a second installment of the s09 epilogue series. I played around with volumetric lighting a little more to create sunrays, and I also tinkered with depth of field
 
this takes place about 65 years after the previous pic. time increments will get larger as the series goes on until their release
 
Strange Quark trotted through the forest that had grown in the outskirts of town over the last 6 decades, as he continued he found the familiar clearing he visited every day. it was his self assigned duty to protect what lay there… the three statues that were once powerful beings. Tirek, Cozy glow, and the mare he had grown to love… Queen Chrysalis.
 
“hey Chryssi, Tirek, cozy… how are you three doing today? you look as beautiful as ever Chryssi…. what I wouldnt give to see you in the flesh. I know it hurts to be in there but just remember that somepony here loves you and wants to see you all live a fulfilling life when the time comes. you know it’s been 66 years since I first started watching over and protecting you three? although today carries a heavy price as the last of ponyville’s original residents I knew when I moved in just passed away today…yeah… AppleBloom was a sweet mare… her grandchildren run Sweet apple acres now as she is about as old as granny smith was when Twilight first moved to town.” Strange Quark said with a tear in his eye as he remembered all the residents he once knew and was good friends with… over time Chrysalis and the others had become desensitized to Twilight Sparkle being mentioned as they had come to terms with their defeat.
 
“you know… I remember some of the townsponies from back in the day, Mr and Mrs cake who ran sugarcube corner… they had the two kids Pumpkin cake and Pound cake… their kids are now grown up and one of them is expecting soon. Pinkie Pie, the resident party pony, she was as funny as they come, she could always bring smiles to any face she passed last spring her grandkids keep her legacy going. Lyra and Bon Bon, the two of them were great, they used to always sit on the bench near the fountain and talk to each other… I remember when they got married, too bad they are gone now, Berry punch passed from liver failure about 4 years ago… I guess all the booze finally got her, Rainbow dash went out in a blaze of glory, her final sonic rainboom was so powerful it made her explode into a multicolored fireball like a phoenix.” Strange Quark reminisced as he sensed a few swirls of something quite unexpected surround the trio…. sadness. they seemed to be upset by the recollection as if they somehow missed those ponies. or maybe they knew how it felt to live so long that everyone they knew and loved from childhood was now a memory. Strange Quark swore he saw pain in Chrysalis’s eyes as they glinted in the morning sunlight as if she knew most of the changelings she had given birth to over all the years were now gone… with the notable exception of thorax and his brother pharynx.
 
“it’s alright… this is not the end of the world… now I will have a chance to know the next few generations to be born in ponyville… although I will have to watch them die too… and the next 27 generations too… our story… the one of the lone alicorn comforting and guarding three powerful beings, that will most likely be told for hundreds of years to come until the time comes to be set free when you are ready to fix any remaining wrongs you have left, when society is ready to properly forgive you as I have…. OH WAIT I remembered… I brought something for you Chryssi…. here you go.” Strange Quark said as he put a fresh rose behind one of Chrysalis’s ears… the diamond he had mined and cut was still where he placed it… he wrapped a hoof around one of her outstretched hooves and gently planted a kiss on her muzzle as he saw her eyes dilate, he felt distinct swirls of happiness quickly surround her, and tears streamed from her stone eyes. he noticed the first tear fell from the right eye. he remembered the old saying “if a tear falls from the right eye first it’s happiness, if it falls from the left first it’s pain” he then gently hugged the petrified form of Chrysalis as he felt the stone was surprisingly warm…
 
“see you tomorrow you three… I might bring another story too!”