The Ascent: To Liberate a Kingdom

Chapter Ten: The End

Celestia felt a nudging on her shoulder; she opened her eyes to a clear, morning sky. She was being prodded by the young filly beside her. Celestia got up, albeit slowly, and looked around for Luna. She caught sight of her near a pillar, staring out at what was left of Equestria. The devastation was immense, and was clearly irreparable. The ground was scorched beneath them, and rubble was everywhere.

“You’re awake, sister.” said Luna. She got up and walked over to Celestia. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay, considering I should be dead right now.” Celestia looked over to Twilight. “And how do you feel my dear?”

“Okay, I guess. I don’t know what we’re going to do now though.”

Celestia turned to her sister. “Luna, I want to talk to you for a minute.”

The two sisters strolled over to the opposite side of the pavilion.

“What is it Celestia?”

“We are the last few ponies alive. There is no future for either of us.”

“What are you proposing we do exactly? We can’t exactly bring everyone back to life?”

“I remember reading about a certain spell a few years ago.”

“Stop right there. I know what you’re getting at.”

“Just hear me out, Luna. It was called ‘The Terraformation Spell’.

“Dear sister, we do not have the ability to perform such a feat!”

“No, but she does.” Celestia nodded to Twilight.

“She doesn’t have the magic levels though.”

“We do.” added Celestia.

“But only just enough. If we were to donate our magic to Twilight, the spell would surely consume us both, and potentially her too.” Luna pleaded.

“If it can heal the damage done by The Archon, then it’s a sacrifice we have to make.”

Luna looked over to Twilight. She was sat humming to herself, looking at the view. “I don’t know.”

“It’s our only option.” stated Celestia.

The younger sister sighed. Celestia was right.

“Twilight Sparkle.” called the Sun goddess.

Twilight ran over as fast as her legs could carry her. “Yes Princess?”

“We are going to sacrifice ourselves to power your abilities one more time.”

Twilight opened her mouth but was quickly stopped by Luna.

“You are going to use our magic to perform a Terraformation spell, and remake the world in your vision.”

Luna continued from Celesta. “Indeed. We saw how you drew inspiration from your earlier drawing to create a prison for The Archon. Now we are asking you use that inspiration to create a better world.”

Twilight simply nodded. The two sisters tearfully looked at each other before resting their horns on Twilight’s head. They slowly disintegrated, and their essences, as well as their memories, were absorbed into Twilight’s horn.

From that moment, Twilight Sparkle was the last living thing left alive in the world. Her eyes lit up in a brilliant white for the third and final time of her life, and she began thinking about what she thought the rest of the world would look like. She imagined lush green fields, snow capped mountains, and crystal clear seas. She thought of what the Crystal Empire would look like, and how Canterlot would’ve appeared in its prime. The land was exactly how she’d dreamt it. She now had to populate this world. As an idea popped into her head, she closed her youthful eyes as a dainty smile made its way across her face.

Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna were sat on top of a cliff. They were facing the over the edge, into the endless sea beyond. The sun was setting, and the sky was a brilliant shade of orange. They were in limbo between the Plane of the Living and Tartarus.

“We have to travel into Tartarus soon.”

Luna looked at Celestia. She was staring off into the distance. “Are you still thinking about what The Archon said?”

“Yeah. Do you remember when he mentioned about Love and Hate existing in a mutual way?”

“When he said one couldn’t exist without the other?

“Yes. That’s really made me think. You and I share a sisterly love. I also feel similar feelings towards Twilight here. I also love this land, and the people that lived in it.”

“Of course.”

“It’s that love that made me hate The Archon. We protect things because we love them, and from that love, hatred is born.”

“I see. There’s something paradoxical about that, don’t you think?”

“How so?” asked Celestia.

“Well, nobody loves everyone. It’s impossible. If for example, you love both me and Twilight, and I hate Twilight, you can’t love me because you have to protect Twilight because you love her.”

“That’s very intuitive. You’re telling me that this idea of compassion will only work if absolutely everyone loves everyone?”

“I guess so.”

Celestia put a hoof to her head. “I’ve only just woken up; all of this thinking is going to knock me back out!”

Luna half heartedly chuckled. “You still want to think about it all don’t you?”

“You know how he talked about the other rulers having their own views?”

“No. I wasn’t here then. What did he say?”

“He said that Chrysalis, Sombra etc. All did what’s best for their subjects.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. For example, we were always under the impression that Chrysalis wanted to destroy us to feed her changelings. Isn’t that quite noble, when observed from their perspective?”

“I don’t -“

“- I mean The Archon talked about how the Changeling Kingdom was overpopulated; he went on to say that Chrysalis was trying to expand to provide ample living space for her people. In hindsight, what we were doing was the bad thing.” Cut in Celestia.

“I understand now. What did he say about Sombra?” asked Luna.

“Sombra was an interesting point. He worked his people to the bone to collect valuable minerals from the mines there. Not for his own greed, but to pay for foreign foods. They couldn’t grow food in the glaciers of the north.”

“And we perceived his working of his subjects as his own tyranny?”

“Yes. Can you see what the real problem here is Luna?”

“A lack of communication?”

“Exactly. We didn’t confer with Chrysalis or Sombra before declaring war. Our thoughts were warped by our own beliefs of how to rule a country; and of how subjects should be treated.”

“I see. We are just as tyrannical as we perceived our foes to be. How could it all go so wrong? Our fierce temperaments have left us a destroyed nation.”

“Neither do I.” finished Celestia. “The Archon also demonstrated how his emotions twisted him into the foe he was. Did you know that he started life as a simple farmhand in a hamlet west of here?”

Luna shook her head.

“His life was that of torment; his family all died, one by one, before his very eyes.”

“That’s horrible. But I have to stop you there Celestia. You’re empathizing with your enemies a little too much; the blame must also be laid on them. They always declared war on us, not the other way around.”

“Still. Don’t you think we’ve learned a valuable lesson?”

“I do. I believe we’ve found an answer to that question.”

Celestia looked back towards the ocean.

Luna did the same. “How would you bring true peace, Princess Celestia?”

Celestia took a deep breath, and then smiled. “With Compassion.”

The two sisters sat in silence for a while. They looked up to the skies; a bright white light had appeared.

“Twilight has succeeded.” said Luna.

“And it looks like she’s chosen us to join her there.” added Celestia.

The two sisters flew into the light side by side.