Days later,

Princess Luna, Canterlot church:

We all sat down to attend the funeral. I was dressed in black, though Ms. Rarity had encouraged me to wear something a little less depressing I had still chosen black.

The priest went about praying to god and reading parts from the bible, constantly blessing Clare as he went along. “If I could ask for Mr. Shining Armor to step forwards. He wishes to say a few words” the priest said and Shining hopped forwards, still in crutches from his wounds.

Shining stood beside the coffin that housed Clare’s body. I could tell it was very difficult for him to say what he needed to say, He would constantly open his mouth to say what he wanted to say but would suddenly flinch to hold back his tears.

“Clare was… Clare was a very good man… he fought alongside many of us and loved us all dearly” Shining said, trying his best to hold back his tears. “I just wanted… just wanted to say that it’s saddening for him to leave us so soon and that… that he was special to many of us. There are two types of soldiers on the battlefield. Those who will fight for you… and those who will die for you… Clare was one of the ones who would die for any of us… and unfortunately he proved it too soon… Clare if you can hear me, wherever you are, thank you” Shining said as tears flowing from his eyes.

“You’re welcome” echoed a voice in the room. It seemed like we all turned our attention to whoever thought they were going to be a smart ass at Clare’s funeral. But we all seemed to gasp in shock as we realized who it was.

Clare stepped forwards and Celestia fainted beside me. “Cl…Clare!” I exclaimed and he walked up to me and gave me a quick kiss to my lips. “Clare… but you’re… you’re dead” I said and he nodded then pointed up. I looked up to the roof and he chuckled. “Not that high” he said with humor in his voice. I looked back down to see exactly what he was referring to.

He had an angel-like halo ring above his head. “Oh… I thought…” I trailed off sadly. “Yeah… I uhm… I got a few hours to spend with my mortal body or something. The guys up there said that because of my good deeds that I… eh never mind” he replied then looked to Shining Armor.

“So… I guess this kind of defeats the purpose of seeing my dead body” he said then chuckled. “Guess this brings new meaning to ‘Late for your own funeral’” he joked. Was this really the time to be joking?

“Well everybody… uhm, if you want to say something or you know… I’ll be here for a couple of hours before I have to go” Clare said. We seemed to forget about the whole funeral thing and immediately moved away from the depressing coffin and towards the commune part of the church.

Pinkie had put together a less enthusiastic party, due to the fact that funerals weren’t exactly supposed to be happy.

Ponies conversed with one another and Clare spoke to old and new friends one last time. He got down and arm wrestled with a Russian Spetsnaz soldier named Danko and amazingly he beat the strong soldier despite Danko being extremely strong.

Clare walked over to me and quickly and silently snuck both of us out of the room without anyone noticing we left. “Luna… I’m so sorry” he apologized as a tear trickled down his face but I quickly silenced him as I brought my lips up to his.

We quickly entered another room and locked the door behind us. If he was right about the time thing then we had less than two hours but we’d make it last.

A few hours later:

The priest had lowered Clare’s body into the burial site an hour ago and we now all stood outside of the church as Clare gave a final handshake to everyone. “Well… I don’t have much time left so I just wanted to thank everyone and say you guys and gals are the greatest. This is the last time I’ll get to see any of you… until you make your trip to the other world. I’m sorry if it seems a little selfish but for my last words I’d like them to be with Luna” he said and they nodded as they all gave one final goodbye then left us alone.

“Luna… I know I’m gone but I’ll always be with you in spirit… I love you” he said and we both closed our eyes and embraced each other in a passionate kiss. In a few moments I felt a misty feeling and Clare’s body seemed to vanish away into thin air.

I opened my eyes to see that he was gone. “Goodbye my love” I whispered then shed a tear for my loved one.

Several months later:

Princess Luna Los Pegasus mountain side:

I sat alone in the beautiful forest. I rubbed me stomach, which had begun to show my pregnancy in full. In less than a few weeks I was due to give birth. I sat outside the cave where Clare and I had first made love. It seemed so long ago now, despite not actually being less than a year ago.

Memories of when I had first met Clare flooded my thoughts. How I had easily accepted him into my elite shadow guard then became romantically attached to him despite his unknowing. How he had helped me with my speech impediment willingly and didn’t show fear towards me like others. How he had come to my rescue when King Sombra had kidnapped me. How when we first accepted our love we had trashed the castle in search of food. I smiled sadly as all those happy memories flooded my thoughts.

A tear trickled down my face as I looked at the cave then continued to illustrate the picture I was drawing. I had decided to name the foal Sue, regardless of gender. It reminded me of Clare’s name, the femininity behind it that made him that much more adorable.

Narration by Shining Armor:

Not bad my friend, not bad at all. I wondered what would become of you the first time we met outside the royal castle, how you simply stood there arguing with a royal guards pony. To be perfectly honest I didn’t think you were telling the truth but I’m glad I was wrong.

Who would’ve thought that you’d become the one to save my flank more times than I care to count, and really I don’t care for counting all that much. Though Luna may be saddened by your passing, she understands you choice and so do I. Hopefully one day your child will understand as well, maybe he’ll grow up to be honourable just like his father and I pray that harm never bestows upon the child during his entire life.

The Apache’s village prospered after the collapse of the zebra army, in part thanks to extremely generous donations made from Equestria. General Kim Yung was always brutal and Clare made sure he got what he deserved, along with the others.

I have to say that the first time I saw that guy take down a criminal, some pimp that was abusing his prostitutes, boy it made me smile. Not just cause of the way Clare handled it, but because in that moment I saw a beacon, a beacon of honour and love.

If you think things are cooling down now you should have heard about the time Clare tried to battle out of hell just to be by Luna’s side when she gave birth to their first born foal. Next time, when you have time, buy me an espresso and an apple fritter and I’ll tell you all about it, but not now. That’s a story for another day.

Author's Notes:

So yes, there will be a sequel, THANK THE LORD! Anyway, I was going to add the sequel part to this but the story was just becoming too long and I felt a tragedy ending (Despite being aboslutely tear ridden) a good ending to a war story. I'll make sure I make a link and post it on this story and I'll name the chapter SEQUEL. But like Shining Armor said "Next time, when you have time, buy me an espresso and an apple fritter and I'll tell you all about it but not now. Tis a story for another day