One hour later

Everyone’s minds were full of nothing but sadness and despair after what transpired in their town an hour ago, several buildings and homes diminished, few ponies injured, property damage, but worst of all one fatality. While the destruction of the town could be easily repaired and luckily the ponies injured from the crossfire of the battle between twilight and the group weren’t too badly battered and only required bandaging, there was one whom wasn’t so lucky. As the royal guards whom arrived on the scene not too long ago tended to the damaged city and its citizens, everyone’s attention was on the pony who lay covered underneath the white cloth as she was being taken away on a stretcher.

Twilight Sparkle

The sight of seeing Ponyvilles once happy and energetic bookworm and librarian deceased with her body completely covered sent pain into everyone’s hearts including the mane four, the sight of their friend dead hit them harder than anyone could have imagined, nothing but pure sadness was written on each of their faces as they cried on each others shoulders at the fact that they’re friend was gone. While her actions towards everyone and everything was uncalled for and outright evil, they never the less couldn’t be upset at their friend for turning to the dark side with them having a part in her path of vengeance. Each of them wished so badly that they could go back and erase the terrible mistake of not listening to her back at the practice rehearsal so that she wouldn’t have gone down this path, but alas there are some things that you just can’t erase with magic.

Shining Armor took it especially hard as he pondered on whether or not he did the right thing by executing his little sister, while a part of him wanted to try reasoning with Twilight as to bring her back to her senses. He knew that given her current state that there was absolutely no way of reasoning with her especially given the fact that she nearly killed three innocent souls and was seconds away from transforming into the next nightmare sent chills down the young man’s spine. As he sat in the medical tent alongside Rainbow Dash as the pair had their injuries from earlier tended too, he looked around at the sad and depressed citizens around the city and felt ashamed of himself that he took away the life of one of their own. Even though some would say that his actions were justified in order to stop her destruction, he never the less didn’t blame anyone for being furious at him especially his fiancé and younger brother figure.

Speaking of Cadence, we find the princess of love making her way towards the same medical tent that housed her soon to be husband and the element of loyalty. A cold chill ran down the man’s spine at the sight of his long time lover drawing closer and closer towards his tent, knowing that either a big slap or a break up was to transpire and he wouldn’t blame her one bit if she wanted nothing more to do with him. At last Cadence entered his tent and was silent for a few seconds, The man shut his eyes preparing for what’s to come and believing that he deserves whatever his fiancé had planned. But to his surprise he felt a pair of hooves wrap gently around his neck belonging to non other than Cadence surprising and shocking the man who never expected this .

“Shiny” She said softly with her expression hidden in her bangs. Shining Armor was speechless for a few seconds until fresh tears started to form, and in a split second he was quick to collapse onto his wife and return the embrace while sobbing uncontrollably.

“ Cadence……I didn’t mean…….I couldn’t…….I……she was gonna…….I had…….Twily she” Shining bawled out as the princess of love gently massaged his back in a soothing tone as to calm him.

“ Shhhhhh I know Shiny , I know” She said as a single tear fell from her face as well. “ I don’t blame you, there was no other choice. It’s gonna be ok, we’ll get through this together somehow I promise.” The couple said nothing more and just continued to embrace eachother, but unknown to them, they're moment of comfort was to be cut short as a familiar voice called out to the duo.

“You” came a voice which earned the couples attention, Shining armors spine chill soon returned as he recognized the voice call out to him. There stood his parents Crescent Moon and Velvet standing just a few meters away from the tent with the latter giving the stallion the biggest snarl imaginable as tears ran down his face like a broken faucet with his wife standing behind him with a look of sorrow on her face but with a hint of anger and disappointment. No doubt they must have arrived earlier to try and reason with Twilight themselves, but soon learnt the truth after seeing their deceased daughters body and the pony responsible for her demise.

"Ddddddad" Shining armor stuttered in a scared tone, but before he could say anything else Mr Sparkle let out a roar as he charged forward in anger. Shining Armor froze in place as his father was seconds away from bruising him even further, Cadence stepped forward and was about to use her magic to restrain Shinings father like last time. But before he could even reach the stallions folding bed two of the guards inside of the tent were quick to rush forward and restrain the stallion who began to kick and struggle in an attempt to escape their grasps.

"YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!" He roared terrifying the stallion even more. " I warned you, I fucking warned you!!!!!!!!"

"Sir calm down!" One of the guards said to the struggling stallion.

"Get the hell of of me!!! He killed my daughter, my baby girl!!!!!" Crescent continued. " This is your fault, YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!! She was your sister, your freaking sister and you took her away from us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Sir I'm warning you!" The second guard replied.

"I'll kill you, I'll fucking kill you!!!!!!!!" Crescent continued as he struggled to get out of the guards grasps. "

"If you don't stop we will have no choice but to take you in!!!" The first guard shouted, Crescent continued to struggle for a bit as he breathed heavily with his angry snarl still visible as he continued to stare daggers at his quivering son. Eventually this died down and the stallion was no longer trying to break free, after a minute he finally calmed down but his anger hasn't gone away, sensing that the stallion has finally calmed down. The two guards released him from their grasps, Crescent looked down on the ground for a bit before he finally looked at his son shooting one last death glare at him which continued to send shivers down the young mans spine.

"You are no longer my son" He said in the coldest tone possible shocking the captain of the guards, Crescent said nothing more and made his way out of the tent, Velvet stayed behind for a bit with her expression fully hidden in her bangs. After a moment she joined her husband and left not even bothering to look back at her son, shining armor breathed heavily as his fathers words hit him more than a high speed train. The stallion let out a loud sob as he collapsed on his soon to be wife, she then wrapped her arms around the broken man who continued to cry on her shoulder as tears of sorrow also began to form on the princess of loves face.

But unknown to them, Trixie could be seen being transported into a prison carriage not even bothering to struggle as she knew that with the Alicorn amulet out of her grasps and the dispersion band from earlier still wrapped around her horn. She knew that trying to make her exit would prove to be futile, the guards then loaded the magician into the carriage shutting it tight as she was quick to take a seat on the bench. She then took a second to look out the window and spotted the white blanket which held the body of her partner Twilight sparkle, a single tear fell from the mares face at the sight of her deceased partner in crime.

“Shame” She said quietly. “ For once in Trixie’s life, I feel like I actually made a friend” the mare said nothing more as the prison carriage escorted her out of town.

Just then Rarity appeared making her way through the towns main entrance after it was cleared out from the debris, the former unicorn looked around surveying the recked buildings and injured pointes receiving medical attention. There was no doubt in her mind that this must have been an intense battle with Twilight, speaking of Twilight the mare looked around to see where the corrupted unicorn could be but to her surprise found not a single trace of her. A look of worry began to form as she wondered if Twilight either got away or ended up getting apprehended by the guards, just as she was about think again she was soon spotted by a pair of ponies who called out to her.

“ Rarity!!!” Came a voice earning the mares attention, and to her surprise she found non other than Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and the CMC rushing over to her side. And within seconds the mare found herself into a group hug which she was quick to return as fresh tears of joy began to form.

“ I’m so glad you’re awake big sis” Sweetie belle sniffed. “ I was so worried”

“We all were partner” Applejack replied with a sniff of her own.

“ Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to make you all worried” Rarity said, and after a minute the group hug dispersed as the marshmallow fur colored mare spoke again. “ What happened? Did you guys manage to free Twilight and stop Trixie” The group hung their heads in sadness after hearing the mares question, Rarity was confused after seeing the groups reactions and asked again. “ Guys what’s the matter, where is Twilight?” After some hesitation, Applejack finally lifted her head to finally answer the mares question as tears started to form.

“ I’m sorry Rarity” Applejack replied.

“ Twilights gone”

One week later

Not a single smile could be seem amongst the many spectators on this dark gloomy day, everyone's hearts were full of nothing but pain and grief as they sat and waited for the eulogy to commence. The cloudy sky was full of nothing but gray and darkness making the scary much more depressing and gloomy, every single pony in the ground had various expressions raging from sadness , heartache, and Misery. With the fact that the pony whom they’ve lost that day was never gonna come back made them feel so much worse, and that nothing was ever gonna be the same again without the one pony who’s brought them love and friendship ever since moving to Ponyville 2 years ago.

Twilight Sparkle

While a few members of the crowd were disgusted at the mare for the destruction that she caused last week, they never the less felt sorry for her as her only reason for going down that path in the first place was the heartbreak that she went through during the Changeling invasion back in Canterlot and the infamous practice rehearsal incident. Speaking of said incident, we find four of the remaining element bearers minus Spike and Pinkie sitting sadly in their seats not even bothering to look up with the fear of catching the eyes of any of the spectators who blamed them for Twilights downfall, to which they wouldn’t blame anyone one bit for despising them. They wished so badly that this was a bad dream and that they could go back and stop themselves from turning their backs on Twilight, but alas like I said before there are some things that magic can’t fix.

After what felt like an eternity, the Eulogy finally commenced as Princess Cadence stepped onto the podium.

“ Dearly beloved” She began. “ We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of the element of honesty, the town librarian, and one of my closest friends in the world, Twilight Sparkle. She was a wise young women, always there when someone needed her, always knew what to do, with an IQ that could put any genius in their place, strong fascination for every type of literature, and an incredible set of magic skills. There’s no doubt in my mind that she definately earned her place as my Aunt Celestias most faithful student”

“It seems like it was only yesterday where I was hired to babysit her whenever her parents went out for the day. Hehe I never met such an energetic and playfully filly such as her, she was almost like the little sister that I always wanted. Heh I can still remember that little dance and song that me and her came up with when she was 9 years old………………

🎵Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake🎵

“ And me and her still found ourselves doing it to this day” the princess then let out a small sniffle before continuing. “ But alas it seems I shall now only be able to do the dance myself, if not for that faithful day Twilight would still be here right now joint me in our signature dance. While a part of me is furious at the remaining elements, my aunt, and my soon to be husband, I never the less can’t pin the entire blame on them as they were tricked by that Changeling queens manipulation” the remaining element bears continued to hang their heads in shame after hearing the princesses words.

“ But please I ask of you all, don’t blame the other elements, my aunt, or my Shiny. It wasn’t all their faults, like I said they were all tricked. They had no idea the imposter could have been a Changeling in disguise, if anything Blame the Changeling queen for starting this whole mess in the first place the second she trapped me deep in the depths of the castle ruins. Those seven pointes are not bad people, they truly regret what they’ve done to their friend and are truly sorry for their actions and wish that they could take it all back. So I ask of thee, do not blame them they’re not bad ponies”

After hearing the words come out of the princess of loves mouths, some of the spectators looked on at the remaining element bearers with expressions raging from regret and remorse for the group. Cadence then turned her attention towards the mare laying peacefully in the open casket behind her , she gently caressed the mares cheek as a single tear began to form.

“ Goodbye Twilight, I’ll never forget you old friend” Cadence then leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on the mares forehead before turning her attention back towards the crowd of saddened ponies. “ Now we shall take this time for all you to step forward to share your memories of the dearly departed”

With that Each of the spectators walked up one by one to share the memories they had with Twilight, each expressed their emotions as they talked about all the good times they’ve fad with Twilight. When it was Derpys turn, the Pegasus blamed herself for not being able to step in to comfort her friend that day when she returned to Ponyville after the wedding incident. When her younger sister and Whooves walked up they assured the mare that it wasn’t her fault and that there’s nothing that she could have done, but the cross eyed mare secretly wished that there was something that she could have done.

Comet tail broke down in tears when he stepped up to the podium, he tearfully apologized to both Twilight and the crowd for his past as a bully. He wished so badly that he could go back and reconcile with Twilight for his harsh behavior towards the mare during their high school years, and it wasn’t just him. His five friends from Canterlot ( Their burn wounds now healed up) also apologized and showed true regret for how they treated others in the past, and they two wished that they could go back and start over with Twilight and actually be her friend.

The Cutiemark crusaders came up to share their fond memories of Twilight too, while they were still shaken at the fact that she almost killed them last week. They never the less couldn’t be angry at the mare or their respected sister regardless of what they’ve done as they knew that each of them regret what they’ve done to Twilight , and they knew that somewhere beneath that would have been Nightmare form that the real Twilight was still in there trying to fight off the darkness that would have took over her body. They also showed no ill towards Shining armor for what he’s done, as he did save their lives and if they were in his shoes. The three fillies couldn’t say that they would have done the same if it meant stopping her before she kills an innocent soul.

Finally the remaining Element bearers stepped in to say their peace and to apologize to their most dearest friend for not taking her concerns seriously and abandoning her that day when she needed them the most, each of them shared fond memories that they’ve had with the mare ever since she first arrived at Ponyville. They also shared some of the fallouts that they’ve come across during their friendship and apologized for those two all while wishing they could have started over and have been the friends that Twilight so rightfully deserved. Pinkie and Spike however were absent from the group cause as Applejack explained to Cadence earlier, Pinkie pie doesn’t really handle funerals well ever since she lost an old friend back in high school who was diagnosed with a terminal illness. And Spike couldn’t bare to see his older sister figure inside of a casket as that would have broken his heart more that it already was.

Shining Armor was too absent from the funeral as he just couldn’t face everyone after what he’s done, he also couldn’t bare to see his parents again after his father made it perfectly clear that the man was no longer his son and outright disowned him. Cadence was understanding of this all while feeling bad for her soon to be husband, not knowing how he’s gonna go on after last weeks events which lead to his sister no his BLSFF’s demise all while wishing that he could take it all back.

Finally after 30 minutes , the entire crowd said their piece to the deceased mare as Cadence stepped forward to close up the Eulogy.

“ Thank you all for your kind words” She said quietly. “ I know deep down Twilight cared about each of you dearly despite her past obstacles regarding the meaning of friendship. Deep down I know she truly cherished friendship and the many ponies whom she’s met during the years, now if there’s no one else who wishes to step up, let us proceed with…………..

“ I have something to say” Came a voice earning everyone’s attention, Cadence was quick to recognize the voice belonging to non other than her Aunt Celestia. She and the crowd looked up to find the sun goddess herself gliding down with her expression hidden in her bangs, after a moment Celestia finally landed right next to her niece on the podium as the young Alicorn took a step back to give her aunt some room as she knew that the woman had something to say as well. After what felt like an eternity the sun goddess finally spoke up.

“ I’m a disgrace” She said earning a few shocked looks from the crowd who were not expecting Equestrias ruler to insult herself. “ When my mom and dad crowned me and Luna as the goddesses of both the sun and the moon, I made a vow to protect my subjects and to never let anything happen to them. But it seems I didn't take my role as serious as my parents expected, if my folks were alive right now there's no doubt in my mind they would be so disappointed in me"

"I should have been more alert throughout my reign, but instead I simply sat on my throne as I sent Twilight and her friends to take care of any opposing threat to Equestria instead of taking action myself as I felt it was only necessary for me to stay behind and look after my Kingdom instead of assisting my former student and her friends, cause even though they had the elements in hand. Who's to say that the enemy could have overpowered or worse killed them and I would have been responsible as I wasn't there to take action myself" Tears started to form as Celestia continued.

"Because of my foolish actions, I have lost the one pony who has been like a daughter to me ever since I took her under my wing years ago. All because I didn't take her warnings seriously and now look whats happened? She was one step closer to have becoming Nightmare moons successor and it would have been all my fault, and now she's dead and I'll never be able to make it up to her for my harsh treatment towards her" Celestia then turned to Twilight's Casket as tears started to pour down her face. " My most faithful student, I am so deeply sorry for not believing you. I should have learnt my lesson from that lesson zero incident but I didn't. and because of my foolishness , I have failed you just like how I failed Sunset shimmer years ago"

"If I can't protect my subjects or even defend one of my students than i don't deserve the title of sun goddess, from this point forward I now renounce my position as the princess of the sun" After saying this the crowd especially Cadence and the main 4 gasped in shock after hearing the sun goddess herself renounce her position as princess. " I am deeply, deeply sorry that I've failed you all. You deserve someone who is better fit with looking after Equestria better than I would have, I'm a poor excuse for a Princess and I truly hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for failing you all" Celestia said no more and took off leaving behind a trail of tears that flew down like rain water

"Auntie wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cadence called out, but it was already too late as she and the other spectators watched on as the former sun goddess flew out of the scene as the crowd of ponies gave various looks of shock and worry after hearing the alicorns resignation all while wondering whats to become of Canterlot now that it's soon to be short of one ruler?

Meanwhile back in Canterlot city

Inside Joes doughnut shop we find a familiar purple dragon helping himself to a box full of his favorite assortment of baked goodies with 2 cups of hot chocolate on the side, while the young dragon always enjoyed stepping foot into his favorite doughnut shop with a smile on his face. Today was different though, after receiving the news of his sister figures death. The young drake chose to stay in Canterlot for a little longer and not attend the funeral as he couldn't bare to see Twilight's casket as it would have brought back too many painful memories, as the dragon took a bite of a boston cream donut he silently cursed himself for not being there when Twilight needed him the most. All while wishing he could reverse time as to actually save her before it was too late.

Unknown to him however, the shops bell rang indicating another patron just stepped inside. The dragon didn't even bother to see who it was and just continued to slowly and quietly eat his donuts, but as he was eating a familiar blue maned stallion could be seen walking over to the dragons booth in an effort to join him. After a short trek the stallion reached his designated ares as the dragon finally mustered up the courage to look up and find non other than Shining armor standing just a few inches away from him, Spike didn't know how to react to the stallion at first so he simply nodded a "hello" to the stallion who accepted that.

"This seat taken?" He asked earning a nod from the young dragon indicating that it wasn't, but before the stallion could take his seat he turned to the owner. "Joe another round on me" Joe nodded after hearing the stallions request and then proceeded to the back to get another box of donuts for spikes table, at last Shining popped a squat next to his little brother figure who continued to slowly consume his baked goods. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Shining armor finally spoke up. " How are you feeling spike?" He asked slightly earning the dragons attention, he then placed his half eaten donut back into the box before taking a deep breath.

"I loved her Shining armor" He said quietly. " When she hatched me from that egg years ago, she took care of me. She was like a big sister to me and i was so happy to be by her side, even though we weren't related by blood she, her parents, and even you treated me like I was part of the family. But now she's gone, and I'll never see her again" there was another moment of silence as the stallion gave a remorseful look towards his younger brother figure.

"I know" He replied. " I'm so sorry Spike, this is all my fault. If I could go back to stop myself from making that foolish mistake back at the practice rehearsal I would, but I know there's no erasing my sins. What I did will haunt me forever and I'll never be able to change it, I don't blame you if you hate me as well just like mom and dad "

"I don't hate you Shiny" Spike replied as he began to ball up his fist as tears started to form. " I hate that damn Changeling for tricking me, I'll never forgive her for tricking and making me turn my back on my no our sister. I hope she rots in hell wherever you and cadence sent her flying at" The young dragon said nothing more and began to silently weep, no longer able to take this, the stallion stepped forward and brought the dragon into a comforting embrace and was quick to accept it as he began to sob on the stallions chest.

"I know Spike" Shining said as his own tears started to form. " We can't take back what we did, but it's not too late to try and move forward. It'll be a difficult journey for all of us, but I promise you we'll get through this...................together" The siblings said nothing more and just continued to cry on each others shoulders as the consumers watched on with looks of pity, choosing not to intervene as they knew that this was a moment between family. And they knew that they needed to respect that given the fact that they've recently lost someone near and dear to the both of em.

As with the friendship is dead chapter, I decided to split the epilogue into 2 parts due to the length.

Anyways hope you guys are enjoying the story and the finale should arrive soon, until then have a good night everyone.