Songs of Innocence

Chapter 44: The Second-to-Last Problem

Fluttershy's cottage, many moons later

"Just as everything was looking better, something... unexpected happened... At least, unexpected for Sun. Twilight finally left Ponyville to become the ruler of Equestria. Her coronation is a story for another day, and I'm sure you've heard all about it before, so we'll just focus on Sun like usual. She was... surprised, to say the least. She was distraught about it, of course. But it was in a different way than me and Twilight's friends. Sun had no one to guide her anymore, and as she began to slip away from her, she tried so, so hard to stop her... But it was no use. She just needed to accept it, before she lost herself even more."

Twilight's castle, many moons ago

Sun gasped. "What?" It hadn't quite set in yet, but she was devastated nonetheless.

"I know, I know," Twilight said as she magically assorted various books into different boxes, "I never thought this day would come, either. But... as much as I want to stay here... I have to go."

["Alleycat" from Persona 5]

Sun struggled to find the words to communicate her feelings properly, and so, she stammered. "I know this isn't the end of the world, but..." 

Twilight interrupted the unicorn's statement, "Exactly. It isn't the end of the world, so you shouldn't have to worry. Besides, you do know that I'll visit here every now and then, right?"

Twilight wasn't an all-knowing sage, nor did she pretend to be. But Sun always looked to her for guidance, because she was the leader - the one who (mostly) knew what to do. She was the first pony to speak to her honestly when she first moved to Ponyville (even if she thought Sun was a threat at the time). She was the one who resuscitated her, which led to the defeat of Despoena. She was the one who changed Equestria with what, to Sun, was a simple new idea: friendship. And now, she was leaving to become its ruler? It made sense in Sun's head - It was like Twilight's life was leading up to this point from the moment she was born - but she couldn't accept it. In fact, she was surprised how much she cared.

"Don't worry about it. I'm leaving the castle to Starlight, so at least you'll still have her, right?" 

Sun's expression was yet to change, as though she was permanently stuck in a state of denial. "B-but..." she uttered, "...what will you do if something terrible happens? What if w-we get attacked by, like, King Nympha, or something?! What if he comes back?! And you know how many psychopath losers are trying to kill me?! O-or, what if we get attacked by Bianco Angelos–"

"What?" Twilight said, before levitating the final book into a box. The library was now completely empty. She sighed, looking at its now barren shelves. It began to sink in for her... She really was leaving. This was the end of the life she'd known for so long now. The melancholy of the sight built itself up until it came out as a single tear from Twilight's eye. Her sadness brought the other two to tears as well, but she tried her best to comfort her, choosing to thank her for all she'd done for her. 

"You... You've taught me so much... and Ponyville, too. We're never gonna forget you. I'll visit you whenever I can, and... even if we're not physically here, we'll always be here for you. Just not physically. And I know for sure that you'll make plenty of new friends in Canterlot. ...I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with somepony as amazing as you?"

A bittersweet smile formed on Twilight's face. "Thank you..." she said, still teary eyed. "Sun... I want you to do something for me. I want you to enroll as a student in the School of Friendship. There's still so much you can learn about friendship, and maybe even teach someday. By the time you enroll, I wouldn't be a teacher there anymore, but the rest of my... Er, our friends will be there." 

Sun initially wanted to object to her request, but the princess' firm tone told her that she didn't really have a choice. It was Twilight's royal request, and besides, how bad could it be? "I'll do it." With a grateful "Thank you.", Twilight began to slowly walk out of the room, and Sun followed her, with the alicorn levitating some of the boxes as they left the castle one last time. Once they were outside, they took one last look at the castle for what felt like hours. Twilight couldn't stop looking at it, because if she did, that would mean she'd have to leave, and in all honesty... she really didn't want to.

"So... This is it. This is goodbye."

"C'mon," Sun suddenly said, "it's not like you can't come back... right?" 

Twilight nodded in agreement. "You're right. And... you'll come to my coronation, right?" she asked. 

"Huh? I'm... invited to that?" she asked back. 

"Of course you are! Everycreature's coming." 

Sun's somewhat melancholy face turned into one of joy as she proclaimed, "Awesome! I-I'm so glad I get to be a part of this... Thanks. Thanks for... being in my life, I guess."

"And thanks for being in mine. You have a bright future ahead." The two smiled at each other, and one more time, they looked at the castle. It actually felt a little less hard to say goodbye to it now. "It's going to be hard being the ruler of Equestria." she continued. 

"But you'll do great. And don't worry about Ponyville. We'll make sure nothing happens to it."

"Thank you." Twilight said, her previously saddened tone now more positive. She slowly walked towards the door of the castle, and closed it one final time. "Goodbye."

Fluttershy's cottage, many moons later

Fluttershy showed the filly a photograph taken during Twilight's coronation. It wasn't pretty. In fact, Fluttershy didn't know where to start to describe it, so she just decided she'd do it later. "And on that day, Twilight became the ruler of Equestria, and the successor to both Celestia and Luna. They still did some things, like Luna visiting Sun in her dreams, and Celestia-- Actually, what does she do besides raise the sun? A-anyways... This was the end of an era, and the beginning of something new: an era of peace. Every loose end was tied up." She paused for a few seconds before dramatically adding, "Or so we thought! There was something insidious happening from behind the scenes that we never saw coming. Consuming thoughts of malice, spite, and a lust for revenge culminated in an old enemy returning, brought back from her stone prison. She was one of the most evil ponies in Equestria... and her name was Cozy Glow."