Brothers In Blood

EPILOGUE

     One week later…

    “Whats going on Mac?” the white unicorn walked into the crowded bar, ponies reading the newspaper and gasping at the headline.

     “Vinyl… You mean you haven’t heard?” The Minotaur bartender asked, cleaning a glass mug.

     “Heard what?” Vinyl sat on the bar chair, taking the glass full of Applejack Daniels in her hoof and taking a sip.

     “The disaster in Ponyville and Canterlot.” A griffin said from his seat, sliding over a newspaper to Vinyl. When she caught the headline, her eyes turned into pin pricks.

     MASSIVE EXPLOSION IN PONYVILLE

     Famous tyrant Sombra goes out in a bang after his almost successful conquest of Canterlot. Hundreds of locals were injured in the blast, including the hero-

     “Clay!?”

     “You know the guy?” before the Minotaur could ask again, Vinyl was already out the door, galloping to the nearest train station in Manehattan.

     Celestia held her head down, sitting on the couch next to the unconscious Clayton. It wasn’t her fault but somehow it was. She could’ve teleported him away but then Sombra wouldn’t be stopped. The magical explosion Sombra created was because he was charging an attack. Due to Clay’s stubborn thinking, when his horn broke, his magic just… exploded.

     “There was nothing we could do Princess…” Twilight mumbled. The Princess and the Elements have been in this room for the whole week, eating only hospital food.

     “He’s not dead…” Rainbow shivered, crying on the bed sheets. “I just know it… he’s not dead…”

     “With an explosion like that no one could’ve survived…” Celestia said softly.

     “Maybe you should see your other subjects Princess…” Nurse Redheart said, walking into the dead quiet room. “Maybe knowing that their monarch is here will make them feel better about the experience…”

     Celestia didn’t budge. She glanced over at Clay, his chest rising up and down. Multiple bandages were all across him, covering most of his body. She got up slowly and walked out of the room, pausing at the door to wipe away her tears. When she left the room fell silent again, only the sounds of Rainbow crying echoed in the room. The door suddenly slammed open, getting the attention from everyone as a white unicorn with electric blue hair froze at the door.

     “Is he-“

     “Still on life support… but his heart rate is fading…” When Nurse Redheart finisher her sentence, everyone glanced at Clay.

     Pinkie’s mane was straight, tears running down her cheeks. Fluttershy’s face was covered by her mane, but her sniffling made it known she was crying. Rarity dabbed away her tears with a handkerchief, her makeup making the white cloth turn dark. Twilight said nothing, just store down at the floor. she nodded to the teary eyed applejack and started walking over to Rainbow.

     “Rainbow…” Twilight whispered.

     “I’m not leaving him…” she mumbled under the sheets. Her rainbow mane stuck to the wet surface.

     “This is hard for me too Rainbow...” Applejack sniffled. “B-But he’s gone…”

     “He’s not gone!” Rainbow shot back, glaring at Applejack as tears ran freely down her red eyes. “Clay’s stronger than this! He saved us… He’s not dead…” Vinyl started to help Applejack and Twilight pull away Rainbow from the bed as everyone left the room, leaving the slowly breathing Clayton to rest…

     Radios were buzzing to life, reports and news updates bringing interesting topics.

“Ponies are calling him the hero we all needed.”

“…..And after the reconstruction of Ponyville, the Princess declared a truces with the changeling queen Chrysalis.”

“I really don’t believe that some alien from another world saved this world! I mean, you would have to be half insane to believe some bullshit like that!”

“Yeah well He did! I was there I saw that guy beat the living out of Sombra with no mercy!”

“……In other news, Discords body is nowhere to be found. Some say the Chaos lord just died and his body was pulled into Hades but I think-“

“You’re not paid to think on this radio station…”

“Sombra has been put in Blackgate Prison and his horn will be in Canterlot Castle under the surveillance of the Princess Celestia.”

“Princess Celestia unveils a giant gold statue in the middle of the courtyard of Canterlot today, as a tribute to the three heroes of this land and all the fallen.”

“Princess Luna returns from Saddle Arabia today! Seriously where the BUCK was this mare when the world was being destroyed.”

“Like you said she was Iron Will, In Saddle Arabia.”

“Where is that? Space?”

“No… It’s not in space… Can we get Braeburn or Hooves back... I can’t stand this-“

     “You heard it here folks! Saddle Arabia is a planet in space that all the people from it look like horses!”

     “Bucking… Kill me.”

     One Month Later…

     The throne room was still being repaired from the heavy battle that was fought in this castle. The dining room was fully repaired, the windows now being installed. Celestia smiled at the new stained glass window in her room, a single tear running down her cheek. They buried them yesterday, all the fallen guards... and them.

     “Are thou OK sister?” Luna asked, rubbing her eyes as she was normally not awake in the morning.

     “Better…” Celestia smiled. The clopping of hooves made her turn her attention to the large doors. “And here they come now.”

     The doors swung open, the Elements smiling at their princesses. Twilight let go of her brother, Shining finally sighing after the hug put a lot of pressure on his bandages. The sounds of boots made everyone turn around. Two tall figures came from the shadows, one holding a exercise bag on his back the clanging of metal indicating the contents of the bag.

     “They really did a good job on the Castle Celly.” Clayton commented, pointing his thumb behind him. “We need some of these guys back at Sera. We could rebuild Jacinto in an instant.”

     “This is the alien?” Luna whispered to Celestia. The princess ignored her sister as she smiled at Clayton. “Who would’ve thought there was other life in the galaxy? I must find this Sera!”

     “Who’s the short stuff next to Celestia?” Clayton whispered to Twilight.

     “Princess Luna.” Twilight whispered back. Clayton glanced over to Luna and groaned.

     “Excuse me uhh Luna is it?”

     “Princess Luna.” Luna corrected.

     “Moonbutt.” Luna looked flustered at the nickname. “May I ask WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU WHEN CANTERLOT WAS BEING ATTACKED?” Luna flinched back, glaring at Clayton with the hate of 1000 suns.

     “YOU DARE YELL AT A PRINCESS!?” Luna yelled back in her Canterlot voice. Everyone chuckled as Clayton and Luna got into a verbal argument that shook the very foundation.

   “That’s not how it happened!”

     Applejack groaned as she glanced over to Rainbow who just sat on the log with her hooves crossed. They both sat in front of the edge-of-your-seat Cutie Mark Crusaders. They all sat around a fire pit, the orange flame illuminating the camp around them. Applebloom and Sweetie Bell abandoned their marsh mellows, them being too interested in the story. Scootaloo was devouring them, pieces of the white fluff sticking to her muzzle.

     “Oh really? Then how did it really happened sugarcube?” Rainbow grinned, getting comfy on the wooden log.

     “Unlike Applejack here, I remember everything perfectly!”

     “Oh boy here we go…”

     “You know you don’t have to go...” Celestia mumbled. Clayton and Luna stopped their argument to glance at the princess.

     “As much as I wish I could.. I don’t belong here Celly.” Clayton sighed. “I’m not from here and I would just be in the way… beside, I got a war to finish back home…” he looked at the COG tags around his neck, sighing softly. He snapped his fingers as he dropped his bag on the floor. he dug around before producing a small Stetson hat.

     “Found it at the funeral at the courtyard…” He walked over to Applejack and knelt down, putting the hat on her head. They both stared at each other, faces barely inches away from-“

     “EWW” Scootaloo squealed, bits of marshmallow flying into the fire. Applejack’s face way a bright red, glaring at Rainbow with pure hatred.

     “That did not happen!” Applejack spat. Rainbow had a large grin on her face.

     “But that’s what you wanted to happen!” Rainbow shot back, Applejack looking away embarrassingly. “Besides it was five years ago... Long story short he left and went back to his home.”

     “Did he ever write back?” Applebloom asked anxiously.

     “I don’t think someone from space could every write back…” Scootaloo groaned.

     “He’s from space! Maybe he could come back in a spaceship or something!” everyone looked at Sweetie Bell with an are-you-bucking-serious face. She smiled sheepishly, causing everyone to chuckle.

     “All right you fillies time fer bed.” Applejack smiled as the three went into their tent, giggling and smiling as they acted out parts of the story. Before she could go into her tent Rainbow stopped her, resting a hoof on her shoulder.

     “You think he’ll ever come back…?” she whispered. Applejack looked up at the starry sky, smiling at a shooting star. They both looked up at the beautiful sky, a smile on both their faces.

     “Only time will tell Rainbow…”