• Published 11th Sep 2012
  • 32,583 Views, 2,490 Comments

Cry for Eternity - asylum1388



After Celestia's death, Twilight must take on a role she is woefully underprepared for.

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Epilogue

Two weeks later

Twilight lay before a marble headstone, admiring the craftsponyship.


Here lies:
Shining Armor;
Husband, father, brother, and stalwart Knight of Equestria.

~~AND~~

Princess Cadance, “Mi Amore Cadenza”;
May the love she spread shine forevermore.


“Goodbye, Cadance. Thanks for everything,” she murmured, laying a rainflower on its base.

She stayed there, silently contemplating, for several minutes before the sound of somepony approaching graced her ears. She turned her head to find Luna walking up to her, and felt a pang of regret as her bride hesitated at her gaze.

She offered Luna a smile, patting the grass next to her, and was pleased to see Luna accept the invitation.

“I brought you something,” Luna said softly as she lay down, setting a small box down in front of Twilight.

“You bought me chocolates?” Twilight asked amusedly, examining the container. “Very expensive chocolates.”

“I didn’t buy them. They’re a wedding gift from Saccharine; a ‘thank you’ for the pardon, I suppose,” Luna replied.

“Yeah, well, he’s suffered enough,” Twilight murmured. She fell silent and turned back to the headstone. Something was bothering her marefr- her wife, and Twilight was going to give her all the time she needed.

“Are you okay?” Luna asked after a minute or two.

“You know what? I really am,” Twilight said plainly. She glanced at Luna and frowned at the concern etched into the elder mare’s face.

“She told me this was about to happen, Luna,” she explained softly. “Right after our wedding, during the reception, she took me aside and told me.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Luna mumbled. “How could she have known? It just doesn’t- And if you knew, then why didn’t-”

“She was ready to go,” Twilight interrupted, giving Luna a comforting smile. “As you can imagine, I started to get upset, but she stopped me and demanded that I not be sad. She said that she had seen and done everything she had ever wanted to and was ready to move on.”

Twilight laughed. “Then she told me that she had always known that we were going to end up getting married someday, and that she wanted to be there for it. It was the last thing on her list. Once it was over, she was ready.”

Luna was silent for a while, staring absently at the grave. “When you say it that way, it almost makes us sound responsible. If we had not gotten married, she would still be here.”

“I don’t look at it like that,” Twilight mused. “No, the way I see it, she didn’t have our longevity and never would; she couldn’t have lived for another century, no matter how much she wanted to. The way I see it, us getting married didn’t cause her death, it let her die happy.”

“That... is a very mature way of looking at it,” Luna said slowly. She paused, considering Twilight’s words for a moment. “I suppose that there was no better gift we could have given her.”

“Exactly,” Twilight nodded. She turned back to the headstone, allowing the silence to hang in the air for a while before speaking again. “I’ve been thinking lately.”

“Go on.”

“Losing your friends is... awful, and having to lose your friends over and over again, like I... like we will have to, is even worse, but at the same time...” she trailed off, taking a deep breath before starting again. “I’ve been given the opportunity to make so many more friends than I would have before.”

She waited for Luna to respond, but when she didn’t, Twilight turned to find Luna smiling at her, waiting for her to continue.

“I’ll get to make a whole bunch of new friends and watch as they grow up, live, and grow old; I’ll get to experience the best and worst parts of life over and over again with hundreds, maybe even thousands of ponies! That... that alone might make it all worthwhile.”

“That is something I had never thought about,” Luna murmured, a smirk playing on her lips.

Twilight trembled as she felt Luna take her hoof. “And-and no matter what happens; no matter how much losing them might hurt, I’ll always have you to help me get through it. We’ll always have each other.”

Luna finally broke into a grin, pulling Twilight closer and planting a kiss on her cheek.

“That’s my girl.”

Author's Note:

So I don't really know where I'm going from here.

Sequel is unlikely but not out of the question, and I really like both Sunshower and Dusk and might be fun to hash out a bit. Or a colab or two... Who knows?

Either way, thanks for the support, and especially, thanks to Piquo and f0x; you two made this possible.

Comments ( 43 )

6979036 Ye of little faith.

*Insert happy clapping here.*

...

What, no happy claps left? DAMMIT!

*Replace happy clapping with snuggly foals on unicycles.*

And so ends a wonderful story. I'm really glad that I was proven wrong with Luna becoming Nightmare Moon. Luna attempting to sacrifce herself though was just as equally as scary. I can't believe that Twilight pushed her that far. I'm just happy that everything turned out all right in the end.

So with that, I do say that it has been one heck of a ride. Thanks for providing an enjoyable story to read and get wrapped up in the lives of the characters. :twilightsmile:




~ Super-Brony12

oh my great ending and story,
i had though twilight was going to seal herself and nightmare moon in the sun, and luna see this happen.

6979704 I had no faith before these last 2 chapters

It's been a ride asylum. 3 years this spanned and I'm glad I was here for the ride. Definitely a story I'll remember.

God's speed asylum you bastard. :heart:

Wow... what an ending. You know what? I'm pleased with this. I was always wondering how you planned on ending this, but this feels right to me. I'm happy that I decided to follow this story all the way till the end.

Thank you for writing this story, and good luck with all your future projects.

Tis truly sad to see a wonderful story come to its end. It has earned its place in my Best of the Best shelf.

This was among the first stories I ever started following on this site. To see it come to an end . . . it's certainly something.

While the ending seemed rather rushed, I'm glad to have seen it. I've been following this story for a very long time, and seeing other stories just get abandoned, I appreciate the closure you've given of this one.

Thank you for writing this story and creating this world.

An ending.

Thank you.

There are so very few endings these days.

Sunshower and Dusk and might be fun to hash out a bit

I'd like to see that. Twilight's relationship with the young(-ish) Sunshower especially, it was a really nice part of this story.

I'm not quite sure what to say.

I loved this story. It started great with an interesting premise presented really well, and continued keeping me interested and wanting more, seeing how she would cope with all that happened to her. What is more, you wrote it masterfully.
Then, something happened. The past few chapters seemed to shear off the rails somehow. I have commented my thoughts on some of these chapters already, so I won't go into it too much. Suffice to say that Twilight was cruelly wronged, several times, then for some reason you twisted it into it all being her fault and she had to repent once she became the cruel avatar these experiences turned her into. Not to say she was blameless, but it was saddening to see how the way she was treated was utterly overlooked and ignored. Add to that the rushed climax, and the ending was thoroughly unsatisfying, though the epilogue was sweet and did alleviate the somewhat bitter taste the preceeding chapters left.

Truly a shame it turned out the way it did, especially considering how stellar the story had been up until it all went sideways.

You can and do write really well, but I must admit I don't understand your choices in this particular respect. Regardless, best of luck with your future stories, I will certainly keep an eye out for them.

:twilightsmile: im happy happy with this ending i twas worth the wait

I like the ending. Great end to a fantastic story.

This has been a roller coaster of emotions. Thank you.

well there are two things left. One is Luna's death. By everything we know she will die before Twilight. THen Twilight's turn to pass one and either she or Luna then she would past the torch to the next bearers. That's where I thought it would end.

Past few chapters felt like an ill-organized rush without much thought given to the characters or how they've developed based on the story.

I'm disappointed that things turned out this way, because every other chapter was absolutely phenomenal and made this one of the most beloved stories on the site. Certainly one of mine. Then suddenly it's evil tyrant Twilight, oh no Nightmare Moon, but not really it's Nightmare Twilight - okay sun exploded her, Luna tried to kill herself! I love you don't die, 'Ok'. And apparently people forgave her for being a despicably evil despot for however many years, TwiLuna happens and end.

Just. It feels like someone else wrote the last few chapters. Completely lacks the well-constructed read and immersion of literally every other chapter.

Havent had a chance to read this yet but damn. Sudden epilogue? Hard to keep my hopes up on this :d

Hmm, definitely wasn't expecting this ending. Remind me to severely chastise you for almost giving me a heart attack with these last few chapters.

And take this as you may, but considering pretty much all the other main characters have passed on, I think I'm not the only one wanting to see how you'd play out the final two joining them.

So, it ends, at long last. It's been a great ride even if it felt rather rushed towards the end. An awesome story nonetheless. Thank you for writing this asylum :twilightsmile:

That was fun. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.

Eh, you had a great story for most of it. The last few chapters, in my opinion, were a bit shaky, and the ending kinda left me unsatisfied, but over pretty good story. I'd say a 7.5/10.

Nice to see this wrap up with a happy ending, some growth, and a touching scene over the passing of Cadance.

Dont write a sequel. Just don't.

Nothing personal but I just don't think that this story NEEDS a sequel. At all.

Ending notwithstanding, the story was solid.

6979721 But if you are literally defending yourself—that is, you are being attacked and you defended yourself with reasonable force that happened to end up killing someone—that is the self-defense exception to avoid punishment for what is not your fault. Even if someone has abused you, it doesn't justify attacking them when it could have been avoided.

6983583 I doubt we would see a sequel starring Twilight. There could be a story to be gotten out of Dusk or whoever in the new generation. There's certainly no "sequel hook", if that's what you mean.

6984335 There is a pretty large difference between leniency in sentencing, which I think would be given by almost any judge in cases where the offender was obviously abused and the murder wasn't cold-blooded or obviously needless to escape the situation, and not being held responsible, which is what would happen if people just got to walk away from a clearly avoidable killing.

why?

i dont understand why you do this

that was an amazing Princess Twilight story and one of my favorits

but now i wish i hat not read the last chapters


for me that story has its end after the apprenticeship of Sunshower and a Epilog with the wedding from Twilight and Luna for a cheering crowd

6981550 This. The whole 2nd half felt rushed to me. In the first half we jump by weeks or months. Now we're jumping decades at a time.

And sorry, but a person who has their mental and emotional stability deteriorate that badly over the course of decades doesn't just get better in one night.

It's also terribly inconsistent with the 1st half. Luna has one mental breakdown and they force her to change her whole way of life. Twilight goes full tyrant for decades and they do jack shit? Not buying it.

The story was different. It was Twilight as the Princess of the Sun, not of Friendship. But in the end she moves to that mantle as well. Only thing I had wished to see was what became of the Elements and even what or where Spike had gone. But beyond all that a great story.

Alright. You started off great and I was genuinely enjoying the fic. But then, Applejack died. And so too did the story. In your bottom A/N, you say,

So I don't really know where I'm going from here.

The way the last couple of chapters went, I'm not sure you've known for a while. The mark of a great story is to leave the reader wanting more. And this time, I don't. This one left a bad taste in my mouth. For all the great parts along the way, I was expecting a better stronger finale. So I don't know. I've read your other stuff. Bound to Darkness was superb and found a deserving place on my "Favorites" shelf, and despite having not read it in I've forgotten how long, I still remember it clearly and fondly. I know you know how to write and do it well, but for some reason, I think this one really got away from you.

Fox

7191371 Your comment perfectly mirrors how I feel about this story. I'm disappointed that it couldn't keep up its momentum, but at the same time, I guess I'm glad to have had the chance to enjoy what was enjoyable.

This story was well written, but I very much disliked the time gaps. Interesting plotlines could've been made from each of the later chapters. Overall, the 2nd half felt like a bunch of one-shots. I'd give this story a solid 3/5. half of the story was good, but it slowly fell apart over time, leaving me unsatisfied.

What about Lunas death?

Overall, this was a good story but the second half feels off. The super long time jumps were just an excuse to get to the next character that had to die. Also, I agree with another poster who said that it’s not very consistent that Luna has one bad night and the courts force her to change her life but Twilight acts like a tyrant for over a decade and no one said or did anything about it. Where was Cadence or Spike through Twilight’s depression? The ending felt very rushed? Twilight got over her depression way too quickly.

8856725
luna was the younger of the 2 sisters, and its very likely that dispite her still counting it her ageing stoped during her time on the moon, they wont be too far apart when it happens, twilight will likely have just enough time to empower luna's chosen sucsesor, get her set up and help her adapt then pass on herself...they may even attempt to ensure there chosen heirs are already conected somehow, likely another pair of sisters.

Runs itself into the ground rather than calling it quits while it's ahead.

A well-written story. I read it in two or three days and cried myself to sleep afterward, it was so heartwrenching.
While the attempt to give the story depth with all the struggles of dealing with Celestia's death and politics was well done I felt you overshot with all the drama. The first part of the story was actually good, it became so hard to read of all the deaths in the second part. I read the story for the romance between Twilight and Luna, and while that was well done, there was so little of that - basically the bare minimum to keep it afloat. The positive of that is that it gave the romance some grace.
While the silver lining at the end was nice, it did not really inspire enough positivity to turn around the gloom of the story.

I still respect and admire you for this fine piece of art, and I can not really fault you for how it turned out because it all makes sense and the intent behind the story was carried out well.

9481394
I mean, this was written just after A Canterlot Wedding aired. Not only was Cadence a virtual unknown character, but there was no shortage of hate at the obvious product placements that were her and Shining Armor. Most fanfics written around this time either downplay her, insult her character, or remove her from their canon entirely in order to preserve what we had before.

I personally am a fan of Cadence (and Shining Armor), but that is mostly due to the comics and that one Discord episode where they gave her more character. In fact, the geek characteristic was shown first in the comics before it got into the show later on.

I was so excited when I came back to check the site and found that this story is complete. I had only gotten halfway originally, and am going to re-read the whole thing today.

You're story and writing style offered a lot of inspiration to my writing over the years. Thanks for finishing and sharing such a beautiful story with us all.

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