Many years later...

"Princess Twilight?"

The attention of the princess was caught by the young student in front of her, catching her attention from her gaze towards the statue of a human in the gardens of Canterlot that had roses all around it... all by request from what the princess wanted when it was built.

Age had come to the alicorn princess, years since the fall of Mortem and her involvement with it. Light had prevailed in Equestria as she had suspected from Grogar's defeat. Peace in the world had come again, with no dark threats left for Equus to fear. With the departing of the Princesses Celestia and Luna, she was left in charge of the enchanted lands, with only Cadence left alongside her, there was Flurry Heart who would be next for the throne of the Crystal Empire.

Twilight had grown taller, to Celestia's own height. She was exactly how it was pictured from the eyes of her lost love, who died in front of her. Her friends, they had grown older, but would never split apart. Spike on the other hoof, he grew taller as well and remains Twilight's assistant to this day. No longer was he a baby dragon that he used to be, and on the plus side - he had earned wings.

Her attention was brought to the student in front of her. She looks down at her with a calm smile. Her student had a pink tone in her fur, with a cutie mark that resembles a dawn of a new day. Her eyes in the color of brilliant gamboge, and her mane and tail in the colors of light tangelo and a pale light grayish olive. She recognized her as her star pupil, her student named Luster Dawn who was no more than a small filly, well on her way to becoming an adult like she was when first going to Ponyville.

"Yes, my student?" She spoke quite gently and calm when talking to Luster, who reminded her of herself.

"You've been... well, gazing at this statue every other morning every time I come to the academy," Luster asked, sounding rather curious about the statue of the armored human in front of her. "Who is that?"

A bit of emotion stirred into Twilight as she giggles for a moment. "Luster... this statue here... he represents somepony that I used to know back in the day, before I became the ruler of all Equestria." She said to her student.

"Who is that though?" She asked, a tone in her voice sounding like she could ask a ton of questions about it.

"He... he is the love of my life. His name was Brayden," Twilight responds to her question. "If he was still here, he would have really wanted to meet you. He was one of the kindest hearts in all of Equestria that they have ever known. He was one of the reasons why Equestria is still safe today."

"So he is the one I was reading about behind the history of the war between Equestria and Mortem..." Luster ponders to herself. "He was friendly?"

"Yes," Twilight responds to her, shaking her head. "He was. He was also the son of Princess Celestia herself. He had me as his one true love, but I knew he wasn't going to let me go when he formed a herd for the first time..."

"He sounds wonderful, and looks brave as this statue depicts him to be," Luster commented, looking at all of the roses. "I can see why you wanted it surrounded by roses."

"It was one of his favorite flowers, as well as the forget-me-nots," Twilight tells her. "No matter what happened, he always was very understanding." A sad emotion comes onto the princess as she looks down at the roses. "Even after all these years, I still miss him..."

"Princess?" Luster asks. A small welling of tears in the violet colored eyes of the princess. She turns, seeing that her teacher has begun to cry a little bit. "Oh my Celestia... Princess Twilight, are you okay?" She says, concerned why her teacher is crying. "I... I didn't mean to upset you..."

"No Luster, you haven't upset me," Twilight says to her, using a hoof to wipe at her tears, and smile at the student. "It's... the flow of happy memories that I shared with him. I know I can't get them back... but, I miss him."

Luster smiles, understanding why she missed the human a lot. "It's okay Princess, I think no matter how much you miss him. His spirit is there beside you, knowing you will never be alone." She assures her teacher.

With a bit of confidence, Twilight turns towards her student, wrapping her wing around her in a friendly wing-hug. "Thank you Luster," Twilight says to her. "You are my star pupil for a reason after all."

"It's no problem at all, Princess Twi." Luster responds to her.

"Twi?" Twilight asked, giggling afterwards with a bit of an explanation. "Brayden used to talk to me with that nickname all the time."

"I can see that he loved you a lot," Luster replied. "Love can mean great things."

Another thought came to Twilight who briefly turns her eyes to the statue and then back to Luster Dawn. "My faithful student, there is things I have to do; but I will join you on your lesson in the afternoon." She says to Luster.

The pink unicorn nodded, understanding that it was a busy time for her teacher. "Understood, princess. I'll see you later today." She says, trotting on her way past the garden and towards the academy of gifted unicorns that Celestia had founded years ago.

When Luster had left, Twilight turns to the balcony and trots up towards the railing, watching the sun rose over the horizon for a new day. A smile comes across her face as she watches the sun rise high into the sky at the slowest pace.

The humans that were still remaining with the other four songs, they too had aged, but a lot of them had changed over the years that came and went. Without Brayden, Princess Celestia had given the role of leadership to Ann, who would keep an eye on both of Alex and Andrea, the wielders for the Songs of Earth and Aqua. Rebecca had fully recovered, and was still the wielder for the Song of Flames, with a change to her personality as well.

Not much else has changed in the enchanted lands, other than having more new creatures in the realm like the hippogriffs. The changelings themselves had eventually changed their way, becoming good to us asking for our forgiveness which was granted being that they gave their queen the boot and gave it to the runaway changeling Thorax, whom is now King of the Changelings, bringing peace to the badlands. No threats had been made from Queen Chrysalis since she became imprisoned in the new change of order to the Changelings.

As Twilight looked past that sun and the view in the distance of Equus, she knew it all along deep in her heart. The Planet had fully healed from the shadows, and Brayden was there in her heart to assure that. She knew all along, he had lived a good life and would continue to always watch over her.

In the end, she knew deep down how he felt about his life as she watched the sunrise with a confident smile on her face for the future yet to be known.

He had learned to live.

To my dear princess and wife, Twilight...

It is almost time to go to battle with Mortem. If you are reading this letter, you may have survived with or without me. No matter what happens, there's just something that you need to know.

I always thought about you, Twi. I thought about you, Flutters, Rarity, AJ, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. You all taught me valuable lessons both here and before I came to Equestria. Lessons that really influenced my life in return, and taught me what it was like to experience happiness. It's something that I am grateful for, and for that, I thank you.

Sometimes things don't have a 'happily ever after' as some may expect, but there are always sacrifices to be made no matter the cost of saving the lives of those you love. Every life here in Equestria, every Earth pony, Pegasus, Unicorn, Griffon, Hippogriff, Seapony, Yak, Dragon, Kirin... those lives, including those born or chosen to be alicorns... they earn both the will and the right to live.

I write this as I prepare to leave on the train to what remains of Appleloosa, where I shall ride towards the gates of Mortem, waiting to save you and hopefully live together in peace, with no threat left for this world. Should something happen to me, know that deep down, I will always love you. The same love you gave to me when I felt down... the love I needed for comfort.

Thank you. I'll never forget you. You and your friends... they are all my friends in my heart, to the very end. Just as I will never forget my mother and aunt. I thank them too.

No matter what happens, our shared memories will remain a part of us, even in the far future for those to learn about the cost of sacrifice.

With love and friendship,

Brayden

THE END

[For the end credits, play Utada Hikaru - Don't Think Twice, Nightwish - Nemo, Epica - Tides of Time and Final Fantasy (Distant Worlds version, Final Fantasy series)]