Epilogue
"I honestly don't know how I survived," Redheart concluded. "The injury to my hip was more than enough to kill, that far from a hospital."
Cadance tapped her hoof on the crystal of the library's table. "I... can explain that. So many ponies were dead, so many wounded. Celestia couldn't think straight. The only thing keeping her together was seeing group after group of freed prisoners, freed slaves, walking out of the castle into the sunlight, watching Shining cast the spell to break their chains."
Twilight looked at Cadance. "That doesn't explain how Redheart survived."
Cadance nodded. "Celestia was distraught, distraught about every single wounded and dead trooper, but when my detachment and I landed the captured airship, she commanded me to give a pint of my blood to Redheart. The fact that you were willing to die to save her—that hit her so hard. She's never truly resigned herself to her status, to her specialness, after even a thousand years."
"Oh!" Redheart gasped. "The old wives' tales are true? Alicorn blood?"
Cadance nodded again. "My blood brought you out of shock, and you were on the first stretcher the hippogriff navy carried back to the fleet offshore. After a pint of my blood, aggressive conventional medicine was enough."
Redheart snorted. "'Aggressive.' I didn't wake up for a month. I woke up in Canterlot."
AP hugged Redheart back to his chest. "What was the bill that day?"
Shining Armor grimaced, and smacked his lips as if he were eating rancid peanut butter. "Three hundred fifty dead, half in First Battalion. Five hundred ninety wounded. One thousand, three hundred and fifty-three slaves freed. We didn't count the slavers' bodies, but we took forty-four prisoners. None of them had any information, so we buried them at sea on the trip home."
"What?" AP said. "Buried at sea? What did they die of?"
"Drowning."
Redheart shrugged, and kissed AP. "I spent three-quarters of a year in the hospital while they rebuilt my hip. I applied to Canterlot University from my hospital bed and started in the fall semester. And of course, we met each other in the spring of my freshmare year."
AP shook, cold slicing through him, and he poured some more hot chocolate but skipped the booze. "That—Redheart, my love, how? How did you do all that? Live through all that?"
Redheart looked around the library, stood, sprinted to a trash can, and vomited her hot chocolate and most of her dinner into it.
She wiped her eyes, then her mouth. "It had to be done. Slaves. Slavers. I just, I just kept thinking about Treble and Livey. What if somepony had stolen them? Would I quit, or would I do everything I could to save them? Celestia's Own don't quit. We might get killed trying, but we never stop."
She sat back down and wiped her mouth again, then looked back at the table. "I... I need to go to bed. Princess, Prince? When are you heading back to the Crystal Empire?"
"Late tomorrow," Shining Armor said. "Night train."
"Let's... let's get breakfast together," Redheart said. "Come to our place, and I'll make waffles. And I promise—no war stories. We'll let our foals play together, and we'll all catch up, like old friends."
At noon, about six weeks later, AP went to meet Redheart, his lunchbox gripped in his teeth. He lifted his wings up off his flanks. Why did they keep the hospital so hot? Yes, yes, the patients wore thin gowns, and it was the middle of winter. But did the staff sections of the hospital need to be so overheated? Magic cost money, after all, and as the Hospital's accountant, he had to sign the checks!
He walked through the employee's-only entrance to the back of the Emergency Room, waved at Dr. Steel, and entered the supervisory nurses' office.
Redheart was already in there, her back to him, standing up on her rear legs. She held a nail between her forehooves and a hammer in her mouth.
She tapped the nail halfway into the wall, just below the frame holding the bloodstained scrap of fabric.
Redheart dropped down to all fours and turned to see AP. After placing the hammer on the desk she said, "Dear! How's your day?"
"Great. What are you hanging, Honey?"
Redheart smiled at him. "I pulled my old guard stuff out and decided... well, I decided..."
She pulled a wooden display case out of her bag, turned, and hung it on the fresh nail.
It wasn’t anything fancy: no medals, no Cross of Valor, no Diarchs’ Thanks. It was simply a large version of the new Ponyville Home Guard shoulder flash, which showed a foreboding cave entrance with four armored ponies—one of each of the three tribes, and a batpony—surrounding the cave, preparing to enter. A purple alicorn stood, wings flared, in the middle of the four. The flash bore the unit’s newly-awarded designation: Twilight’s Own.
"I still can't talk about the Cross to anypony else—but I'm glad you understand, now. After telling you what happened, well... I feel like my past, hmmm, what am I trying to say?"
AP walked over to his wife, tossed a wing over her back, and then circled it around her belly—the belly that the two of them had learned only a few days before was carrying their next foal. He leaned his head against hers, and Redheart sighed.
She raised a hoof to her own belly, touching his wing. "So many of my friends died, but they made an Equestria that's safe to bring our foals into..."
"You helped make that Equestria, too, my love. Never forget that."
She closed her eyes and sighed. "The past made me the pony I am—and I'm proud of that pony. I'm not afraid of my past anymore. I'll have those nightmares until the day I die, but after talking about everything to you... the nightmares have a tiny bit less power over me."
They kissed deeply, and he rubbed her belly with his wing.
After they broke their kiss, Redheart smiled at AP and said, "Let's eat! I'm starving, and we have no idea when the next emergency will crash through that door."
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Celestia never showed up in this story in person to restate her eternal gratitude for Redheart and that’s a pity. Redheart should have been widely known as a national hero, though I guess she wouldn’t really want that. Also, I would like to see her parents and brothers show up after her service in Celestia’s Own ended.
Still, these are only some minor things that I’m not completely satisfied with. Apart from them, bravo, bravo and only bravo. You showed the cruelties of war perfectly while giving the characters a good reason to, like you wrote, persevere. How you fit the story into the narrative of the canon is also remarkable. Thank you for this amazing story.
It's over?
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/682/229/f33.gif
Jokes aside, it's been an excellent ride
Review to come later!
This was great. And the fact that the final chapters went in a direction I did not see coming made it wven great. The charachters were brilliant too!
A fantastic end to a fantastic story. I really hope you get the idea/urge to write more about redheart, even if it's just slice of life. Thank you for this wonderful story.
Nice conclusion to a good store. I will say that every time I hear that silly phrase "Celestia's Own don't quit" I keep getting an odd reference to Starship Troopers. It's just like Rico's Roughnecks! "I only have one rule. Everyone fights. No-one quits!" Would you like to know more?
I say Bravo on an excellent story. I hope that you continue to write and maybe someday return with more stories about Equestria's best Nurse.
Great story! Loved every bit of it. You did a great job portraying the horrors of war and the pain of having gone through it. Hope to see more redheart in the future.
I’ll definitely be looking forward to your next story!
A magnificent story!
The characterisations seemed so natural and believable.
And the story just flowed from headcanon to canon.
Definately adding this story to my Top Shelf.
media.giphy.com/media/5hHOBKJ8lw9OM/giphy.gif
And I loved the final touch with Twilight's Own.
The Cave design with the three tribes and a batpony was well done.
You did an amazing job on this story. I love it.
I very much liked this, I hope we get more similar things, however, I like your writing style overall so I will be happy with almost anything you decide to write in the future
I don't believe this story has enough up-votes, or views for that matter. Thank you SockPuppet for this amazing story. While you might live for comments, I live to read stories this good.
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It would of been a nice surprise for Celestia to appear, however I can't see an excuse for that to happen, that wouldn't also be seen as plot convenience.
As for RedHeart being known as a national hero, that's what The Cross of Valor is for, that Cross is said to give her the social precedence of a countess. The public knowing what she did would defeat the point of noone knowing how vulnerable Celestia truly is. People knowing that could lead to more assassination attempts or other problems in general.
10/10
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I said that Redheart most probably wouldn’t want to be famous herself, but you had a solid point as well. Her feat, despite being extremely heroic and even historically significant, is sadly not a good propaganda material at all.
And I believe you wanted to say “assassination”, not “assignation”.
This is definitely in my top 5 favorites stories on fimfiction. Seriously well done!
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Ah! Right you are on both fronts. Not sure how I missed your acknowledgement that RedHeart wouldn't want to be famous. And yes, spelling error there.
Wonderfully done. This had me reread the first!
This story runs the gauntlet of proud and horrified at what she went threw. Definitely one of the better mlp war stories out there.
Well Nurse Red Heart is a Combat Medic in Celestia's own. That's now my head-canon. Even in other stories I'll always think of her as that.
This was a brutal, magnificent, war story.
I could rave about how well you captured war, but nothing can really.
I really don't like a 'mortal' Celestia, but in this case it really adds to the story and makes it more disturbing. The fact is Celestia risked her life to save those slaves and wipe out that stain upon Equestria. So she was very brave, like Batman brave. Superman does all those heroic things, but unless there's Kryptonite he knows he'll win, eventually. Batman does it knowing he's as mortal as the rest of us. But the fact she wasn't just risking her life but that of everyone on the planet, that bugs me. Of course she didn't know about that anti-magic metal stuff so I suppose I'll let it slide this once. All in all liked and favorited. Definitely worth the read.
I hate to say "you do war well", but you do. You also do medicine well. More heroic combat medics/corpsmares please.
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Thanks! There was a fourteen-year gap; Celestia probably had at least one private dinner with Redheart.
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Thanks!
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This is an allusion to the US Army's 160th: "Night Stalkers Don't Quit!"
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I chose to gloss that. After all, everypony at the table — Twilight, Shining, Cadance, AP — is college-educated. They already know how pony blood types work; Redheart would not have stopped to explain.
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Big thanks!
Loved this story!
I might end up making a drawing for the Twilight's Own patch.
Do you envision the patch from a point of view of somepony outside the cave, or from somepony inside?
Thanks for these great stories!
Well, that was quite a ride. There were several things in the previous two chapters that I thought were noteworthy, but I couldn't stop to comment until I finished the story.
Poor Redheart just got used up at the end. It was clear from the moment she got clipped by the cannonball that she knew she was going to die, and was just trying to do anything useful with her shattered remains while she still had muscle control.
Celestia was oddly calm about the whole thing. Maybe she was in shock, but it didn't seem out of character for her. I suppose it would take longer than normal for her life to flash before her eyes
I was left wondering if this was part of the plan. The ponies assumed Celestia was untouchable, but she knew she wasn't. Had she considered the risk and decided that this was a cause for which even she was willing to die?
There weren't really any surprises at the end, because it was the payoff all the previous chapters had set up. As if the reason Redheart had to suffer so much before this point was so that she would have the grit to hold herself together long enough to save the one person that couldn't be replaced. It was heartbreaking to see all the ponies getting mown down to give Redheart her chance to save Celestia, but there was no doubt that they were all there because they were prepared to do just that.
I was tense and even a little sick reading most of this, but I feel I have to favorite it anyway, because the writing was just so darn effective.
This story is fantastic. There wasn't a single chapter that didn't give me chills or bring a tear to my eye. The way you describe the selflessness of the soldiers, and Redheart's unrelenting drive to save them, no matter the personal cost, was exemplary. I look forward to more of your work.
Unusually, I'll be reviewing the last three chapters at the same time, given length
But first;
This is what was playing in my mind, as Redheart's War came to a close. I couldn't help but imagine it, against scenes of Redheart being evacuated from the field, unconscious, with Celestia's Own pushing through the breach, and finally a montage of Redheart recovering coming home.
And now, the final sequence, and final thoughts.
The implications of Celestia's death at this time, when Luna isn't back yet, and Cadance wholly unprepared to take over, is terrifying.
You can just feel the dread in Cadance when she realised she made the wrong call, damn. And of course, not to mention, Twilight piecing together what Shining was up to, as well as just how young she and he was at the time, and what could have gone so terribly wrong...
The talk here, while it's a little short, as with Chapter 5, definitely set the tone for the last few chapters. The tension is palpable.
A fallen angel. It's a vivid, horrifying image, and here Redheart just drags you into how it would feel to watch such a powerful being fall with so little grace.
Celestia's own don't quit.
The sheer intensity of the engagement, the instant desperation that set in and the grit, I don't have enough words nor time to describe just how much this scene, and chapter gripped me. Ponies falling left and right, all just to get to Celestia, their leader, their protector. Oh dear...
And when I said engagement, I might as well say the entire chapter. It pulls you in, forces you through the grit and mud and spellfire and you can feel what Redheart had to go through, all her wounds and emotions, all just to get to Celestia and, scratch that, how everyone suffered in the sheer chaos that ensued. Poor Shining.
Redheart's efforts in healing Celestia, with what little time she had, that too was intense, and good work on the little details - such as Celestia being once a unicorn revealed through her blood type. And then with how casual Celestia is... I don't know what she's even feeling, and there's a whole lot that must be going through her head.
Well put. All the losses would have to mean something, whether it be saving Celestia or getting those slaves out.
A gripping, intense... I don't want to call it a battle, per se. It was a desperate charge, in desperate times. One final effort. And an engaging climax, indeed.
I must say, though, and this is a nitpick, and more of a 'oh, what could have been' instead of 'you should have done so and so', but I'm a little saddened she never got to see the eyes of those she helped free, or help take care of their hurt. But, alas. She made her choice, and it was a difficult one to make (meta and in-universe)
I personally think this is the furthest line this Equestria is willing to cross, perhaps exacerbated due to the lengthy battle and the horrendous losses they had to go through. No quarter.
On another note, and I'm saying this before I forget, I do like the foreshadowing to the Storm King's later attack, sprinkled here and there and enough to piece together. He had time to plan and learn from his defeat, seething and cursing, vowing for revenge, I'd say, and given his enslaving of Canterlot's population... brrh.
Their duty, their burden, to protect others when they could not. Whatever it takes. I'm gonna repeat a point I said in the discord; this is also why I like Celestia leaning towards benevolence in her motivation. Hell, Equestria, for that matter. It really is just an altruistic goal to free the slaves. Because that's what Equestria would do.
Hope shall spring eternal. And a lovely, sweet marriage.
And... here we are. A short, sweet closure.
Plenty of people have said it before in the comments. I'm still going to say it again. There's quite a lot of ground to cover, so, pardon if I trail off in places
This has been a phenomenal journey to witness, from start to end, of a pony who strives to do no harm, to do good for her charges. Perhaps she has crossed her own lines, aye, as we so vividly witnessed. Yet Redheart strives to rise above that, and keep pushing. Because that's what heroes do. The ones that pass beneath notice, the ones who fight and try to make a better world than the ones they left behind. No matter the cost.
You said that you wrote this, partially fueled out of the desire to do a war fic, right. I think you did it well. The T rating works to the story's benefit. Every moment, every vicious death or oozing wound feels much more visceral and hard hitting because you chose the right moments to emphasise them, woven in with Redheart's character so well. You feel every beat, every emotion and the weight of what she has to go through. Bravo.
While I did feel iffy before of a somewhat less merciful Equestria, it's mitigated that this was done, as mentioned, out of the noble duty to rescue these slaves. Not to invade or, to conquer. But to bring peace to the downtrodden. Peaceful and noble they may be, but Equestria, and her leader, conceals a knife's edge. Good is not dumb, and despite how dark it gets, it never loses sight of the show it was based on, and holds its ideal high.
And speaking of Redheart, the characters! Goodness. You made us feel for characters who die in the same chapter they're introduced in. They may have had little presence, or just supporting roles, at most, but they make the world alive by that much. I adored the friendships Redheart made, especially Jade - please, please have Jade appear again, one day. I loved that their friendship, coupled with Redheart's promotion, brought things full circle.
Of course, there's also Guidestar's death, which I've mentioned before, hit me hard, personally, despite it being off-screen. Poor Skystar...
And yet, despite the bleakness, there is always, always the light at the end of the tunnel, the light that made all of this suffering meaningful and worth the sacrifices paid in blood, sweat and tears. Peace, in its many forms, from a safe Equestria, to a family to call one's own. And that's what made the story worth it, too, so very much.
Redheart may seem a little underappreciated for saving Celestia, but I get the sense that... well, propaganda being propaganda, you wouldn't know the public to know you can bleed that much. It is what it is, and I'm sure every year, there's a certain letter sent from Canterlot, inviting Redheart for dinner.
However, my biggest criticism was... well, there just isn't enough of Redheart in the present day. I wanted to see more of her at peace, how she actively deals with the trauma, how she bonds and interacts with her family. I feel that it could have been more of an arc in the present day, to contrast the past. Something she wishes to strive for, in equal lengths, something mundane. But, well, heh, for what it is, I suppose she has, in the end, achieved it. Peace, as many would wish for.
It was a fun time reading this, both before, and after publication
t'was an honour to pre-read, and I hope I didn't miss too many mistakes 
Here's to Redheart, and the healers like her in the world, to those who sought to stay true to themselves, and keep hope and the light in the dark alive.
Because Friendship is Magic.
Recommendation / Review incoming.
[RCL Recommendation Link]
Well done, sir. I salute you!
Not gonna lie, I'm now thinking about "Borrowing" Celestia's Own for a future fic--though they won't really fit into the Celestia XVII universe, I'm sad to say...
Love the alternative universe that you have created, can't wait to read the next entry.
Well, I know who I'm rooting for.
P.S. Nice use of smcaps.
This reminds me, I've been binging Twilight images on Derpibooru recently, and I had found something appropriate for Twilight's Own.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/11/9/1582175.png
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(for some reason, I didn't get a response notification)
understandable, but not what I was asking.
I meant that in the canon in the universe you created here, does the tribe of the pony affect it's blood type? Meaning is there a difference in your canon between them in that attribute which makes one more likely to be accepted or rejected? Kind of like how in "The Ponies in The Caves," you establish how bat ponies are not reproductively compatible with the other tribes.
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So I guess what I'm saying is... I don't know! It's not an essential detail for this story, so I left it hanging in case I need to make it a detail for a future story.
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Thanks! I figured you, in particular, would find Twilight's Own appropriate.
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Big thanks, all! Glad you enjoyed!
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As always, much appreciated! Thanks again for the preread and brainstorming --- the story is better thanks to that!
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I'm humbled and honored! Big thanks!
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You know me well.
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I left it vague on purpose, but they're outside the cave. The pegasus and batpony are and 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock; the earth pony and unicorn are at 8 o'clock and 4 o'clock, with the purple alicorn center-low.
(The earth pony is white with a pink mane; Redheart begged Rarity not to do that, but Rarity won't compromise her artistic vision, darling).
He does work in the accounting department of the hospital, so I thought he meant the bill bill lol god bless america
You really did thread the needle on what could possibly be a classified incident that is sensitive to both the characters and "national security". I was really expecting it to just be some big bad villain or Celestia killing a lot of creatures *yawn*. But the final story being about Celestia and Redheart both being vulnerable is much more satisfying. Redheart really sold the existential dread she experienced seeing Celestia bleed. And although I don't need Celestia herself dropping out of the sky to say thanks (what is this season 1?), it would have been nice to see someone else in the room acknowledge how close they came to ruin. I was unsure if Redheart really needed to share her story, beyond the purposes of the narrative, but the growth at the end says otherwise. Her experience was already affecting her routine, work, and relationships, so it is nice she's actually proud to acknowledge that.
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The Ponies in the Caves Spoiler:
So I think I'm using Cloudchaser, Dusky, Amethyst Sparkler, and Nurse Redheart colours for the four ponies. Unless I decide on Flitter over Cloudchaser, because she went in anyways.
But of course, Rarity is allowed to take artistic license. So no camouflage ponchos for any of them.
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Yeah! Use your artistic judgement no doubt!
I wonder if there was younger Tempest Shadow somewhere in the fortress. That'd make an interesting story if she and Redheart ever meet...
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I deliberately didn't think about that, one way or the other.
Twilight would probably have to stun Redheart to prevent a literal attempted murder, Royal Pardon or not.
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I just came up with something stupid: Tempest being like, "they put me on a ship, asked a lot of questions, kicked my ass, and threw me overboard. I spent two weeks using sea turtles as a raft".
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Gaaahahadhffjjdjfvdfvfdjskfvjdjvfodfudj
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Sea turtles, mate
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*scribbles notes for sequel*
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That wasn't intentional; I wrote he speech stream-of-consciosness. However, when I realized it served as a plant, I cackled in glee.
Well that was a brutal, but in a good way!
There are very few stories that truly nail the "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it" mentality quite as deeply as this. At no point did I get the feeling Redheart was just playing modest or embellishing her story. More often than not she truly was terrified out of her mind, hurt beyond belief, and sick on more ways than one, all of which was only highlighted by the graphic descriptions (which, again, felt real rather than gore for the sake of gore).
But despite all of that, she still persevered, because that's what she believed in. After all, Celestia's Own don't quit.
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Thanks, much appreciated!
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By the same enemies, or diffrent ones?
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Oh, is it one there too?
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The slavers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_flag