Kinganon: Lords Temporal

PROMPT: https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/34694052/#34705659
The next two posts are the first 'true green' for this, ending here: https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/34694052/#34705668
Here we continue where that leaves off.
Prior posts are not my work.

"Could you repeat that?"
>The guard quailed at the edge on your voice.
>You've ruled for a thousand years as gently as you could, but sometimes that imperious, commanding tone still slipped out.
>Only when something shocked you.
>And this was one of the biggest shocks you've received in your very long life.
>"Th-the creature was tall and thin, walking on two legs. He was accompanied by an earth p-pony, Your Majesty."
>The poor thing's going to shake himself out of his armor.
>Come on, Celestia, soothe his nerves, even if yours are now on twitchy, on fire.
>You slip into your best understanding and compassionate tone, leaning down to get closer to eye-level with the nervous guard.
"Could you describe this pony for me?"
>"Ruddy coat, yellow mane and tail, blue eyes. I couldn't see her cutie mark, she wore something similar to what a farmer might, to protect themselves against the elements in colder regions."
>Thanks to your shift in tone, the guard calmed himself while describing what was obviously your mother.
>Your mother!
>Which means that was no random human deposited here, as had happened once before. That was the original, the one and only Anonymous.
>After more than a thousand years, your parents had returned!
"Thank you. Gather a few more guards; I want them brought to the palace."
>"Your Majesty?"
"Sixty seconds ago. You're already late."
>A bit of that hard edge creeps back in, despite yourself.
>You can't help it; you suddenly have a lot on your mind.
>The guard crisply salutes and rushes off.
>You remain in place for several moments.
>Nerves held you there.
>You haven't felt like this since your sister's return and reformation.
>For so long you'd ruled alone. Now your family is all coming back together again.
>It had to be some sort of time-twisting magic, Discord used. You knew neither of them were immortal like you and your sister.
>Your sister's return you knew of, though if she'd be saved or once more banished had been an open question.
>You're glad it worked; for the longest time, the two of you only had each other.
>Two teenaged alicorns - a strange breed - wandering the countryside alone had hardened you, more so when you started using your powers to combat evils, culminating with avenging your mom and dad.
>When they hadn't reappeared after that fateful encounter, the two of you had lost all hope. Since then, neither of you anticipated seeing your parents again.
>But now hope had come galloping down the hall, bearing a most unusual message.
>And now you felt like you did then, when they'd saved you. Scared. Alone. Afraid.
>What would they think of what you and your sister had done? What you'd accomplished?
>What would they think of how you two had turned on each other, what you'd done to each other?
>What would they think of the country you'd built, so different than the distant past they may have only left just this morning from their understanding?
>Come on, think. Plan. You were always the better at this, at turning encounters and conversations in your favor.
>What would you say to them?
>You finally find the will to turn, to head back to the royal quarters.
>Luna was asleep, right now.
>She wouldn't be for long.
>It was all you could do to not take off galloping through the palace to her like an excited filly.
>Like the exited filly you might still be, from their persepective.
>'I know this place is strange, but I hope you will come to see it as home.'
>No, too formal. This is a reunion, not accepting some foreign ambassador.
>Even if that is what Anon could be considered.
>Oh stop that, your centuries as head of state are coloring your thoughts.
>Maybe 'Your ordeal must have been trying, but now you can rest; welcome to our home, and now yours.'
>Keep it simple. Simple!
>Luna's room's not far now.
>You've been cantering without realizing it.
>Something personal. Something to encapsulate everything that happened. Maybe something built around how you'd felt, how you'd mourned their loss. 'I'm ashamed to admit we had given up hope. I'm glad we were wrong.'
>Yeah, that's good. You could preface it with how everything you and your sister had done was in their memory; all the lives you improved with fighting threats like they'd faced for you. You could follow it with how Discord was trouble no more, how they'd been avenged.
>You could definitely roll with this. It was all starting to come together in your head now, just like it always did when you found that first seed. An entire dialogue assembles itself in your mind. You know exactly how this conversation will go.
>Luna's quarters are darkened. She's asleep, as you'd expected.
>When you reach her bedside, you lean down and nudge her head with your nose, then whisper in her ear.
"Wake up, sister. I have wonderful news."
>Said ear flicked once, twice. Then she opened one bleary eye, and it found you after a few moments of random movement.
>"Hruh?"
>You pull your head back and smile at her.
"Wonderful news indeed. Stir yourself, a guard has informed me our city just welcomed a truly extraordinary pair of visitors.
>Luna sits upright, rubbing her eyes with her hooves, stretching and adjusting her wings, shaking sleep from her flanks. "Who could be so important to wake-
"We must welcome the king and queen of Equestria."
>You'd no sooner finished the sentence when your sister disappeared with a burst of magic.
>Your smile broadened.
>You’re not the only one feeling like an excited filly.

* * *

>Terra had told you it had been a long time.
>You’re only now starting to appreciate just how long.
>The time it’d take to build something as magnificent as this city and this palace at its heart is so long it’s ridiculous, it boggles your mind.
>The two of you – escorted by four guards – are walking along an arcade filled with stained glass windows.
>Each one, you’d quickly realized, depicts a pivotal event in the history of this city you’ve entered.
>It is a very long history.
>Many windows depict two alicorns; one white and one blue.
>You know them.
>You couldn’t be prouder.
>Neither could Terra; she keeps falling behind as she stops to take in certain scenes, taking your hand resting on her head with her.
>More than once you’ve had to move that hand to the back of her neck, to gently pull her forward to your side.
>”They were so brave...”
>You coax Terra forward once more.
“We raised ‘em right. Their deeds are incredible. So many evils put down.”
>You chuckle.
“Even Discord.”
>”They must be revered, in this place. As its founders, if I’m understanding all this.”
>The two guards leading you exchange glances, but say nothing.
>They probably don’t believe you’re their parents.
“They had their troubles, it looks like. That one there; they had some big fight.”
>”They weren’t alone, though. Those six must have been their lieutenants, or students, or something. They brought them back together.”
“Good. They’d gone through enough, at least they didn’t have to be alone. You think that purple one there became their successor? She’s an alicorn too, maybe one of their children. She could have taken over for them after-”
>And then it hits you like a knife to the chest.
>Now you’re the one stopping, with Terra coming around your front to look back at you.
>When she sees you, her eyes grow worried. “Anon dearest, what’s wrong?”
“I wish-”
>There’s the knife again.
>You have to struggle against choking up.
“I wish we could have been there for all this. For them.”
>You’re forced to stop as you set your jaw, lips pushed into a thin line as you fight back tears.
“To see what they became.”
>Ah hell, now your wife’s crying.
>Making your struggle against it all the harder.
>You shouldn’t have said anything, but the implication was plain. She must have been thinking it too. Your wife’s simple, but she isn’t stupid.
“Terra… they’re gone. All this here, these events, this must have been… centuries ago. We made it through but… we’re- we’re too late. To see them again.”
>Your four escorting guards aren’t even trying to stop themselves from staring at the two of you, now.
>You have to do something, anything, or you’re going to break down.
>You scoop Terra up in your arms and start walking again, right between the leading pair.
>She’s heavy, but the struggle is something to focus on. Farming had made you strong enough to comfort her.
>Anything but the thought that your two precious daughters are, by now, long dead.
>Fuck.
>The two leading guards gallop back ahead of you. Their glances as they pass are softer now. One looks about to speak but the other fixes him with a suddenly stern glare.
>Yes, please. Just leave this old man and mare to their mourning.
>Even though Terra’s tears are wetting the crook of your elbow where she’s buried her face, she’s still trying to mumble encouragement to you. “They… they lived full lives. They’ve built all this. They united the tribes.”
“We should have been there.”
>”We can enjoy what they’ve created. A gift from them to us, across time.”
“We could have guided them, helped them.”
>”Anon, they couldn’t have done any better than this, with or without our help. They... They’re legends.”
>She looks up at you, but her mouth is all screwed up as she’s struggling to smile through her sorrow.
>You smile back, though you’re only barely successful.
“Our little legends.”
>You can’t hold back anymore, looking into her eyes like that.
>You hike her up higher against your chest, burying your face into the side of her neck, and let your own tears go.
>No longer able to see where you’re going, the turn at the end of the arcade takes you by surprise.
>Your shin clips the side of the guard that had been forward and to your left.
>You back off two paces, blinking your tears away and looking down.
>The guard’s not perturbed, to your surprise. He looks…
>He looks happy. Not happy that you’re miserable, that’d be a different expression altogether. Maybe it’s a vicarious pride in what your children accomplished. Maybe they believe you after all?
>Maybe he’s old enough to have foals of his own. Maybe he understands.
>The thought heartens you.
>You shake your head, casting away the last of the urge to cry.
>The final window, to your left, depicts the two of them sitting on their thrones once more.
>The end of the arcade, the end of the sequence.
>The end of their story.
>The end of their lives.
>You walk over to it, placing Terra on the ground once more.
>Then you hold a hand out, resting it on the glass.
>Bring a finger up alongside the glass Celestia’s face, running its tip down the came framing her head.
>Luna’s then, too, on the other side.
>You wish you could have said goodbye.
>Told them how proud you were of what all they’d done.
>But that’s fate, isn’t it?
>You’d saved them. That’s all you could have rightfully asked for, that they’d lived.
>Oh, how they had lived!
>”Sir?”
>You whirl around.
>The guard you’d almost tripped over looks up at you, then at Terra.
>”Sir, ma’am, please. This way.”
“Yeah, sorry. Just… Remembering.”
>The guard tilts his head quizzically.
>You realize now the other three aren’t looking at you or Terra; they’re looking at him.
>”No need, sir. The Princesses are as far from forgotten as you could imagine. Follow us.”
>You sigh and give the window behind you one last look, then start forward again, towards the ornate arch the four guards pass under, into a vast chamber beyond.
>You hear Terra fall in behind you, her hoof-falls on the stone slow at first, then quickening to catch up.
>You’re still not sure if the guards think you insane or not.
>Telling your story to whoever’s in charge would go over even poorer, you feel.
>But as you enter the great hall and turn to its end, you freeze.
>Two alicorns sit on thrones, just like in that final window.
>One white.
>One blue.
>They’re not your daughters. They can’t be. Not after all this time.
>The size difference is inexplicable, for one; the blue looks younger than the white. Her own daughter, perhaps.
>Their manes are strange, ethereal cascades of abstract visuals. The larger a rainbow, the smaller a starfield. Nothing like your children's simple pink and pale blue.
>Yet they look so similar, as if maybe it’d been only a dozen rather than hundreds of years.
>You pick up your pace, almost falling into a half-run, Terra galloping at your side, stopping when you almost stumble about ten feet from the steps leading up to their thrones.
>So different, yet, those eyes, the details in their feathers, all the little things.
>But the age difference, the manes and tails.
>The centuries between you.
>The white one stands.
>Looks as if she’s preparing to speak.
>Regal and serene, not that whimsical prankster daughter of yours.
>But she pauses.
>No, something stops her. Is holding her back.
>She’s frozen like that, between thoughts, looking between you and Terra.
>You, her, you, her.
>A muscle twitches in her face. She quirks her gentle smile to cover it, but your eyes are sharper than a pony’s.
>Her attempted cover becomes her undoing, that quirk unraveling her smile bit by bit.
>And behind that mask, you can see it, clear as day.
>With that pretense stripped away, she really is your little Celestia, all grown up.
>Your tears return, but not following pain.
>The feeling in your heart is very different, a supreme lightness, as if it grew wings as magnificent as those of your children.
>Even as your vision blurs once more, you see her lurch into motion, half-galloping and half-gliding down the steps.
>You take one step back, then another.
>But she’s as big as you, and so much faster.
>When you look back to her face, barely able to discern her features, all you can think is…
>How full of joy it is.
>She finally manages to speak, just before she’s on top of you.
>One single word, forced out of a tight throat.
>”Father!”

* * *

>It’s almost exactly a year since your return, and you’d never seen your sister lose her composure in that span.
>In fact, in all your life, you’ve never seen your sister lose her composure so completely ever.
>Your father-
>Your father, right here in front of you, after so long!
>Your father manages to throw his arms out wide and brace for impact half a breath before Celestia slams into him.
>The two of them skid back six feet on the marble, Anon’s shoes finding no purchase.
>He doesn’t fall; Celestia’s wings are around him in a hug, supporting him.
>Even when she rears back in an ill-advised attempt to get her forelegs in on that hug, knocking him off his feet.
>She gently lowers him to the ground with those wings, then settles for laying down next to him, head on his chest with his arms around her.
>Her eyes are squeezed closed; you can’t tell if she’s laughing or crying.
>She was always close to him; their sense of humor, their willingness to go the extra mile.
>And now you’re gliding down too, to your mother’s side.
>When her gaze shifts from the two of them to you, everything in your life to that point clicks into place.
>You and Celestia had done so much, before taking the thrones of day and night. But it began with that one terrible moment, when you’d lost your parents and home with a snap of evil’s fingers.
>For all you’d accomplished after, you’d then lost each other.
>So much time alone. Her with her people, but nopony to trust. You walking dreams, but no love for anypony.
>Then you’d returned.
>Then you’d reformed, thanks to one of your sister’s harebrained schemes.
>And now your parents too have returned.
>After more than a millennium, a family once more.
>You reach Terra’s side, looking down on her
>Since when had you grown so tall?
>You knew, intellectually, that she wouldn’t be any larger than the other ponies you interacted with.
>But she was huge in your mind, her and your father striding the world like titans in your youth, big of heart and soul and word and deed.
>So your smile falters when it needs to be directed downward.
>She looks back up at you with eyes so full of every positive emotion.
>Pride, joy, cheer.
>Love.
>You kneel – slowly, so you don’t collapse – in front of her, ending on your belly.
>Looking up at her, now.
>Just as it should be.
>That font of quiet stoicism that had always been your role model, your idol.
>Now she’s looking down at you, as is proper.
>Like you’re her little filly again, all those years ago, when you were young and silly and had ideas of comportment far beyond your maturity.
>But she too kneels, touching her nose to you. Sharing that breath you hadn’t known in so long, but still familiar like it had been just a day since.
>Then she nuzzles the side of your neck, her head reaching up towards your ear.
>”You don’t know – and we’ll never be able to explain, I don’t think – just how proud your father and I are of you.”
>It all goes to pieces, then; you’re just as shattered as your sister.
>Your head falls to her back, tears flowing as you can’t decide whether to laugh or cry.
>Everything you and Celestia had ever done, it was all for them. What they would have wanted you to be. To be the daughters by which they could have been remembered. To be the paragons they knew you could be. To avenge them upon Discord, but not stop there, not until every evil had been vanquished, until the two of you had become avatars of Harmony itself, until you’d completed the unification of the tribes and built Equestria.
>All for them, the rightful king and queen, that latter title one you and your sister had avoided in their honor.
>They were Equestria’s true rulers; you and your sister mere regents.
>In this moment, they had returned to look upon your works.
>Terra had just given you all you could have rightfully asked for.
>With her approval, with her and your father’s return, the reunion that had begun a year ago was now complete.
>Your family was whole again.