, and would always exist within their own timelines, completely independent of our own. When Starlight went to the past, she altered events, yes, but the only result of doing so was to send herself down a timeline which had always existed, leaving all the infinite others very much intact.

In fact, had Twilight not gone to the past as well, she would have experienced no change, continuing on in our own timeline, utterly unaffected by Starlight's “revenge,” and would have, in fact, never encountered her again. I do hope Starlight realizes that in stopping her, Twilight actually saved her from being cast adrift in time.

Maybe she does, and maybe she doesn't, either way I'll be able to tell when she arrives. She will keep no secrets from me, I won't permit it. Hers was a stupid plan made by a rage-filled pony, yes, but it was a difficult plan, too. She'd used Starswirl's magic instead of her own to create the time-bridge, but it was still a remarkable feat, and a pony who is both so gifted, and so ruthless will have my undivided attention for as long as it takes to be sure she is no longer a threat.

Incredibly, that's exactly what Twilight claims! Twilight says she managed to not only thwart Starlight's vengeance, and return them both to their proper timeline, but to have actually turned her into a friend while doing so! Ostensibly. I trust Twilight's judgment here, but I also trust my own experience, and would much prefer to have a pony who is so powerful, so unstable, and so recently adversarial, somewhere that she can be watched. Just in case.

But, my ulterior motive does not counter my putative one; I truly hope her penitence is genuine, and until I know otherwise, I will treat her as a friend of Twilight's deserves to be treated. So I prance about the table, making sure everything is just perfect for their arrival, while humming to myself, and matching my voice to those of the birds.

I hear a pony approaching. I don't need to look to know who it is.

“Aunt Celestia!”

“Hello, Cadance,” I smile. “Are you here for the party?” Her ears perk up as she surveys the table.

“Party?”

“Mm-hmm. For Twilight and her new friend. I've invited them to have tea with me.”

“Ummmm...” suddenly her ears press back, and her eyes find the floor. “Actually, I have a message from Twilight,” she says, awkwardly scraping the marble with her hoof.

“Oh?”

“Yes...she asked me to wait a little before giving it to you,” she pauses. “But-” her head shakes rapidly “-I wouldn't have if I'd known you were planning a party.”

“What was the message?”

“Yeah, well...oh boy.”

“Cadance?”

“She read the book you gave her. The one to communicate with Sunset?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“You know how excitable she is.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Well, she didn't let me explain what happened, and just rushed off through the portal as quickly as her hooves would take her.”

“Oh.” Well, darn. “So she won't be coming. What about her friend?”

“Twilight didn't mention her. I don't think she knows about it.”

I nod. “That sounds like something Twilight might do.” Cadance nods, still looking at the floor.

“She loves to help...” her voice trails off, and we look at each other for a few moments.

“Well, my dear niece. There's no reason to let all of this go to waste.” - she perks up again - “Would you care to spend the afternoon devouring cakes and tea with me?”

“You bet!”

Shortly after we begin, the sound of a door gently opening filters down to me. I ignore it, and the steady clip-clop of hooves on marble, as their owner approaches. “Twilight!” Cadance shouts through a mouthful of cake.

“Hi Cadance, thanks for your help.”

“Anything for my favorite filly!”

Twilight smiles, then turns somberly to me, her purple eyes heavy with import. “Princess Celestia, there's a vital matter we need to discuss.”

______________________________________

I am calm.

My breath is even, and my eyes are serene. Inside, I'm anything but; my stomach flutters, and I feel the room might drop out from under me at any moment. The feeling of my hair in its etheral breeze adds to my discomfiture.

“You're hiding it well, Sister,” Luna not-quite whispers. I meet her smile with one of my own. Her gentle voice, and kind eyes give a much needed anchor for my emotions.

“Not well enough, it seems.”

“Oh no, Sister,” she says with a light chuckle. “Not even we can pierce your facade.” - she winks at me - “We simply know you better than you give us credit for.”

The feeling of Cadance's delicate nuzzle on my left cheek intrudes. Then, as she presses her shoulder to mine: “That's right, Auntie Cely, we're your family, and we're here for you.” With a smile, I lean more firmly into her, and feel Luna's weight pressing on my right side. They're nervous, but not like me.

I'd told Luna about Sunset, and Cadance even met her briefly, years ago. They were both delighted at the surprise emergence of another Alicorn, and when Twilight said Sunset had asked her to seek my permission to return, they'd all but begged to be here when she did.

Not that they needed to, of course, but they don't share our history, and so, don't share my doubts. Idea after unwanted, distracting idea runs through my mind. Slowly, carefully, I breathe in. I pause, focusing on the heartbeats of my Sister and Niece at my sides. Slowly, carefully, I let it go, and send my rampant thoughts with it.

The mirror begins to glow; they are coming, and I am ready.

Side by side, so closely their flanks are touching, they step over the mirror's threshold. Sunset Shimmer, ice-blue eyes fixed intently on the floor, turns to me. She opens her mouth to speak, but only manages a soft, strained gasp.

Tears well in her gorgeous eyes and she tries again, but no words come out. Trembling with effort, she forces her face to meet mine, opens her mouth a third time, and breaks into uncontrollable tears. Her legs give out beneath her and she sinks to the cold floor.

Luna and Cadance are silent, undoubtedly wanting me to take the lead. Twilight drops back, her eyes focused on me, as I step forward, one measured pace after another. I can't run, I can't speak; if I do, I'll lose control.

Sunset moans, and whimpers softly as my hoofsteps come to a halt in front of her. I stand over her, emotions churning wildly, my eyes never leaving this one little pony: the very center of my world.

“I'm sorry,” she whispers. “I'm so, so sorryyyy...” her voice breaks as the last sound stretches out to a wail.

Slowly, carefully, I lay prone in front of her.

Slowly, carefully, I wrap my wings around her.

“I am too,” and suddenly we're crying together. She crawls closer and pushes against my neck with her own. We nuzzle, and lean; lean, and nuzzle, and hold each other, sobbing away our pain, fears, and regrets. Our tears mingle, hot and wet on the cold crystal floor, as our hearts finally begin to heal. At last, we are spent, and I look around to see my family smiling at us.

My family.

Cadance was right; they are my family. Luna, my sister: first to ascend and show me my loneliness would not last forever; Cadance, my niece, whose unconditional love taught my heart to hope again; Twilight, also my niece, both through her brother's marriage, and most importantly, my love, who returned my Sister, and Sunset, and who has saved my ponies time and again; and Sunset. Poor orphaned Sunset: my daughter.

When I first passed her the spark, I'd made arrangements in secret, adopting her as my own. I'd intended to tell her when her wings sprouted, but alas, she'd left before I'd had the chance. She's never known she's royalty, and even though she fled my home, she has never stopped being my daughter.

Sunset, my beloved child, in whom I saw so much of myself that I threw caution to the wind, and in so doing nearly doomed an entire world. Here we are, all together for the first time.

A smile spreads across my face, waxing larger and brighter as my happiness grows. Luna is the first to speak.

“Welcome home, Princess Sunset.” She looks up at me, brow furrowed in confusion, before her gaze slides to my Sister.

“Thank you, Princess Luna. Princess Twilight told me you'd come back.” She looks back at me, then to Luna again. “If it's not too late, I'd like to say the same to you, Princess.”

“It is not, and we thank thee, as well,” - a mischievous twinkle flashes in my Sister's eye - “Princess.” Sunset looks between us, again.

“Princess Luna, why do you keep calling me that? I'm only a unicorn.”

Cadance lets out a little laugh. “I bet Twilight would have told you, but she didn't know either. Looks like Luna owes me 20.” She grins at Twilight, who has been staring open-mouthed with disbelief since she'd realized. “It serves you right for taking off again before we could tell you anything!” Sunset's head swivels between the 4 of us from between my wings, still clasped over her back.

“What do you mean, Princess Cadance? Twilight?”

With a gentle nuzzle, I whisper, “See for yourself,” and let our hug go.

“I have wings!” she gasps. Luna snorts facetiously.

“To think a pony could undergo apotheosis, and not even know.”

“I have wings! When did...” A look of shocked understanding shoots across her face. “The school? But how? You weren't even there!”

“Oh, Sunset,” I say as I hug her again. “There's so much to tell you. Just know that I've never really been as far away as you think.”

______________________________________

Time passes in its slow, inexorable way. There is laughter, and there are tears. More of each are sure to come, but we're mending. At long last, I have my family, and they have me. We'll live each day, and each night in love for our ponies, and for each other.
Forever.

Author's Note:

And here we are.

The last chapter.

If anybody's reading this, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Comments

[Xanderfox]

Well if Celestina's explanation of time lines is accurate all those timelines where meant to have "prime" Twilight visit them, in the ones she encountered some pony she likely started them back on to the path to harmony. Though the time line with Changelings will have one of the roughest paths back. Already a few fix where the Nightmare time line corrects, I hope the other time lines get explored as well.

[Gentian]

8543959
Yeah, that's the thing about time travel. Rather than changing the future, you simply switch to another already extant timeline wherein your actions were already "supposed" to occur. Nothing changes for anyone but yourself. I like to think Twilight has a positive impact wherever she goes. She's certainly had one on my life, so maybe those other timelines are turning back to the light, too.

[Xanderfox]

8544807
One very good story is Sparking Visions of Twilight which deals with Rainbow Dash in the Nightmare Moon scenario uniting the elements to beat Nightmare.