Chapter 60: One Last Encore
The minutes ticked by as Vinyl Scratch waited in the most luxurious tea room she’d ever seen. An enormous wall of windows faced the dip between the majestic mountains, between where the sun and moon set every day. Spread just outside was the familiar Canterlot Royal Gardens, blooming with exotic plants and filled with wildlife from across Equestria. In the distance, the cascading rainbows of Cloudsdale burned warmly in the waning light of dusk.
The view she could see from her seat was almost transcendental. It was a carefully crafted artistic expression, cultivated over centuries with the sheer beauty of Equestria by the one who built the place. So perfect was its design, Vinyl couldn’t help but wonder what came first, the garden or the castle.
The jostle of the door turned her attention away from the setting sun. A golden aura of magic gently opened it, revealing the former princess herself, Celestia, trudging through while her guards positioned themselves on either side of the door. Her eyes were closed, weighed down with a crippling exhaustion after yet another day of questioning from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Without opening her eyes, the princess whisked a cushion and collapsed into it across the table from Vinyl. Her magic immediately set to the task of preparing her tea, her cup, teapot, sugar bowl, and spoons all working in perfect harmony. Only after taking her first sip and sighing did she bother to open her eyes, her gaze already focusing on her guest. Celestia drew a breath to speak, but it hitched as her eyes fluttered widely on seeing her.
“Adept Scratch?” she finally said as she quickly applied a mask. “How unexpected.” The alicorn looked around the table and saw only two teacups. “You are here alone.”
“Yes, I am. Good evening, madam chancellor,” Vinyl said with a bow.
“There is no need for that, Adept. My chancellorship exists solely so those that are uncomfortable calling me Celestia may have a title to include.” Celestia laughed to herself. “And even that is becoming tenuous with each and every day. I suppose you were not in attendance at today’s hearing?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then that explains why you’re still here. After what I admitted to today, nopony will likely want to be anywhere near me again.” Celestia took a sip of tea before returning with a pacifying smile that rang with forced tranquility. “I will spare you the grim details of that day four hundred years ago. It goes against my rule of bringing problems within this space.”
The alicorn’s admission to such a thing while wearing her placid smile unsettled Vinyl to her core. She had no clue what to say. “I’m sorry.”
Celestia shook her head. “Do not apologize on my behalf. It was a heinous act I perpetrated out of fear and hatred. I believe the name they will likely settle on is the ‘Tartaran Massacre.’ Just another on the list of confessions for the record.” She stirred her tea as reflected on the days, weeks, and months she’d been telling her secrets under oath. “It’s an infinitesimal punishment for my wrongdoings, wholly inadequate to serve any sense of justice. I wonder, can it even be considered a punishment if it requires my consent? The forces in this world that could deliver the judgment I truly deserve only exist with my permission.”
For not allowing problems in the tea room, Celestia sure was unloading them by the barrel. After hearing what she’d done to Chrysalis, Vinyl could only imagine what the alicorn could’ve done back then. It was almost worse not knowing, but she guessed that was part of the point. Vinyl knew that she didn’t want to talk about any massacres, and likewise Celestia likely didn’t want to talk about anything at all.
The former princess waited for another moment before pouring a second cup of tea and setting it in front of her guest. “So, what brings you to my sunroom at high tea, Adept? I don’t mind Luna and Fancy inviting a guest, given your relationship, but seeing as neither of them are here, I am frankly puzzled.” The alicorn’s passive gaze sharpened to a bladed edge. “I most certainly didn’t invite you.”
Every bone in Vinyl’s body was screaming for her to run out the door. She almost apologized again on instinct, but she swallowed her words as she reached for her saddle bag. “I was hoping I could talk to you.”
“The commission hearings are public events that are open to questions and comments within a week’s notice,” Celestia rattled off before retreating to her cup.
“N-no! it’s not about that stuff, I swear!” Vinyl assured while trying to calm the self-proclaimed demi-goddess down.
“Then I humbly request you state your business and leave me to my tea in peace, Adept.”
“I-I could come back another day.”
Celestia drew a sharp breath and closed her eyes. “I am sorry. You deserve more respect than what I am capable of offering. Today was very trying. Please, just tell me what you want and I will consider it. I promise to at least write to you if not.”
“Okay.” Shuffling through her bag, Vinyl finally found her notebook and the book she’d brought with her.
Her curiosity piqued, Celestia begrudgingly glanced over at what the young mare was preparing. Before Vinyl even opened her mouth, Celestia teleported the book over to her, her eyes flashing at the mare on its cover. “Long Live the Queen of Disco: The Definitive Guide to Sauna Summers?”
“Yeah. That awful waste of ink is the only thing I have to work from. Everything else is back at the mansion.”
“Fancy told me you were archiving the collection,” the alicorn recalled as she turned her attention back to Vinyl.
“Yeah. I was doing that, but after listening to the rest of it, I sent most of it to the ESPA for them to deal with. I kept the ones that were more… personal.”
Celestia’s mask fell from her face and she bowed her head in relief. “Thank you.” She recollected herself and straightened back up with a small smile. “So, what is it that you need from me?”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I was hoping I could get your help for a book I’m writing.”
Celestia tilted her head. “A book?”
“Yeah. That so-called definitive guide doesn’t tell anypony anything about who Summers was, so I want to correct the record and write my own biography of her, with a little help from Steeplechase. I know you were her best friend, so I was hoping you could tell me about your time together.”
“I…” For once, the alicorn was tongue-tied, wrestling with what she wanted to say. Finally, she shook her head. “It was fake, Vinyl. If you truly listened to the entire collection, then you’re one of the very few who knows that for a fact. I will agree to answer any questions you may have, but you’re better off leaving my part of the story out of it.”
“I don’t think I can. I’m still going through her memory diaries, but Sunny Skies was one of the most important ponies in her life. She loved you so much, and I know you loved her back.”
“But it was built on a lie!” the shattered sun cried. “I manipulated the world around her for my own gain, set her up with her husband, and when her part was finally over, I ran away!” The day’s exhaustion caught up with her as the invincible alicorn struggled to lift her cup to her thirsty mouth for a reprieve, only to find it dry. The hollowed mare set it down on her saucer as she stared at the empty vessel. “I am a monster with an unpayable debt. Those who I’ve wronged the most are long dead and forgotten. Please. I beg of you, do not let my presence taint what little good is left.”
The former princess didn’t bother refilling her cup. She stood up from her sanctuary and headed for the door. Instead of asking Vinyl to leave, she stepped out to leave herself, to the surprise of the guards standing outside. They were about to fall in behind her until Vinyl rose out of her seat.
“I don’t think you’re a monster, Celestia.”
The mare stopped in her tracks. “Then you do not know enough about me.”
“No, but I do know a real monster. She’s done terrible things like you—”
“You speak from utter ignorance!” The dethroned princess did an about-face in the doorway and stood tall, regal, and indomitable above the little mortal beneath her. “Upper Crust has done nothing close to the atrocities I’ve committed! Tartarus lies in ruins because of me! It is nothing but a gravel pit, a quarry of broken marble. The very air snows with dust eroded from the petrified remains of prisoners crushed by my hooves!”
Despite the rage spilling out the alicorn’s mouth, Vinyl wasn’t scared. She didn’t even flinch. “But you regret what you did, right?”
The alicorn took a step back. “What?”
“Upper Crust never would. She’s never regretted anything she’s done to anypony. What she did to me.” Vinyl sucked in her lips as she pushed through the memories. “She never admits when she’s wrong or that she ever hurt me. She will never say she was sorry because she believes she has nothing to apologize for. That’s a real monster.”
“I was like that until I was caught.” Celestia’s face fell under the weight of her shame until she could no longer bear it and looked away. “I would still be doing so for my sister’s sake if I wasn’t.”
“Yeah. But at least you’re trying to make up for it now. I’ll…” She fiddled with her hooves as her mind went back to her session. “I’ll never get anything like that from Upper Crust or Jet Set for as long as I live. That makes you better than them, at least to me. I think that’s worth something.
“Please, Celestia. Even after everything you’ve done, I don’t think Summers would want you to be miserable.”
After a moment, Celestia walked back into the room, quietly closing the door behind her. She gently sat back down on her cushion as tears filled her eyes. She looked up and took a deep breath through her nose, trying to rein it all back in, but it was too much for her to bear as they rolled down the side of her face and down her neck.
“You’re right.” She choked back a sob as she laughed. “You’re absolutely right. She never wanted anypony to be sad if she could help it. Even in the dead of winter, she’d fill any room she walked into with her summery warmth. It was one of the things I loved most about her.”
“I think so too. Even in the recordings, she always tried to make as many ponies as possible happy. I wish I could’ve met her.”
Celestia nodded. “The world is a much dimmer place without her.”
“And that’s why I want to share her story. She inspired me to be a better pony just from what she wrote down and recorded. Everypony deserves to know who she was. Not this ‘Queen of Disco’ stuff, but the real Sauna Summers.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Vinyl Scratch.”
For the first time in Vinyl’s life, despite the former princess’ diminished state—her broken wing resting within its dirty sling, her short, pink mane a mere shell of its former aetherial glory, and her creamy white fur matted with fresh tears—Celestia’s smile shined brighter and more brilliantly than the sun setting over her shoulder. The sunny mare’s eyes shimmered with a long, forgotten hope as she opened her mouth to speak.
“So, what would you like to know?”
This story is dedicated to the ever important "Audience of One". The one whose life may be made better with a momentary escape from reality. Whoever that one happens to be, I hope you enjoyed this story. I did my best to tell it. - Lord Regulus
P.S. Thank you for reading my crackship. 
P.S.S. Wants some more fun? Here's the Wrap-up Blog for this story!
If you find a simple mistake in the GSP (Grammar, Spelling, or Punctuation), please let me know through a private message rather than leaving it in the comment section.
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Good to see this wrap up well.
There is one more thing Vinyl could do to break Upper Crust's legacy on her. As I recall Crusty B. abandoned her birth family as "dead weight," to her ambitions. But there's no evidence the feeling was mutual. I suspect Vinyl has grandparents who would love to get to know her very much, and knowing how large and tight knit Earth Pony families tend to be aunts, uncles, cousins etc. In fact Fancy's mansion is more than big enough to host a sizable family reunion.
On one hand, I'm sad to see it end. On the other? Every story needs a conclusion. And this is a good one.
Thank you for taking us on the ride. It's been a blast.
And finally... the completion of the outro. And catharsis for all. New beginnings, new paths, and old memories to be left, while forging ahead anew, mindful of the past mistakes coloring future choices.
A brighter future for those who want it.
Thank you, Rego, for all of your hard work and dedication to this story. It's been delightful, and a distinct pleasure to see the updates come. Here's to the next, whenever that may be.
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Thank you all for coming along. It was a pleasure to share it with you.
It's doing a full edit of Electro Swing before getting back into Unchanging Truths. Chrysalis has been less than happy with being on hiatus for so long.
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I cry
Bravo! Bravo! What a wonderful ending for a wonderful story. Not every story gets to end on its own terms, and of those that do, not all end as well as this one. You have my congratulations and thanks Rego, for sharing this with us. You took a crackship and turned it into a tale worth remembering.
While I would love to see more of this world, specifically around Princess Luna and the Elements of Harmony navigating a post-Celestia Equestria, this story has been firmly resolved. Vinyl, Fancy, Fleur, and Eclair have earned their happy ending. Celestia is finally being held accountable, and maybe through this process she can get the help she needs as well. Luna is now in charge and working to make things right. So while I would be glad to see other stories within this world, I am also content with leaving things here.
In other news, I am excited to hear of the incoming return of Unchanging Truths!
I hate that the story is over, but at the same time I’m glad I got to read it. The whole thing was wonderful and I’m glad Vinyl got to be with the man she loves.
This was a good ending. Just very satisfying for both without brushing over the long journey all our characters have to go on.
She also needs all manner of therapy.
Fantastic work. It was a much needed and well received escape from reality.
These last two chapters were a perfect way to end this story. Not too fast, not too slow, a new journey just beginning.
Very well done, Rego.
423,136 words, oh wow
congratulations on finishing it, man. That's one hell of a journey.
Do it again!
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I weep for you.
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I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I'll probably stick around this Silent-verse for a bit, though I am not going to promise that I can pull something off like this again. This was supposed to be 20 chapters long, but apparently this slow burn three times slower than I thought it'd be.
Same, though that will likely be next year when I get back to writing new chapters. I am spending December fixing both Electro Swing's early chapters as well as Unchanging Truths in places before I get back into the saddle.
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I'm glad you see it that way. I'm just glad I was able to make it work in the end. It was so much work getting them both to where they'd be equals in their relationship.
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(Looks at word count)
Yep. I don't brush over much. Honestly? I kinda wish I could have, but so much was shown so I could justify their relationship to both the reader and myself. It's such an odd ship from two very different characters that I felt it was necessary to go on the jounery this close to the couple.
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True fax.
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That's all I ever hope for.
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I'm so glad you enjoyed it and thought I pulled it off in the end.
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NGL I teared up more than once reading these last few chapters, LR. You'd better feel proud of this story of yours. Very well done!
Magnificent! I wish I could give this a second thumbs up. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful work with us.
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My goal in writing is to make my reader feel something, so this is one of the highest compliments I can receive. I am glad you enjoyed it that much.
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It was my pleasure. Thank you for reading.
A Amazing ending for this awesome story.
to see how everypony grew and came out of there shells , i love it.
Took a while but I finally finished this story. I do hope more stories are to come!
Great end for great story. It was a rollercoaster, but the hope in the end... Its just what I needed to read. Thank you.
I just binged through this story in roughly a week, and now I need to write about it. Okay? Okay...
TL;DR - I liked it and you should read it if you haven't yet.
I would like to begin this comment by saying that I think this story is a work of art, and as such is in some ways highly subjective. There are things I liked less about it that other people would like more, and things I liked more about it that other people would like less. Objectively measuring art is difficult at the best of times, and I am unqualified to attempt to do so, and so this comment, which may read like something of a review, is more a summary of my thoughts, and what I personally liked and did not like, than a true analysis of the story's objective quality. I want to put this out there mostly because the thoughts have been filling my head for as long as I've been reading, and I want to get them out somewhere. I only hope the comment is helpful to someone, somehow. That said, I will be abstaining from specific spoilers as much as possible in this comment, and anything which is blacked out as spoilers will still be vague, but spoiler-ish enough that I want to keep anyone from reading it accidentally.
With all that out of the way, this story was beautiful.
It is a long story, by most metrics (sixty chapters, most above 5,000 words in length, will generally earn that title) and it uses that length to its advantage in an amazing way. Every character, but especially our two main ones, grow extremely gradually throughout, and the length of the story helps to add not only believability and realism, but more importantly tension, care, and catharsis to every step forward the characters take, no matter how small that step may seem. On the other side, when the characters fall, they fall hard, and you feel it viscerally because of how much time you spend investing in them, and particularly in their emotionally turbulent lives.
It may be that, past a certain point, it seems like one character or another starts having a breakdown of some kind every single chapter, but I think this too works in the story's favor, not only because it allows for realistic development of severely troubled characters, but moreso because a character in a story necessarily needs to have change happen substantially and at least somewhat suddenly, or else the story will be uninteresting to read. Perhaps there are alternative ways of having such sudden and hard development in troubled characters other than through emotional breakdowns, but first, I do not know what they are off the top of my head, and second, if they exist, they may very well not fit this story's mood.
The romance tag is well-earned, and here also the story's length is its strength. The characters are given real time to get to know each other, and gradually develop an attraction that is, again, believable, but also lovable and even desirable. You, as a reader, come to want them to be together because you know from what you've seen and heard from them that they will genuinely be good together, and will make each other happier and better. That's the best reason I can think of to want two characters to be together!
Personally, I didn't know how the romance tag was going to be applied, and as I worked my way through the story, I found myself pleasantly surprised. That is all I'll say on that here.
The choice to focus so much on such loosely-defined canon characters is a good one done to spectacular effect. I, for one, will have a hard time viewing many of the canon characters present in this story any other way for a good while, if not forever.
Moving into rather more negative and spoiler-heavy territory, I will say this: I wish this story wasn't a sequel to Gloria Celestia, or set in the Silent-verse at all. Please do not misunderstand! I like the Silent-verse, I liked Gloria Celestia, and I really loved Forbidden Melodies especially. Nonetheless, I wish this story wasn't connected to those stories, for spoilerish reasons.
Chapters 49,50, and 51 feel out-of-place to me with the rest of the story. Here I've been getting invested in the relationship aspect of the story (familial and otherwise), and worrying about the emotional trauma experienced by certain characters, and then out of left field comes another major plot point that seems to be resolved within a couple chapters of bringing it up. Again, please don't misunderstand. There were hints, clues, and various other bits and bobs of the lore and the story that hinted at this major plot point. The problem isn't that it feels unplanned, it's that it feels unnecessary. The story I had been reading up until that point was a more small-scale (and remarkably canon-friendly) story about life, love, trauma, support, and emotional depth featuring some extremely well-developed, often-overlooked characters. The events of chapters 49-51, and their subsequent fallout, seem to me to have so little bearing on the part of the story I was actually invested in as to be more distracting than anything, both damaging the momentum of the story at large, and leaving me wondering when I started reading a completely different story. I honestly think that if this romantic dramedy story was outside the Silent-verse altogether, and there was a separate Silent-verse story featuring the events, or similar ones, to those of Chapters 49-51, I would enjoy both a lot more. However, if this story being a sequel to Gloria Celestia is what is required to get the story written at all, or to get me to read it, then that is what it takes to get me to read a wonderful story that I am so very happy I read.
Ultimately, this is one of those pony stories that speaks to the human experience in a remarkably powerful way, and I urge anyone and everyone to read it, as I think anyone that has anyone in their life that loves them, and perhaps especially those that feel like they don't, could benefit from the powerful emotion and unbending love and support represented in these horsewords.
Lord Regulus, I have been your Audience of One for this story, not needing escape, but needing reminders of what it means to be a truly loving member of a truly loving family. Your work has been a part of that reminder, and I thank you for it.
Also, thank you for sharing your crackship. It's mine now. No take-backs.
God's blessings to all who take the time to read this,
Nasuna Senshi
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Thanks for the kind words and review. I do plan on answering some questions, especially since I know some folks bounced off of certain things. Fun fact, that part of the story was the one I knew would be controversial going into it. I am glad you feel like it wasn't tacked on, just unnecessary. Once I get the full edit done, I'll answer all my reasonings and more, so look forward to that.
Oh man what an epic. Thanks Rego, I really like how you took your time with the characters' flaws and idiosyncrasies. The effects of neglect hit a personal tone for me and I really like how you've presented it here, giving enough time to the narcissist and the abused child both. Exploring it from a personal touch, a societal touch, and from multiple perspectives is a masterclass. Nice work man, it was a joy to read through.
Damn shame Celestia didn't make a copy of that spell, she would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling ponies! Also happy that Luna's issues as a ruler didn't cause a governance cascade failure as Celestia stepped down. That woulda been nasty. Out of scope for the story, thankfully.
Man with Celestia as a mentor its a goddamn miracle Cadance can tell good love from toxic at all.
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Thank you so much for reading this, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Once I started taking the project more seriously, I did a surface skim of research into the relevant topics to ensure that I was approaching the ideas tackled here as properly as I could manage. I did a lot of Googling into diagnosable conditions, watched YouTube videos from (hopefully) experts and those with personal expeirence, and spent a lot of time trying to figure out just what was going on with each character. It's one of the major reasons I am in the middle of revising the entire fic chapter-by-chapter so it flows with the ideas I eventually landed on. Dr. Ramani and Cinema Therapy were constant companions starting around chapter 18.
I don't consider Celestia to be a mentor to her talents in any way to Cadance. Just leadership and ruling. Exploring it deeper kept getting cut from the story, but I believe there is still a reference to Cadance defeating that witch or whatever it was in Cadance's princess-dom origin storybook somewhere in Electro Swing. I won't spoil it here incase it works its way into a sequel somewhere, but just know that in general, Silent Princess Celestia would never do anything to risk making Luna think she was being replaced. You can imagine what her initial reaction would be to finding out another pony has ascended to alicornhood.
Super spoiler: I also imagine that Cadance's Crystal Heart cutie mark was the key factor in Celestia's decision with how to handle her.
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I was reading the bit where Vinyl broke down with Fleur and her seeming desire to act as if the battles of the 3 tribes thousands of years before she was even a thought particle are somehow HER FAULT. She acts as if she's the scion of Tirek and that all of the world's ills are her doing. It's so painful to read and the fact that no amount of shaking or hugging will panacea these fears.
I just want to find whoever started planting these guilts and fears and ideas of worthlessness in her head and give them a one way ticket to either the moon (with Luna's permission of course) or to one of the M6 with a sign around their neck saying something like "I kick puppies for fun" or "I like burning books"😈.
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Well you've done a good job. I'd like to consider myself a good person if somewhat a silly dandy, and I'd never go out of my to deliberately harm anyone, but if I got severely drunk or grouchy I don't know...I'm a metaphorical Jekyll and I would be lying if I tried to say I didn't have a Hyde or two.
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Thanks for remembering me! I haven't had time to read MLP fanfiction in a bit, and some stories, like this one, I felt like I should reread before finishing. I have like, 100 unread chapters of various stories for me to get through
You already know my thoughts on the story from my help with the editing, Rego, but I feel like I need to offer a few again. This story is great. And I genuinely loved not only that things worked out decently for all the characters I grew to care about, but that the story that made me ask so many questions, that played its cards so close to its chest, ends by promising answers, given freely and truly.
There's a concept, discussed mostly in game design, known as juxtaposition gratification. You have to know weakness to be satisfied by strength. Failure must be familiar for success to be fulfilling. Ya did good work, Rego. We can tell because you put us through the grinder to get here. And it is so worth it.