Harmony's Warriors: Soar - Epilogue - 19 - The Levee Breaks
Epilogue:
"The Levee Breaks"
Celestia walked silently in Trixie's room, pausing in the doorway to take in the sight. Everything was just as Trixie had left it, all impeccably sorted and arranged, with her books carefully piled on her nightstand and the slight scent of perfume sweetening the air. It was so quiet and untouched that Celestia almost felt as if Trixie might sweep into the room, roll her eyes and ask 'Oh, mother, what have I done now?'
Celestia sighed sadly, slowly walking inside and sitting down carefully on the bed, not wanting to displace a single speck of dust. She looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror, noticing how her mane had regained some of it's color, but still was nowhere as bright or luminous as it used to be. She remembered the day she had bought the mirror for Trixie; Trixie was still a very young filly but had already begun to be taken with looking pretty. In sharp contrast, Rainbow would still be running about in the dirt with the colts. When Trixie had seen the mirror, with it's ornate gold gilded edges, she spent nearly half an hour just taking in the delicate workmanship. But, that was standard Trixie. She always had a taste for the finer things of this life.
The memories of those happy times only managed to bring tears back to Celestia's eyes and she sighed heavily, allowing the tears to trickle down her face freely as she hung her head.
"Tia?" Came a voice, and Celestia turned to Cadence standing in the doorway, her waist still bandaged from her recent battle with Chrysalis.
"Cady, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the healing room?" Celestia asked quietly, nonetheless surprised that Cadence was up and about. Cadence shrugged slightly.
"I'm fine, Tia, just fine. The doctor's say it's just a bruise. It's you I worry about," she said gently, walking up towards the bed and taking a seat next to Celestia and leaning slightly against the older alicorn's shoulder.
"Oh, I'm alright," Celestia answered quietly, not even trying to mask her emotions like she normally did when in the presence of others. She looked back up at the mirror, gazing at her reflection. "Remember when I bought Trixie this mirror? She was so happy..." she said gently, sniffing and wiping a tear from her eye.
"I remember. She tried to get Rainbow to pose with her in front of it..." Cadence said quietly, and Celestia smiled thinly.
"I remember that... Rainbow said it was silly," Celestia said with a sad chuckle.
"Remember when she lost her first tooth?" Cadence asked.
Celestia nodded slightly. "She thought her head was falling apart."
There was a moment of silence between the two as Celestia tried to focus on the memories of her Trixie when she was so full of innocence and happiness, but they were blackened by the raw memory of the look on her daughter's face as she let go and fell into the abyss. Her eyes drifted about the room, trying to find anything to explain how her daughter had fallen so far so fast.
"Did I do the right thing?" she asked suddenly, her voice quavering.
"What do you mean?" Cadence replied. "Do what right?"
Celestia opened her mouth to reply but had to swallow twice before she could speak and even then, her voice was thick with tears. "Should I have kept the truth from her?" she looked towards Cadence, whose expression was troubled, and she looked away from Celestia and instead focused her attention on the mirror.
"Do you want me to be honest?" she in a low voice.
"Of course," Celestia said with visceral earnestness. Cadence hesitated, clearly unwilling to answer.
"Please, Cadence..." Celestia implored.
Cadence let out a heavy sigh before speaking. "Celestia, I feel that obscuring the truth from Trixie was a horrible, horrible mistake," she began, wringing her hooves ever so slightly. "At the very least once she came of age, you - we should have taken her aside and spoken with her. Perhaps we could have averted this and so many other things as well..." by now her voice was smothered in emotion, and she was visibly fighting back tears. "All those dalliances, her children..." Cadence stopped, covering her mouth with her hoof. Tears spilled down her cheeks. Celestia gently placed a wing around her sister's shoulder and waited for Cadence's sobs to soften.
Cadence sniffed slightly, before continuing. "After we sent Sleipnir away, she was so bereft. I sat by her side for four days, pouring all the warmest parts of my magic in her, and I couldn't even pause her tears for a moment. Celestia, I truly thought she was going to die from sorrow. And all I could think was even with all this power she was going to perish and there was nothing I could do to stop it or ease her way."
Celestia stared into the mirror herself, wondering how she could feel such acute misery and yet her expression remain so unmoved. "I wanted to protect her," she said sadly. "If she had known...she already felt so different, Cadence." Celestia said. "She always seemed to be floundering in our world and I hoped that as long as she was told she wasn't different she would start to believe it. I was young once, I had my wild days, but I outgrew them. But Trixie..." She shook her head. "She couldn't grow up. Maybe if I had let her keep the children she would have matured." she trailed off, putting her face in her hooves. "Maybe Luna was right. Maybe it was in her blood."
She felt Cadence put a hoof on her shoulder gently. "Celestia, you are too hard on yourself. While Luna's warnings still ring true, you and her forget the madness in our blood. Look at what happened to grandfather or Sunset Shimmer. The break would have come sooner or later, but it was the chaotic forces of Hekkerheim that only hastened the inevitable. For who knows what ghosts haunt that realm."
"Cadence, what solace can I glean from that?" Celestia replied. "Like you said, Luna was right. Some darkness does not go out. Our family has had the same shadow for generations; we are cowards. All the realms speak of our courage, but it is a false, shallow, bombastic show. Courage is doing what is good when you will reap no immediate reward, by acting righteously even when it will cause you more pain than relief. Rainbow discovered that...but us? Forever we and our ancestors have avoided anything that strikes too close to the quick. To rescue a realm, simple. To free a race, an ease. But to be honest with our children? To give unto our parents the same understanding they gave us?" She shook her head. "We treat that as if it were a plague, always doging it or shunting the responsibly elsewhere..."
Cadence was silent for a moment. "But we can change that," Cadence said, putting a hoof on Celestia's chin. "For do you not know that when Trixie tried to kill Chrysalis she called herself a Borrson. Does that not provide you some comfort? To know that even in the last moments she still saw herself as your daughter?"
Celestia thought back to how, even when she was hanging on the edge of the abyss, Trixie had still had the presence of mind to identify Celestia as her own mother. "Then there was still hope for her?" she asked, looking at Cadence.
Cadence nodded. "There's always some hope, Tia. Even in the darkest of times. The sun will always rise and bring a new day, regardless of what the night before contained."
Celestia was silent, seeking for the silver lining. Among the darkness of the past three days, her eldest child had become a mare and a realm long since thought disconnected from the others had reforged its connection. But at a price. Trixie was gone and the Bifrost destroyed and Asgard was now separated from the other realms, including one which had no knowledge of how to defend itself. Even with the slim chance that Trixie's actions had been driven by some outside force, billions, if not trillions of lives were now at risk due to her actions.
"Cadence, I want you to do me a favor," Celestia asked, her horn glowing softly, conjuring a key out of thin air. "Take this to the sealed chambers behind my throne. There you shall find the Dark Energy Conjuration Platform our father used."
Cadence furrowed her brow. "But why?" she asked, taking the key in her magic nonetheless.
"Because, Cadence, even if you are correct, and Trixie's actions were brought by either outside forces or her own design, she nevertheless imperiled every realm by setting actions into motion that caused the destruction of the Bifrost. On top of that, Rainbow and the others' presence on Midgard shall most assuredly cause panic and fear to spread like wildfire, potentially endangering every life there unless somepony is there to render aid. And I believe you are that pony."
"Me? Why me? My duties are here on Asgard. I have to comfort Rainbow and-"
"Cadence, you have the ability to inspire hope in others. Do not waste it by remaining locked away in this castle. You're duties apply to every realm, not just Asgard. For too long we have remained cut off from the other realms. You yourself said that we can take action and change that. Go, Cadence, and provide the Equestrians with the knowledge they shall certainly need in these dark times."
Cadence paused, looking down at the key. "Are you sure this is the best action?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes, Cadence. The time for lies and deception is over. The time for truth and honesty has begun." She then pulled Cadence into a tight hug. "May your journey be a safe one."
Cadence nodded slightly, allowing herself to be released from the hug. "I swear I shall return safely," she said, quietly taking the key and walking out of the room. She paused in the doorway, looking back towards Celestia, who still remained on the bed.
"And what of Rainbow? Who shall comfort her in her hour of need?" she asked, and Celestia looked down for a moment, before looking back up at Cadence with kindness.
"It is I who should comfort Rainbow, for I am her mother. It is time I take responsibility for my own children, and not burden others with the responsibility that should be mine and mine alone," she answered, standing up from the bed and following Cadence as the pair walked out of the room. Cadence leaned up against Celestia slightly.
"Do you want to join the remembrance feast?" she asked, and Celestia nodded.
"Yes, I shall. No reason for me not to."
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Rainbow sat silently at the dinner table, idly tinkering with her utensils. All around her sat dozens of ponies, all chattering and speaking in an excited conversation that Rainbow felt no need to participate in.
She felt a hoof on her shoulder and turned to see Spitfire, the yellow mare's expression somber.
"Rainbow...I just want to say I'm deeply sorry for what has happened," Spitfire said, her voice uncharacteristically gentle compared to her normally blunt tone. "I know nothing we can say right now will help bring Trixie back, but I do wish to say I'm sorry."
Rainbow smiled thinly, looking up at her longtime friend. "Thank you, Spitfire...but you have no need to be sad. It's better to remember the good times...times before..." she trailed off, looking out in the direction of the Bifrost. "...before all this." She sighed, letting her shoulders sag.
"If you want, you can call off the feast." Spitfire said, but Rainbow shook her head.
"No, there's no need. Don't let my sadness ruin your feast. Don't be glum, Spitfire," she said, standing up from her chair. "Now is a time of remembrance of the good times we had with Trixie." She gently tapped Spitfire on the back, walking away from the table and leaving the feast behind her.
Spitfire took a few steps to follow, only to be stopped by Flitter, who simply shook her head.
"Spitfire, I know that look. You think this is your fault don't you?" she said, taking Spitfire aside. Spitfire bit her lip slightly, looking down at the ground.
"I-I don't really know..." she said, "I mean...now that I think about it...I was the absolute worst kind of pony towards Trixie...I mean who's to say I didn't-" she was cut off by Flitter, who shook her head.
"Spitfire, you're too hard on yourself. In no way are you responsible for what happened. You heard what Luna told us. She was already well along the path of darkness before we came back. It's not your fault." Flitter paused, looking towards the door Rainbow had left through, where Spitfire's attention had since focused on.
"I guess I'm just sorry for Rainbow, really...she was always the most trusting pony. Faust knows how hard she's taking this," Spitfire said quietly. Flitter nodded, turning to walk back to the table.
"Well, either way, Spitfire, Rainbow was right. Don't be glum. Come on, Cloudchaser is trying to tell the story of our finding the Sword of Sutur...and utterly failing," she added with a soft chuckle. Spitfire smiled thinly, turning to follow Flitter over to the table and join in the story telling.
Rainbow meanwhile walked silently along the palace balcony, quietly looking out towards the edge of Asgard, where the torrents of water spilled over the edge. She looked down at her reflection on the polished bronze of the balcony surface, taking in her heavy eyed and sullen aura.
No matter how hard she had tried, nothing could soothe the empty, hollow feeling in her chest that had formed upon Trixie's death. A part of her wished that the past three days had all been an elaborate jest by Trixie, and that the unicorn would appear in a flash of light to jokingly poke Rainbow and declare that everything was alright.
Of course, Rainbow knew that was impossible, and that, try as she might, nothing would ever be the same as it once was.
"Rainbow? Why aren't you feasting?" came a voice, and Rainbow turned to see her mother, looking equally somber and heavy hearted as Rainbow did. Rainbow said nothing, instead simply throwing herself into a hug with her mother.
"I miss Trixie so much, Mother..." she cried, and she felt her mother's tender hoof gently rock her back and forth. "Why couldn't I save her? She was right there and I couldn't have saved her!"
"Shush, my darling," Celestia whispered, her voice sounding abnormally heavy and wearisome, as if she herself had just been mourning. "It's not your fault...it's not your fault."
"But it is, Mother! I've been such a terrible daughter to you. So arrogant and rebellious," Rainbow cried, still burying herself into her mother's shoulder. "If I had just listened to you none of this would have happened!"
Celestia shook her head. "No, Dashie, don't say that. These things would have happened eventually no matter what. It's my fault, for I didn't tell Trixie the truth."
Rainbow stopped crying, and looked up at Celestia with somewhat puffy eyes. "H-How is it your fault? You only did what you thought was right to protect us...right?"
Celestia sighed heavily, escorting Rainbow back to the balcony, where she looked out towards the ocean. "How is lying to you protection, Rainbow? Don't you see? The duty of a queen is to protect her subjects. But what use is a protector who lies to the pony they claim to protect? For if they lie to their subjects, they are no better than their enemies. The very ones they claim to protect their subjects from. A queen cannot be selfish in her actions. Her actions must be for the benefit of everyone. When I lied to Trixie, I was doing it so that I wouldn't be weighed with the responsibility of knowing that I had taken an infant Changeling and raised her in my own image. I lied as much to myself as to Trixie. I wrongly believed that she would never ask questions or wonder about her true nature. How wrong I was."
Rainbow furrowed her brow slightly. She had never seen her mother, the most regal mare she had ever seen, look so vulnerable and humble. And never had it occurred to her that her mother was capable of such a thing as lying to her own adopted daughter for so long.
"But mother...what does that have to do with me?" she finally asked. Celestia sighed slightly.
"Rainbow, the reason I'm telling you this is so that you understand what it means to be a queen. You were arrogant and selfish, just in a different way than I. But unlike myself, you were able to grow beyond your failings and become somepony who is a thousand times more worthy to be queen. You will make an excellent queen."
Rainbow sat down next to her mother, meditating over her mother's frank confession. "Are you going to abdicate?" she asked tentatively, and Celestia shook her head.
"No. I cannot. Not at this time. The Bifrost is destroyed and Asgard is cut off from the other realms. If I were to abdicate now, you would be burdened with a task that I know you aren't yet strong enough to bear." Celestia answered. "Not because you are weak, but because even with all you have learned, you are not yet ready."
Rainbow for a moment wished to counter her mother, once more repeating the age old mantra of "I'm no longer a child", but she was quick to remember all that had happened. She had, with her reckless impulsiveness, endangered the lives of millions. Her mother was right. She simply wasn't ready. She still was too impulsive and reckless to allow herself to rule an entire realm.
"I understand, Mother," she finally said, letting her head hang low. "I'm too reckless. I would only react rashly. I've yet to learn the self-control to be a good queen."
She felt Celestia's wing drape over her shoulder and gently pull her closer. "Oh, Rainbow, you've still learned so much in these past three days. Don't doubt yourself so much. When the time comes, I'm confident that you shall be a truly great queen."
"Really, Mother?" Rainbow asked, looking up into her mother's eyes. Her mother nodded, gently caressing her.
"Really," Celestia whispered and Rainbow smiled.
"Thank you," she said, snuggling up against her mother for the first time in what felt like ages. As she did so, her eyes looked skyward, admiring the thousands upon thousands of stars in the sky.
"I wonder what Scootaloo is doing right now?" she said absentmindedly. Celestia raised an eyebrow slightly.
"And who is Scootaloo?" she asked gently, causing Rainbow to smile.
"She's the filly who helped me down in Equestria. I promised I'd return to her when this was all resolved." She sighed, looking out towards the Bifrost. "But I guess that can't happen now. I'm going to be needed here."
"Don't worry, Rainbow. All is not lost. Everything shall be restored, just you wait." Celestia said, gently nuzzling her daughter. "Just you wait."
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"Scootaloo? Scootaloo, what are you doing?" Daring asked, surprised to find Scootaloo sitting on the front porch in the cold night air, looking skyward with a pensive expression on her face.
"Waiting," Scootaloo answered, leaning against the front porch handrail slightly.
"For who?" Daring asked, taking a seat next to Scootaloo.
"Rainbow. She said she'd be coming back." Scootaloo answered, looking up at Daring. "But it's been almost two days..."
Daring put a wing around Scootaloo. "Don't worry, I'm sure she's out there somewhere Scootaloo. Remember, she said she had to make sure her realm was safe."
Scootaloo sighed, looking down at the ground. "I know...I just wish she'd come back as soon as she can."
"Well, think of it this way Scootaloo. It's kinda like Hearth's Warming Eve. It comes every year, but you still have to wait patiently for it. Rainbow will be back, trust me."
Scootaloo nodded slightly, snuggling against Daring. "Okay then Auntie," she answered with a yawn.
Daring smiled warmly, picking up the obviously tired filly and gently placed her on her back. "Come on then, let's get you to bed."
With that, the two ponies walked back into the house. Daring carried Scootaloo directly up to her bed, giving both Comet Tail and Fenrir, who were passed out on the couch, television still blaring. Daring noticed that the sliding door that lead to the back porch was still open, and she gently closed it. She'd worry about the wolf hair in the morning. She then made her way upstairs and to Scootaloo's room, gently tucked the filly in bed, shutting off the light.
"Good night, Scootaloo," she whispered, and Scootaloo nodded tiredly.
"Night, Auntie," she answered, and Daring gently closed the door behind her.
Scootaloo, meanwhile, still lying in the bed, took one last look out her window. Outside, one star in particular twinkled a bit brighter than the others, and Scootaloo smiled. "Someday," she murmured tiredly, and then fell asleep, dreaming of her sister, the Goddess of Thunder.
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The dark, barren remains of the halls of Hekkerheim's royal palace, a harsh voice thundered through the halls, followed by stomping hoofsteps.
"Arch Magician!" Chrysalis seethed, her chest still burning from her recent altercation with that cursed _serpent_of a Borrson mare. Her emerald eyes probed through the darkness, seeking the changeling she knew was responsible for the failure of what should have been her exaltation.
"I am here, my Queen," Came a pristine but frightened voice as a changeling emerged from the shadows of the hallway, his head bowed low to the ground.
"You told me that she could not harm me through that construct of yours," she spat, looming over the smaller changeling, her fangs leaking venom.
The Arch Magician visibly trembled but attempted to answer calmly. "You must understand my Queen, it-it was a brand new spell and I had not the chance to test it."
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. "This is not the first time your incompetence was made evident to me, Magician."
The Arch Magician looked up at her with bafflement. "Incompetence? I live to serve you to the best of my abilities, my Queen."
Chrysalis hissed through her fangs. "You speak of often of your capabilities but if I recall correctly, it was your spell of defense that you swore to us was indefatigable collapsed and cost us the battle for our planet."
The Arch Magician's pupils dilated and he lowered his gaze again. "B-But my Queen, I ha-had no time to prepare...the construction of the defense spell was a task for a thousand changelings. And you must recall that you also tasked me to craft a stone wall in the same amount of time it took one to draw one."
Chrysalis spat at the prostate changeling before her, her venom signing his coat. "I grow tired of your feeble excuses. If you had been any other changeling I would have killed you for the first failure. It is long past time for your punishment."
Before the changeling had a chance to react, he was roughly lifted off the ground by Chrysalis' magic. Chrysalis' hoof became cloaked with a bright emerald flame and, with a look of demented glee, she forcefully pressed her hoof against the Arch Magician's face, causing him to scream in agony. Chrysalis watched as the chitin on the right side of his face was scarred a bone white, before unceremoniously throwing him to the ground.
"Now I have marked you as the failure, when you pass into the vale of our ancestors even they will know of your shame. May your soul be flayed for your treasons against the High House of Penumbras."
She then turned to her guard commander, who, as always, stood close by.
"Commander Dionysus, get the members of your honor guard and their families and tell them to meet in the chapel of Penumbras."
Commander Dionysus saluted. "Of course my Queen. What shall I tell the families?"
"The Bifrost was used as a weapon on us. Hekkerheim is doomed. As I said, get to the chapel," Chrysalis answered, already walking away from the still-writhing changeling on the ground, not before giving him a sharp kick to the abdomen, causing him to let out pitiful whimper.
"But what will prayer do?" Commander Dionysus asked, casting a quick fearful glance towards the changeling on the ground.
"Nothing. But supplication is not the reason we go there."
Commander Dionysus tilted his head slightly. "My Queen?"
Chrysalis paused, turning on her commander. "Dionysus, if a room is filled up with water and sudden a new door opens up, where does all the water flow to?"
"To the other room, my Queen."
Chrysalis gave a grimacing smiled. "Have you not heard? Midgard has been opened once more. Their eyes and ears are ripe for the blinding and deafening. Now gather my people."
"Right away, my queen," Commander Dionysus replied, before glancing down at the other changeling on the ground. "What of him?"
Chrysalis looked down at the changeling. "He and his low-bloods are an acceptable loss, Dionysus. Make haste, we do not have long till the heavens gaze upon us." She smiled, looking strangely distant, nearly wistful. "Our ancestors are with us. I have seen it in written the stars."
Commander Dionysus nodded and buzzed off to some dark corner of the castle, leaving Chrysalis and the once-Arch Magician alone. She looked down at him with distaste. "Farewell, Algrim. I hope some hellspawn takes a liking to you."
And with that, she teleported away, leaving the changeling on the ground, alone.