I want to kiss you one more time.

The debris of the Argent hivemind would still be falling through the atmosphere for a week, it seemed.

Meaning that now, during the days and nights of the northern side of Equestria, it was like they would have shooting stars frequently, peacefully accentuating their skies.

There was no risk of it falling on citizens, after all, this region had been evacuated before the Argent even began their destruction of the area.

And right now, only a few hours after they were defeated, it was less of a meteor shower, more of a torrent.

Sunset and Twilight sat together, leaning on each other, watching the show. Their armies were making their way home, their friends were celebrating nearby, but now, they had this moment to each other, atop a mountain, watching the stars fall, the ruins of their enemy, the one who would crack their world, their remains barely visible across the sky, meshed with debris of their forces and the moon.

Twilight huddled closer, reveling in the warmth, in the closeness, in the comfort. “So… Wife…?” She muttered quietly, pleadingly.

“Wife.” Sunset agreed with a grin, putting a wing over her. “I can think of… Worse places to get married.”

“We still had a ceremony.” Twilight murmured, then corrected herself. “We’ll still have a ceremony.”

“We will.” Sunset agreed, smiling as warmly, as she always had. “And it’s going to be incredible. It’s going to put all Canterlot weddings to shame, heh. People from all over the world will come to celebrate our victory… And our love, of course. The wedding to end all weddings.”

“I don’t want it to end.” She spoke with a careful, mournful whisper. “Never…”

“Well…. What do you want to do?” She offered, tilting her head.

“...I just want to hear your voice.” She pleaded.

“...What do you want me to say?” She beheld her with a bit of pity, but much more love.

“I don’t know, I…” She pouted, looking away. “...Tell me you love me?”

Sunset broke out into quiet, hearty chuckles, throwing her head back slightly, letting out a sigh. “...Heh, do you need clarification on that, Sparkles? Is it something you need me to reinforce?” But her expression softened, and she came closer. “I love you. You know that. You know that in your core, that I love you, I loved you then, and I love you now. Until it ends.”

“...I don’t want it to end.” She repeated carefully, leaning on her. “...Keep talking, please.”

“...Well, that was the fight of our lives.” Sunset shrugged slightly, bringing her as close as she could, keeping her warm, watching the horizon, and the shooting stars. “Never in my life did I think we’d fight aliens, or even that aliens were real– But whoop, here we are. You and I, casually uniting all of Equestria, just so we could face this threat– it’s a pretty good omen for what our rule would be like, right?”

“W-will be like.” She corrected with a tired whisper.

“Will be.” Sunset agreed, beholding her with worry. “And that unity is only the tip of the iceberg. Think about it. I killed Tirek, Chrysalis submitted to us big time– I’m pretty sure she’s scared of me– Whenever King Sombra tries coming back again, we’ll all be there, five alicorns, ready to whack him back to the grave.” She chuckled, looking away. “There’s no threat that could ever scare us, together.”

“There’s nothing that could scare me when I’m with you.” Twilight agreed with a mournful whisper.

“Night and day. Sun and moon.” Sunset came closer, they could feel each other’s breaths. Smiling warmly, flirtatiously. “Every single one of our days, our months, our years, our centuries… We’ll dedicate to loving each other. To exploring each other, to exploring this great land of ours…!” She chuckled, and kissed her wife for good measure. “Not how I ever imagined my life going. I never imagined being this happy, this full… But it’s a fairy tale ending, if I’ve ever seen one. It’s everything.”

“There are no tales like ours.” Twilight dared to smile, her eyes teary. “No story like ours. We’re one of a kind… And I’m okay with that.”

"You're absolutely right, my Star." She spoke with so much affection in her voice.

Twilight couldn't help but let out a weary chuckle. "I-I always liked when you called me that... I wish you did it more often...!"

"Good things are good because they come in small doses, my Star." She grinned affectionately.

"I don't want you in small doses." She muttered with a mischievous smile. "I want you forever."

“Here’s to a thousand years with you.” Sunset spoke with so much love in her voice, raising an imaginary glass. “Here’s to loving you for a thousand years.”

“Here’s to you loving me, for a thousand years–”

“Twilight Sparkle.” A voice called out from behind her. Stern, but laced with worry. “Twilight. Stop this.”

Bitterly, Twilight kept her gaze forward, closing her eyes. “...Leave me alone, Luna. Don’t you have business elsewhere? What, are you the fun police now?”

“Fun?” The Queen scoffed, gritting her teeth. “Look at me, Twilight.”

With tears in her eyes, she turned. The Queen of the night beheld her with pity, above all else, not anger, not disappointment. “...When I began teaching you to dreamwalk, to manipulate dreams, it was not to change your own.” She stepped forward, meeting her eye to eye. “It was not for… This.”

“I’m not hurting anypony. She’s not hurting anypony.” Twilight gritted her teeth, embracing her wife. “What’s the harm on–”

“--Don’t be blind. Don’t look away.” The Queen shook her head in disapproval, sitting down next to them. “Puppeteering and manufacturing a Sunset Shimmer just for yourself is a slippery slope that does not lead to anything good. Spend too much time in the dream realm, and you’ll forget to live, Twilight. Trust me.”

“Luna…” This Sunset, this interpretation, pleaded. “...She needs this.”

“You have abandoned your training, Twilight Sparkle– You have abandoned your princess duties altogether, and now, in the few moments you chose to rest, you’re living in a fantasy.” the Queen murmured in shame. “And all the while, you have plucked other versions of her unwillingly into your world. You need to take responsibility– I won’t be the one to tell you to move on. To accept what you’ve lost–”

“Then don’t.” Twilight responded bitterly, immediately. “I’m going to find her, okay? I am. It’s just difficult, if you all would just give me time–”

“Months? Years?” Luna beheld her sternly. “With little to no proof that Sunset is still alive?”

“Yes.” She responded curtly. “However long it takes.”

With a sigh, the Queen went silent.

This Sunset cleared her throat, awkwardly. “...The dream gets a bit spicy from here. You don’t wanna be here for this, so…”

“Silence, apparition.” Luna’s horn glowed, her dream powers manifest–

–And Twilight stood in front of her, with her horn glowing quite the same way, breathing heavily, desperate, ready for a fight, ready to defend her dream.

Swallowing her pride, looking away, Luna stood down. “...Sorry. I am sorry.” She shook her head. “...It has been a tough set of weeks for all of us, and I cannot even presume to know how you feel. I am so sorry, Twilight.”

All of the Princess’s anger turned to grief, as she sat down, and nuzzled her wife once more. “...This is where we made the promise, Luna. Right here, on this mountain… This is where we promised that we would be together for a thousand years.” She turned to Sunset, bringing a hoof to her cheek. “I’m… I’m trying to remember the words, the exact moments, every little detail of this day we shared, but… I’m getting lapses, I’m forgetting things– It’s not perfect. She was always better with memory…”

The Queen of the Night did the closest she could to an ironic, joking tone. “...If you master dreamwalking… Rebuilding a memory, especially your own, would be easy. If you return to your training…”

“...Without Sunset.” Twilight completed, looking down. “...What’s the point?”

“The real world– Our real world still needs you.” Luna affirmed, sternly, yet gently. “Like it or not… You are next in line for the throne. This is your duty, Twilight.”

“Without Sunset.” She repeated, bitterly.

“...If it comes to it…” The Queen looked away. “Yes.”

With a sigh, the Princess closed her eyes. “And what does Celestia think?”

“Celestia thinks you are close to getting Sunset back.” Luna turned, trying to make eye contact. “Is she correct, or naive?”

Silence.

“...I don’t know.”

More silence.

With a groan, a frustrated growl, Luna turned around. “I hate being the responsible one.” She prepared herself to leave the dream, but stayed for only a moment. “...There are more than a handful of Chancellors that are wondering where you and Sunset have gone. Many dignitaries are confused as to why you haven’t made a public appearance, and abandoned all your duties. You need to work on a statement, Twilight. Or them sending guards to spy on you will be the least of your worries.”

Twilight did not respond.

“And you should think of getting those other Sunsets home. You have caused enough damage to their lives, don't you think?” Spreading her wings, she began walking in the air, crossing the dream boundary. “I won’t disturb you more this night… But you should reconsider your priorities.”

And finally, she was alone again.

Sunset was quick to comfort her. Speaking softly, gently. “Twi… When Hermes cast that curse, even if I… Even if she knew what the curse was… She would have still jumped in front of it.”

“...It was meant for me.” She murmured quietly.

“And she would have always shielded you.” She reaffirmed, beholding her with pity. “...I’m sorry. But you know that this never would have gone any other way. And you know you can’t dream forever, Sparkles...”

Twilight let out a defeated groan.

“...You know this isn’t healthy. You know.” Kissing her cheek, she nuzzled her. “If nothing else… Having me here could lower your determination of finding me out there. Do you want to take that risk…?”

“Bwuh…” The Princess murmured, rubbing her temples. “...Why do you have to be so right all the time…?”

“I’m literally a version of your wife you made up.” Sunset grinned, chuckling. “It doesn’t get more right than this.”

“It doesn’t.” Twilight kissed her, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know what the right thing to do is…!”

“You do.” Sunset noted, unflinchingly. “You do, Twi. You always do… You just have to be brave enough to do it. …Even without me.”

“Y-yes.” She shuddered, with a sharp inhale. “I know. I know. But for now… let’s just stay here… Just a little bit longer.”

Rain.

Grass.

Stone.

The Valkyrie gained her bearings, inhaling, having just woken up, looking at this new universe she landed in.

She shook herself, feeling the rain on her fur and feathers briefly.

And looked at what she had landed on.

A gravestone. But not like others she had seen.

A memorial. Large, intricate, beautiful. A gravestone with wings, an archway, flowers, all shaking due to the rain, with soggy offerings, unlit candles.

She shuddered. Her eyes widened.

Here lies Sunset Shimmer.

Beloved hero. Beloved friend. Dearly beloved.

Princess of the Sun.

Her breathing quickened, as she hesitated, as she observed the mausoleum cautiously.

“...My sun…?” An incredibly familiar voice shuddered behind her.

The blood in her veins turned to ice, as she turned to see Twilight Sparkle, in the rain, beholding her like a grieving lover.

Twilight took a step forward, and she took a step back.

This Twilight was tall. Much taller than the others. Maybe even as tall as her wife– if not just close to her. She wore no regalia, her dress was unkempt, her wings folded close– All while beholding Sunset, looking like she had cried recently, endlessly.

The Valkyrie’s breathing quickened. Twilight stepped forward again. “Wh… What…!?”

“S-Sunset…!” The Princess's look of sorrow turned to a desperate smile. “...Y…You’re here…!”

Her adrenaline spiked like she was on a battlefield. She knew, instinctively, what was coming next, what was going to happen, the second Twilight touched her, but she couldn’t move away in time. She couldn’t avoid this, this maelstrom of sorrow.

Grief.

Being touched by Twilight Sparkle filled her with an unending well of grief. Several year’s worth of grief, several year’s worth of the slow, unfathomable realisation that you’ve outlived someone you love, someone that has been taken from you, someone who was meant to be with you, for the rest of your life.

It was the mourning of centuries to come. And Sunset felt all of it.

And worst of all, she felt the hope that her presence brought.

Hope she would have to break.

She nearly panicked, having to desperately shove Twilight away before she was kissed. “S-stop, stop, STOP!” Her breathing was sharp, haggard. “S-stop, stop, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, stop…!”

“S-Sunset, what’s wrong…?” pleading, she approached again, extending a hoof, offering another kiss. “S-Sunset, it’s me…!”

“I’m not your Sunset.” She responded shortly, weakly, like tearing a bandage off a wound. “I’m not your Sunset. I’m so, so sorry.”

“W-what do you mean…? You’re right here, I’m right here, Sunset…!” She was close again, that hope, that joy, contorting into grief. “...What’s wrong…?”

“I’m not your Sunset. I’m sorry. I’m not her. I’m so sorry…!” She shuddered through her words, trying to gain distance between them, but being backed into her own grave. “I’m so sorry…!”

“A-am I dreaming…?” Twilight sat down, looking away, shuddering out a breath. “...Did I dream you up again…?”

“N-no… no. I’m sorry.” She gritted her teeth, grimacing with fear. “I’m sorry, I’m… From another world. Another universe.”

“Is… Is this a joke? A trick? A prank?” Her mane flared, her eyes glowed, her horn crackled, her face contorted into rage. “Haven’t I lost enough? Why are you wearing her face?!”

“Twilight.” She spoke as comfortingly as she could, with questionable results. “...I’m from a universe where your wife didn’t die…!”

All of the energy surrounding the Princess vanished. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“...Have you been sent here to what– Torment me?” She didn’t snarl, she sputtered, pitifully, tragically. “‘You can look, but you can’t touch’? Is that it? You’re here to tell me off? To tell me I should move on, that I need to do better, that I need to forget you?!”

“N-no, I… I didn’t come here on purpose. I’m sorry, I’m… I’m just cursed.” She took a long, painful look of what was left of this Twilight Sparkle… not much. “...What happened to your Sunset…?”

“A-are you serious?” She approached her once again, bitterly, pleading. “P-please just stop this. Please just come back to me. Can’t we just, can’t we just be together…?” She extended a hoof, touching Sunset’s cheek– A touch she did not run from. “L-look at you– you’re so beautiful, the same scars, the same eyes, why are you pretending, why are you mocking me, why is this happening–”

“--I’m sorry.” Sunset shuddered, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry. It’s… It’s just… Bad luck.”

“Bad luck…” She repeated, exhaling, wiping the rain from her muzzle, wiping the tears that came with it. “Bad luck. Bad luck. Bad luck…”

“I didn’t want this, I, I never wanted this, when I loved you, I–” She recoiled, biting her lips, closing her eyes. “I never wanted this, I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry–”

“S-stop saying that. It was never your fault. It wasn’t.” She shook her head, devoid of energy. “...It was just… bad luck.”

“...What happened to her? Please. I need to know.”

Silence passed, accentuated only by the rain and the wind. It didn’t bother either of them.

“...Can you read memories? My wife could.” She muttered quietly, looking down.

Sunset nodded shortly.

Twilight raised a hoof.

And the Valkyrie touched it.

It was the fight of our lives.

All together, now.

All of Equestria, because of us.

All of Equestria, against one enemy. One from above the heavens.

“T-the Argent…? Oh no…”

It’s our wedding day.

It was, wasn’t it?

The worst day of my life.

The day I lost you.

“No no no no…”

You were confident. You were happy. You were strong. You were beautiful. Always.

Always.

Celestia said she had a plan. She went there alone.

Six wings. Six wings. I don’t understand.

“...Oh no…!”

And you followed her.

You wanted to bring her back.

You didn’t come back.

And I waited for you

I waited for you

I waited for you

And then I found you.

Sunset recoiled, pulling her hoof away, breathing weakly, quickly.

“...I tried to bring you back. I tried.” Twilight’s voice was broken, frail. “I tried. But… You came back wrong, and… And… what happened next…”

She had to center herself, she had to contain a dam, before speaking again. “...I had to put you down again. I had to grieve you twice.”

“B-but…” Sunset looked beyond the rain.

Ponyville, still standing.

In it… Her Community Center.

“H-how could this have happened, this world, it’s… It’s just…” She regarded Twilight again. “A-and you’ve had to just… Hold on without me? Be a princess without me…? Have you been… Managing…?”

“Does it look like I have been managing?”Twilight muttered bitterly, sitting down in defeat. “Luna is managing as well as I am. Two grieving rulers of a broken world. None of us are healing, my friends, they can’t do anything for me anymore, I almost broke the world, there’s nothing to fight for anymore– We’ve… We’ve done what we could, but… I can’t. I can’t. T-this is– This is just a bad dream. It has to be.”

Sunset was completely utterly frozen, beholding this effigy to the worst possible outcome.

This horrible, twisted mirror of her expectations. Her own hopes for her world, shattering.

If her wife was handling losing her as well as this Twilight, all hope was lost.

The ground trembled. Her ears twitched.

On the horizon, near Ponyville, a monster erupted from the ground. An enormous Earthworm emerged and roared.

Sunset’s muscles tensed. “...Your home is under attack.”

Twilight didn’t move. “...Yeah. That happens sometimes.”

“I’ll be right back.” Finally, her expression hardened, her wings raised, and with a flash, she adorned her Valkyrie armor.

And Twilight watched, in love-wracked mourning, as her wife took flight, in the same way she always had, into battle.

Sunset soared like a meteor. Aflame with the rage of grief.

The Mysterious Mare Do Well was a lot of things– prideful was not one of them.

She knew when an enemy was too large for her, too dangerous, she knew when she needed backup.

The enormous Earthworm’s roar was audible on the community center, she hoped, as she desperately gained the attention of the beast, trying to keep it away from the town.

The monstrosity attempted to slap the masked mare with her tail, a vicious, fast, fierce strike that she barely blocked with a barrier.

Twisting her body mid air, and with the assistance of magic, she softened her still quite violent landing on a rooftop.

Forcing herself to stand up immediately, she turned and ran– With several leaps and teleports, landing on the balcony of the Community Center.

“B-big, BIG fucking thing outside!” She yelled out, looking around. “Captain Shimmer, I might need some help here!”

“On it.” The Captain snarled, igniting her horn, making her way to the balcony. “I’ve faced bigger.”

“No.”

They both paused.

Twilight Sparkle placed her annotations and the instruments she had been tinkering with down. “...Leave this one to me. I’ll be right back.”

They remained silent, as she made her way to the balcony unflinchingly, and took off with a gust of wind and rain.

Spike took a nervous glance outside, and smiled awkwardly. “Yeah, um, you’ll want to take cover, guys. She’s about to let out a lot of suppressed anger.”

The two Sunsets obeyed, observing the distance carefully.

Twilight soared like a shooting star, Alight with the rage of grief.

Sunset was aflame, burning brightly, the rain evaporated off of her.

With corkscrew motions in flight, she turned herself into an arrow.

The worm tried to swallow her. It was the monster’s last mistake.

Sunset pierced through her, then out of her, then turned, and pierced her again, and again, and again, like an arrow of flaming light, burning the monster from within, incinerating its insides, making a mockery out of its attempts to harm her.

WIth a sheen of light, she was done.

She flew back to the graveyard, the creature still aflame, roaring, collapsing, dying.

Twilight was alight, a cold shine, the rain didn’t bother her.

She flew before the monster, and there she stood in the air, glaring it down, her mane flowing behind her.

The worm tried to swallow her. It was the monster’s last mistake.

The cold light overtook the monster, it froze it in place, it gasped and roared.

Twilight charged and strained, the light burned brighter, lightning crackled into the air. She obliterated it with her magic, evaporated its skin, then its flesh, in a process that lasted less than a minute of her straining in anger, with the creature unable to fight back.

With a clap of thunder, she was done.

She flew back to the Community Center, the creature’s bones breaking, collapsing, dead.

“That’s that.” Sunset landed, shaking off the little bit of viscera that hadn’t evaporated out of her entirely, landing next to her mausoleum once more.

“Y-you fight just like her…!” Twilight shuddered, with the thinnest, exhausted smile. “Your armor, too, it’s… A spitting image…!”

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Sunset finally managed to affirm, weakly, the words held a weight she couldn’t bear. “I… I hoped, I-I… I don't know.” She sat down, defeated. “I thought I’d never see another universe where I'm an alicorn…” Her gaze tragically moved to her gravestone. “...I guess I still haven’t.”

“Stay.” Twilight begged, coming closer. “...Please. We shouldn’t be out here in the rain. Come with me, I’ll take you home, we can– The Community Center, our Community Center. Don’t you want to rest…?”

“T-that’s not how this works, Twi… I’m sorry, but it’s not.” She shook her head. “...This isn’t my world, my home. My Celestia didn’t die fighting the Argent, neither did I– That’s not how that day went.”

“...What…” Twilight approached her, pleading. “What do you mean…?”

“...Me and my Twilight… We beat the Argent.” Sunset spoke quietly, carefully. “Our day went differently. Celestia, she… She didn’t sacrifice anything.”

“...What…?” She came closer, regarding her desperately. “...How.”

“I…” She stopped herself. Observing this Twilight Carefully. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Show me.”

“Twilight, you… Seeing what could have been, it won’t make you feel better. Trust me.”

“Show me.” Her expression softened. “Sunset… Please. I need to know.”

Hesitantly, fearfully, the Valkyrie extended a hoof.

And Twilight touched it.

It was the same battle. The same struggle. The same clash, the same ending–

–Up until it wasn’t.

She could see the Argent fleet.

War raged in the skies above Equestria. Alien spaceships, drones, machines, all devoid of life, raining lightning and lasers down on Equestrian forces, who matched them with airships, artillery and flight.

The storm raged around them.

We were together. We had fought valiantly, and we hadn’t lost hope.

Yacks and Earth ponies fired their siege weapons and mortars from below, hitting the alien airships.

In the air, Griffons, dragons, blimps, airships, pegasi, crystal ponies, changelings, everyone…

…All of Equestria, united as one to fight an extraterrestrial threat.

All together, it WAS enough.

We were pushing them back. We were exhausting their resources.

The Argent mother ship was like a brain.

An enormous, ominous sphere, with branches and nerves, extending out, building itself, crumbling, and yet, they couldn’t dent it, not without casualties.

We were married now.

It’s our wedding day, isn’t it?

The best day of my life.

“We must retreat!” Celestia called out beside her– Sunset, Celestia, Luna and Twilight stood above an airship together, beholding the sight.

“Retreat?! We’re pushing them back!” Luna barked, clutching a wounded wing. “Nearly all their ships have been destroyed, the mothership is exposed, we can do this!”

Hope.

“They’re just making more– The hivemind is self-sustaining, they keep making more…!” Twilight noted, narrowing her eyes in disbelief, seeing new warships sprouting from out of the hive like leaves falling off branches.

“They have to run out of resources sometime!” Sunset noted, scanning the air. “We can exhaust them, then we break them!”

A battle of attrition. I wondered if that was the way.

And I kept thinking. Kept wondering what we could do.

“It won’t work, listen to me, all of you!” Celestia gathered them, and her expression betrayed her– She was hopeless, and somehow grief stricken. “We cannot ask our allies to throw themselves at our enemy like this. We cannot risk any more lives– We must finish this today!”

“Then let’s finish it, c’mon, we got this!” Sunset smiled confidently, brandishing her wings. “We’ll think of something!”

There had to be something we could do

And there was.

“I already have.” Celestia muttered mournfully. “This is goodbye. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this–”

“I… I think I’ve got an idea” Twilight’s gaze, eyes widened, moved to the distance, beyond the brain, into the stars, the skies. “We… We’re alicorns…!”

“...How astute, my student.” Luna grimaced in confusion. “I am not sure how–”

“N-no, you don’t get it– Why did we move our cosmos away from the Argent in this battle…?!” She was frantic, smiling, the many gears in her head turning.

“I’ll be cursed a thousand times over before I let these wretches land on my moon!” Luna declared with an almost pout. “It is bad enough that they can harm Equestria–”

“Twilight. We cannot risk them harvesting from our celestial bodies…” Celestia murmured in grief. “There is a way we can win, but… It means I have to–”

My wife. She always had big ideas.

And now I was there to push even further.

“--Wait, she’s onto something. They don’t care about the sun or the moon, they came here.” Sunset murmured, glaring at the Argent brain. “L-look– The hivemind, it’s as big as a moon…!”

“Not bigger than my moon.” Luna frowned.

“Exactly!” Sunset’s smile became manic, as she beheld her wife, and the others. “We control the sun and the moon, we control the Celestial bodies– Even if we don’t control this hive!”

“Which means!!” Twilight’s horn lit up, her smile matched her wife’s. “It means that we can match their size, with our own, twice over, thrice over!!”

“C’mon, all four of us, together!” Sunset excitedly sat besides her wife. “Celestia, on me!”

“Luna, on me!” Twilight’s smile was even wider. “Let’s push them back– Push them back with our moon!”

“And let’s push them into our sun!” Sunset grinned madly, waving her wings and horn in a rehearsed manner, both of them alight.

Together.

Celestia and Luna shared confused glances at first– But then came the realisation of the extent of the insanity of this idea.

“...You two are deranged!” Luna grinned with them. “I like it!”

Celestia finally smiled, understanding this fully. Her horn alight, she waved to the fleet. “RETREAT! EVERY CREATURE RETREAT FOR YOUR LIVES! WE ARE ABOUT TO END THIS BATTLE!”

A clash like this hadn't happened at any point in Equestria’s history.

Me and my wife had a knack for things like this.

There’s a first time for every miracle.

“Together.” They whispered, straining.

“Together!” Celestia and Luna agreed, joining them, spreading their wings, lighting their horns.

Together, the Princesses and the Queens of the Sun and Moon moved their cosmos.

All in Equestria watched this enormous clash.

The moon rose. The moon rose, to meet the Argent hivemind– The moon outsized the Argent hivemind.

With an enormous, earth shaking crash, the moon met the Argent hivemind, cracking, shoving it back, pushing it.

The skies shook. Clouds parted.

And the sun was raised behind it. The sun shone high above Equestria, with the Argent fleet being pushed against it, the rays of light dancing between the clouds of the storm.

It was a spectacular sight. The enormous, droning, desperate alien hivemind, being shoved, pushed, forced against the sun by the moon.

A partial eclipse– Another, enormous impact.

The four alicorns remained utterly focussed, utterly silent, as they strained together, making more effort to move the Celestial bodies than they ever had.

They didn’t dare to speak, they didn’t dare to say a word, as the Argent hive was smashed against their sun, dwarfed by it.

The entire world saw the alien metal be engulfed by flames, taken in by a celestial body superior to it, forced into it by the moon, unable to escape or to fight back.

Once they heard the fleet around them cheering, once they heard the shouts, the cries of joy, they knew they had won.

The Argent fleet fell from the sky, now devoid of any life and commands, now completely and entirely devoid of purpose.

My family was strange.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“...Okay now let us pull our moon back, please!” Luna pleaded with a nervous smile, as Sunset and Celestia laughed and hugged each other, as they moved the sun back down, as Twilight assisted in separating their celestial bodies.

And all of Equestria relished in the light of the sun, and the power of the moon, that had united to win this battle with perfection.

Sunset and Twilight kissed, embraced, and remained like that for a time neither of them cared to account for.

After all, they had a wedding to plan now.

Together.

Sun and Moon, united.

Nothing would ever tear us apart.

…Or so I hoped.

Twilight recoiled, back in reality, rain drenched her mane, she shuddered, and tears formed in her eyes once more.

“Y-your world… It’s beautiful.” She noted tragically, looking down.

“...It was.” Sunset agreed quietly.

“...And… You won. You won because I… Because your Twilight had an idea.” She gritted her teeth, cursing, sputtering, suppressing. “An idea I didn’t have.”

“...Yes.”

They stood there, silently, feeling the rain, feeling the wind, feeling the grief.

Twilight’s expression hardened– It went blank, it stiffened. “...How did this happen to you. Why are you here. Tell me what– Exactly.”

With a sigh, she looked away. “I was cursed by a stallion named Hermes. I don’t even know why– But I’m cursed to travel the multiverse– Every hour, I’m shot into the next one. I… I can’t stay, Twi.”

“Hermes…” She looked down, her brows furrowed, eyes searching for nothing. “...Sounds familiar. Maybe I’ve met him, maybe…”

“I don’t know. I didn’t know him.” She shook her head, sighing. “It doesn’t matter, it’s already done. I’m so, so sorry, Twilight. I wish I… I don’t know.”

“...Please come with me.” The Princess murmured with a plea. “Please, let’s go home.” She pointed to the Community Center, barely visible through the fog. “I miss you so, so much, my Sun– I miss you more than I can bear, every single day, every single second, I feel your absence–”

“I’m sorry.” She inhaled sharply. “I’m so, so sorry, but I can’t stay. You have to…” She forced herself to speak words she herself cursed, she herself despised. “...You have to move on.”

“M-move on??” She failed to speak properly, she failed to process her thoughts. “H-how could I possibly move on?! Look at you! Look at how beautiful you are!! You’re just– You’re not just showing me what I lost by being here– No, worse, you’re showing me a future I will never have!! I love you so much, Sunset, please stay, please, please stay–”

“--I can’t.”

“Please. Please don’t go.” Twilight stepped forward and embraced her, her grief, her mourning, her pain, flooding Sunset once more. “Please stay with me, please, can we just pretend even for a moment, can we just hope–”

“--I can’t.”

“...I can’t do this without you. I can’t. I can’t, Sunset. Not alone. There’s nothing to fight for anymore. Please, please stay.” She pleaded desperately into her arms. “I love you so much. Our love has to have meant something, it has to–”

“--It did. It did. …But it’s over, now. You have to move on. You have to–”

“--I can’t.”

And there they remained. Beholding each other, embracing each other, ignoring the rain, and Sunset could feel everything. She wanted to stay. She would do anything so Twilight wouldn’t feel pain anymore.

And she felt the inevitability of there being nothing she could do, as she drowned in her grief.

“...Sunset…”

Twilight shuddered through her tears, through her frail breaths.

“...I want to kiss you one more time.”

There wasn’t much calculation on Sunset’s actions. There wasn’t much thought. Her mind, her thought process had been completely replaced by Twilight’s pain.

Only one thing mattered in that moment.

Her wife was asking, begging her for one final kiss.

And so they did.

It didn’t last as long as either of them hoped. It didn’t taste like it did when both of them had hope.

That same light that had enveloped Sunset all these hours, these days, these weeks, enveloped her again.

She was taken by the gravity, by the light, and Twilight refused to let go, to stop kissing her until she was gone.

And then she was.

And then she was alone.

And there she remained, shuddering, grieving, facing her wife’s grave.

“Our love has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something, it has to have meant something…”

She repeated endlessly into the rain.

Something inside her snapped. Something familiar, something painful, but all the more welcoming, in a moment like this.

She shot a burst of lightning into the skies as her screams filled the air, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Where’s the disturbance?” The question seemed rhetorical, as Flash Sentry beheld the fallout.

On the streets of Canterlot, something had barreled through. It seemed like a case of reckless flying, but the damage done seemed more like a few Yaks had rampaged through the streets.

“Seems to have come from that way?” His fellow guard muttered while scratching his chin. “...Sheesh, look at that crater.”

“Woah! I know that apartment!” Flash smiled, as he took flight.

In one of the Canterlot facades, a window was broken, and a lot of the wall had been taken with it, in a seemingly vicious sign of a poor take off.

Peppily, he flew inside, seeing the room being in relatively good condition, minus the missing wall, and of course, was met with his ex.

Sunset Shimmer was currently napping on a couch, with a book over her head, unresponsive otherwise.

“Yo, Sunny! How you doing?” He nudged her with a grin. “Seems like you got a bit of a leak there.” He jokingly pointed at the window.

After making a few groaning sounds of displeasure at being woken up, she removed the book off her face. “...Flash? What the hell are you doing in my apart– WOAH!” She stood, jaw dropped, anger rising. “What the fuck did you do to my window, man?!?!”

“Um. I’m investigating just that? Look:” He nudged her, pointing past the ruined window and wall, down to the streets. “Didn’t you see something come out of your apartment just now? Because clearly something did, and it wrecked the streets.”

Sunset’s anger was replaced with utter confusion. “...I was fucking napping? I swear I didn’t do anything–” Then her expression softened, as she gave him a poorly flirtatious look. “...You wouldn’t arrest me, would you, Flashy…? Not after all we’ve been through together…?”

“W-wow, you really can just do that on command, huh?” He recoiled with nervous laughter, flustering. “Relax, we’re looking into it, you’re fine. I’m not arresting you.”

“Okay.” Her demeanor changed entirely, as she made her way back to her couch. “Then find out who wrecked my window and get them to pay up, please.”

“Roger that!” He made motions to take flight, but then stopped himself. “...How’s the studying with Celestia going? You close to getting your wings yet?”

“Goodnight, Flash.” She murmured uninterested, already covering her face with the book again.

“See you around, Sunny.” He snickered, and took flight.

It was certainly a strange sight. Whatever had flown through the streets resembled more of a wrecking ball than pony or creature.

Stands were overturned, benches and lamp posts were snapped in half, ponies were disoriented and confused, even a few other windows were shattered.

One of his fellow guards joined him in flight. “Yo, Flash! Good news, seems nopony was hurt– Just a lot of property damage. Bad news is we still have no idea what did this.”

Another pegasus guard joined him on the other side. “Hey, just conducted a few quick interviews– Not many witnesses on the scene, but some seem to say that it was a pegasus? One of the witnesses said it was an alicorn, which is just kind of funny.”

“Hah! Is Celestia going flying after drinking or something?” The other guard joked. “What a riot. Can you imagine? Let’s give a queen a ticket!”

Flash narrowed his eyes. The trail led beyond the Canterlot walls, into a small patch of woods outside the city. “On me!” He declared.

“Holy hell…” His fellow guard muttered, watching entire trees snapped and broken and fallen.

“At least this pony leaves a trail.” The other commented. “...A pretty messy trail.”

They landed among the woods, and proceeded while walking. The trail was a lot more visible now, like a meteor had crashed here.

And there they found her. The Valkyrie.

They froze at the sight.

An alicorn. Full of scars, wings shaking on her side, leaning against a tree that had buckled with her impact, looking beyond the ravine past these woods, into the valley, into Ponyville, at Twilight Sparkle’s castle.

Weeping.

“H-holy hell… Sunset?” Flash asked carefully, immensely confused. “A-are you–”

She was unresponsive, panicking, looking around frantically, tears overflowing, grimacing, gritting her teeth, breathing audibly, poorly.

“...Ma’am, you’ll have to come with us.” One of the guards suggested without approaching. “We need to ask you a few questions.”

“I-is she…!” The other guard’s eyes widened. “It really is an alicorn?!”

Again, the Valkyrie did not respond, all she could do was cry, barely mutter, weep, at the sight of Twilight’s castle in the distance, forcing herself to look away.

“...Ma’am, please comply.”

“Stop.” Flash raised a wing, and motioned to his fellow guards. “Let’s back up a bit, just… Give her space. She’s shell-shocked.”

“...What the hell happened to her?”

Gently, carefully, Flash sat in front of the Valkyrie, at a respectful distance. “...Do you need some water? I’ll… I’ll be right here if you need anything, Sunset. Just let it out, okay…?”

And she did. She continued to cry, unable to say a word.

Unable to articulate her grief.

“Hermes.”

Lightning crackled in the distance, and his hide shivered, he nearly jumped when he heard his name be whispered through a snarl like that.

He took a fearful glance to the door of his office, and found it open, with a tall mare drenched in rain water standing by it.

“G-goodness me, have you been flying out there in this rain?” He quickly ran over, closer, to turn on the lights. “Step inside my office, there, on the carpet, dry yourself off–”

“Are you Hermes?” The mare asked curtly, without patience or emotion.

“I-I am, yes. And you are…!” His eyes widened, as he took a step back in surprise. There was an eerie blue glow in her eyes, which seemed utterly apathetic. “...Princess Twilight? What are you doing here, of all places?!”

“The multiverse.” She spoke with a raspy growl, unmoving. “You studied it. Right?”

“W-well, I tried. Lots of uncharted waters, there.” He fidgeted nervously. “I-I actually once tried asking you for funds– Tried showing you my research, but you turned me down. I changed my masters after, as you can see…” Adjusting his glasses, he pouted. “...And back then, you told me there were no practical utilities to travelling through the multiver–”

“I changed my mind.” She responded coldly, finally stepping into his office. “Show me.”

Author's Note

Fun drinking game, take a shot everytime the word 'grief' is written in this chapter. yay!

So I've been thinking of this chapter since I started writing this fic. It's weird, because considering the stakes and importance it has.

Like. this seems like it should be a penultimate chapter, or even a final chapter, but it isn't. there's a few more to go. And yet, this is like... Everything, all of the stakes, big, small, personal, global, all of it. all of them are finally demonstrated to the characters involved.

And yet... There's still a chapter to go before we even reach the final intermission.

After that, the finale is essentially a four-parter. But we're so, so close. I can taste it.

So, about the subject of being completely and permanently changed by grief:

I was talking to a friend a few weeks back, and she told me how she had like, the perfect girlfriend, once upon a time. They supported each other through everything, were incredible together, shared the same interests, etc.

and then the girlfriend died. Just like that.

and my first thought was "And you just had to keep living?"

Like. it finally clicked to me. It finally clicked to me how insidious, how derranged, how corrosive, how inexcapable grief could be. The idea that you haven't just lost someone, you lost years of your future together. That your life is now permanently changed by a person you can't get back. They're gone.

It clicked! I get it now, I fucking understand-- What, are you supposed to try to pursue another partner that will be just as perfect as the first? Someone that somehow fills the exact void, someone that can patch a hole in your fucking heart? That's a losing battle!

And yeah. Take all of that. And multiply it by a thousand years. Twilight Sparkle just became one of the most potentially fucking tragic characters.

We've seen how she acts when she's grieving her friends, we've seen how she acts when she has no one to grieve, in canon. Equestria falls.

Now, here, you can see how she acts when she's grieving a lover, and a lover that was there as a promise to be with her, for a thousand years. All of those centuries, robbed off her. How could anyone expect her to function, to still rule Equestria, to still, somehow, manage?

And now Sunset Prime understands. Now she knows. She knows what missing her will do to Twilight Sparkle.

And this feeling would break her easier than a Kraken would.

Either way... As the themes of grief, love, longing and luck all come to a wrap, we're about to close up the final trifecta of universes for the fic. This next chapter will be called "I want to live, I don't want to die."