//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Equestria Noir Case 15 "Give Unto Discord" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Case 15 Epilogue Perspective: Tailspin “Get in the banshee!” I yelled, rapidly mashing buttons on the game controller. “You try dodging twenty-thousand aliens with only a pistol!” Sparkler retorted, as she levitated her controller in her magic, the buttons pressing themselves in rapid succession. “Well, we wouldn’t be in this situation if somepony didn’t use up all her grenades!” I said, firing my assault rifle at the nearest alien. “I panicked!” Sparkler shouted. “Watch out for that green one!” “Aah!” I yelled, as my character got blown up by a grenade launcher. Stupid aliens! Sparkler’s character shortly got blown up as well and she turned off the game. “I think I’ve had enough saving the galaxy for one night.” She gestured to the night sky and noted, “Your brother’s going to be home soon.” “I’ll pack things up then,” I said, unplugging the Stablebox from the TV. It belonged to Sparkler and she brought it along sometimes. I never told Private about it. He was under the impression that Sparkler was a responsible teenaged mare who had me doing my homework, and reading all night. Truth is Sparkler isn’t like that really. She wants us to have fun while we are together. I really enjoyed having her as my foal sitter. She helped me pack up the video games and smiled at me. “Well, we still have a little bit of time before I have to ditch you,” She commented, looking at the kitchen. “What’s say I rustle us up some midnight snacks?” “Private’s going to be mad if he finds out I was up so late,” I said in mock worry. “That won’t be a problem,” she replied, winking at me. “I got you to bed on time, right?” “Yep,” I answered, grinning at her. “You’re awesome, Sparkler.” She used her magic to get me a chocolate chip cookie out of the jar. “This is for being such a sweet heart” “I try,” I said, biting into the delicious cookie. Sparkler’s violet eyes fell on the trashcan. She spotted my Hearth’s Warming Eve list and levitated it out. I rolled over and tried to snatch it back before Sparkler got a better look, but I was too slow. “Seems like somepony is looking forward to a lot this year.” “Sparkler, give that back!” I demanded. The pink unicorn looked at me sympathetically, “Tailspin, I’m sorry.” Her magic gave the list back to me. “Have you shown this to Private yet?” My blue eyes watered a little as I looked down, “Yeah, but I know he can’t afford half of these. She lowered her head to meet mine at eye level. “You really care about him that much, huh?” “Every day of my life he’s always thinking about me,” I explained. “He could’ve had a happy life if I wasn’t around.” Sparkler got quiet for a second, and then she smiled warmly. “Dinky said the same thing about her mom.” “What are you talking about?” I asked. “Is your mom in trouble?” “Not anymore,” She said, with a shake of her head “but after her husband died, she had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to keep Dinky. It was hard on her for a long time; she had to take three jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.” “What did she do?” I asked. “One night mom got so tired of working all the time. She just started crying all night because she was going to lose the house. Dinky noticed her crying and decided to run away, she thought she did something horrible that made mom cry.” I looked down; I considered doing the same thing whenever Private started adding up all those bills. “I had been living on my own for a long time when it happened,” Sparkler explained. “I was only about your age, when I found Dinky attempting to take shelter in an old cellar that was attached to the orphanage I lived at. At the time, the orphanage was considering kicking me out because I was almost a teenager.” “They can do that?” I asked nervously. “It’s hard for a teenager to get adopted,” Sparkler said sadly. “My parents died when I was only eight years old. I spent the next four years trying to make myself as appealing as possible. When I turned twelve and nopony was coming to adopt me, I got so sick of hearing the talks about it. I went outside and there she was, trying to break into the cellar to get out of the rain. I brought her inside the cellar and dried her off. She told me her story and you know what I said to her?” “What?” “That her mother loves her,” Sparkler said firmly. “No matter how hard it gets, she’s doing it so you can have a good future. That it’s hard to see our parents suffer to take care of us, but that’s all part of raising foals. Parents have to take the responsibility of helping them succeed.” I looked down, she was right. Private was only looking after me. That’s what brothers are for. I looked up at Sparkler, “When did Derpy adopt you?” “The same night she found me and Dinky at the cellar,” she said, with a wide smile. “I replaced mom at her day care job, and I've gotten pretty good at it too. Since that day, Dinky’s never thought about running away again.” “You’re right,” I said thoughtfully. “I guess I’m just worried I might be too big of a responsibility.” “You’re a good kid, Tailspin,” Sparkler said, putting a hoof on my shoulder. “Your brother cares a lot about you. It’s hard, but in the end, it’s worth it to him.” “Thanks,” I said, Giving her my most charming smile. “Now, can I have another cookie?” “Only if you say who’s the prettiest mare in Ponyville,” she sang in teasing tone. “Um,” I thought for a minute. “Sparkler?” “You got that wrong, buck,” she said with a frown. “You’re supposed to say, the most beautiful mare in all of the land is my love, Scootaloo,” she declared, mimicking my voice perfectly. “Sparkler!” I yelled, my face turning beet red. She giggled as I chased her around the room. Geez! Does everypony have to tease me about Scootaloo? Though, she is pretty, brave, strong and… Tailspin! Get a hold of yourself! _______________________________________________________________ Perspective: Private Eye I walked down Ponyville’s streets with Dad by my side. Some ponies gave us odd looks as a pony looking almost identical to me walked beside me. Some whispered about the fact that he was also rich looking. My dad simply walked on, ignoring the onlookers. I noticed a couple of mares trying to look more appealing when my dad passed. If Dad wasn’t so in love with Mom we’d have at least twenty gold diggers on our hooves. I stopped as we got to my home, “This is the place.” Dad looked at my house with his blue eyes and smiled a little, “You’re saying that Princess Celestia bought this after you solved a few cases?” “Yeah,” I rubbed the back of my head. “I guess she felt grateful or something.” “You’ve lived here ever since?” he asked, scanning the town around us. “I can see why Sparrow wanted to live here. It’s quaint, a nice town that I would’ve loved to have raised you in,” he closed his blue eyes, and sighed, “But we never did. A lot of things never happened.” I put a hoof on my Dad’s shoulder “Dad, we can’t change what happened. We can only pick up the pieces of what we broke.” “I see you still remember my old sayings,” he said, smiling at me lovingly. “You were the one who drilled them into my head,” I shot back, grinning at him. “Now, are we going to head inside before Luna sets the moon?” We got to the front door; I gave a knock on the door and heard frantic movement on the other side. I guess Sparkler must have been in the middle of something. After two minutes Sparkler appeared in the door and smiled at me. “Hello Private, you’re back a little late.” “Got held up,” I explained. “Is Tailspin awake?” “I just sent him up,” Sparkler answered, gesturing behind her. “If you hurry you can catch up with him.” “Thanks, Sparkler.” I reached into my trench coat and was about to hand her some bits when she pushed my hoof back. She walked forward and whispered in my ear. “Spend those bits on him.” I knew what she meant, and nodded gratefully. “Thanks for looking after him.” The teenaged mare levitated her purse and walked out. “I have go, Dinky’s going to want me to read her a bedtime story.” My dad watched the mare leave, and looked inside my house. “He’s in there.” “Dad,” I said hesitantly, “If you don’t want to meet him now…” He shook his head. “I’ve avoided him long enough. I need to face him. If I don’t, I’ll never be able forgive myself for leaving him without a father.” “Dad…” “Call him.” I nodded and we both walked inside. Dad took a seat on my couch as I knocked on Tailspin’s door. “Hey buddy, you asleep?” Tailspin opened his door and rubbed his eyes, “What’s going on? Is the meadow on fire?” “No, Applebloom and the others stopped trying to get their cutie marks in fireworks ages ago.” We both just chuckled at the joke. “Anyway, there’s somepony who wants to meet you.” “Now?” Tailspin asked, looking confused. “Who’d want to meet me so late at night?” “Somepony very important," I replied. "Now don't forget to be polite, okay?” He nodded and I gently pushed his chair into the living room. Dad looked up as Tailspin and I entered; his blue eyes just stared at my little brother. He got up from the couch slowly and walked over, breaking the silence, "Your name, its Tailspin correct?” “Yeah,” Tailspin said, his blue eyes showing suspicion, “How do you know my name?” “Your brother told me,” Dad explained, his eyes glued to Tailspin. “Why are you staring at me?” Tailspin asked. “Did I get something on my face?” My dad slowly lowered his head, drinking in the first view of his youngest son. “You, you just look so much like your mother…” “You knew my mom?” Tailspin blurted out, excitedly. “Wait…you look an awfully lot like Private” He looked down in thought “And you said I looked like Mom so that means…” “Tailspin,” both pairs of blue eyes met each other. “My name is Irenius Adamus Eye, I am your father.” Tailspin just blinked, shock apparent on his face. He looked down for a minute, Dad took this as a bad sign. “Tailspin,” he bowed his head. “Please, I’m so sorry” “For what?” Tailspin said, not looking up. “I’m the reason you can’t use your legs and wings, ”My dad’s voice was riddled with guilt. Tailspin didn’t move. Dad walked to him, and looked down beseechingly at his son. “Please, Tailspin, I know I made so many mistakes before. I don’t even deserve to be here, but I just wanted to see you,” a tear fell from his eye. “My son…” Suddenly Tailspin pushed himself out of his chair and clung to Dad tightly. His weight caused dad to fall back. He held the young colt in his forelegs as Tailspin started crying into him. “Tailspin?” Dad said, looking down at him. “I have a Dad,” Tailspin’s voice was muffled against my dad’s grey chest. His tears were starting to stain my dad’s suit jacket. “Ten years and I finally meet my dad.” “My son,” My dad held my brother tightly, his eyes fell on Tailspin’s small and mangled wings. Tears entered my father’s eyes as guilt took over. Tailspin looked up at his father, his blue eyes tear stained and puffy. “Dad, I’ve waited a long time to meet you.” He wiped his eyes with a sleeve. “After all I’ve done?” “I know it wasn’t totally your fault,” Tailspin explained. “I know mom may be gone because of what happened. I know you had some part in it, but I don’t care!” Fresh tears came to his eyes “I’m just happy to have a dad! Everypony else has one. Now I know what it feels like to have parent who cares. Please, don’t leave me again, dad.” Father and son held each other tighter then ever before. My dad looked up at me, and gestured for me to join them. I walked over and got into the group hug together with my father and brother. We were a family again… Mom, we’re a family again… “Preventus” My dad looked at me “Will you let me be a part of Tailspin’s life again?” “Dad?” I said looking up at him “I…” “Just let me be your father again, Preventus,” he begged. “I want to make things right, I want to spend the rest of my years with my sons.” He looked down at Tailspin who was pressed against his coat still “I missed so much, ten years of my life wasted on such frivolous things. I missed having you around so much. Now I finally meet my second son, I’m truly blessed to have such wonderful children.” “Dad…” “Private, please,” Tailspin said, looking back at me. I slowly nodded, “Dad, I’ll let you be our dad again. In turn, I don’t want you ever to cast us out again.” “I promise,” my dad said firmly. “I will never leave my children again.” All three of us just hugged each other at that moment. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy in my entire life. It was like huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I’m glad to have come to Ponyville. If I hadn’t, I never would’ve found friends to soften my hardened heart. I never would’ve forgiven Dad. I never would’ve been able to give Tailspin a happy home. Now, everything just seems right again… _______________________________________________________ Dear Princess Celestia I don’t think I’ve ever written a letter to you before, but Twilight said I should after all that’s happened. I’ve learned so much in the past few months. I think above all I learned that, while I may have had the best of intentions trying keep my friends out of the cases, in the end, this is their home as well. This war that we’re fighting to keep it safe from evil ponies like Vegas and Glimmer, is going to need all the soldiers it can get. I learned that we can’t always stand alone. Sometimes it takes a group effort to keep ourselves going. In the end, my friends picked me up when I’d fallen. I cannot thank you enough for giving me this wondrous opportunity. I hope and pray I can keep the lessons I’ve learned in my heart. Your Detective Always Preventus Phelps Eye