//------------------------------// // Epilogue: Re-writing the Re-Written // Story: Cadence for a Shy Alicorn // by KodyMcQ //------------------------------// You might have me contained, You can think you have won, But here it is, drenched in red, the Truth that will have you dead. The Doctor stared at the red text, dripping from the bleach white walls of the asylum’s padded cell, above the lifeless body of Twilight Sparkle, the ruthless Twilight Princess. He didn’t expect the TARDIS to do this, revert only half on Equestria back to normal. All goods for the world were reverted, meaning Fluttershy was now a normal pegasus, and the Alicorn Republic had never existed. All the while keeping the tragedies, such as the death of the Royal Family, and the Elites. And now, Fluttershy was stuck as her normal self, yet without her friends. She had been adventuring with Vinyl and the Doctor for the past month, before they got to the point they are at now, having received a call from the Asylum, indicating that Twilight had indeed committed suicide, and used her horn to write a cryptic message on the walls, allowing the Elites to escape. She was mortified. Vinyl attempted to comfort the shaking Pegasus, who was burying her body into her wings, weeping and sobbing. The Doctor continued to analyse the scene, unable to make any sense out of it. “There’s not enough.” He mentioned, attracting an unwanted glare from his mare-friend. “What do you mean, there’s not enough?” She whispered, still calming the poor Pegasus. “Blood. Twilight wouldn’t have died of losing so little blood. In fact, I don’t believe she is dead at all.” Vinyl sat there and stared at him with utter disgust. “You see,” He continued, “Remember hearing that Alicorns do not die?” Vinyl nodded, beginning to understand what he was saying. “Even if Twilight had tried hard enough to kill herself, she would be in a Comatose state, at most. What this means, is in fact, there is still a chance to fix this. We just need to umm...” Vinyl sighed. Obviously, what the Time Colt was about to say wasn’t going to be very enjoyable. “We need to sacrifice the TARDIS.” Atmospheric Music Vinyl blinked. And again. Her eyes teared up. “Doctor... The TARDIS... She’s everything you’ve ever lived for...” “And I’m about to put it on the line for Equestria.” Fluttershy finally stopped weeping and looked up from her small ball in the middle of the floor, her eyes pleading guilty. “No... It wasn’t your fault this happened! If I hadn’t gone to Twilight-” She began to choke up. “Contrary. It was my meddling in the first place that caused Equestria to cease existance, and it’s me who needs to fix this.” He now had a tear or two streaking down his cheeks, as he struggled to tell his friends he was about to meet his death. “Doctor no!” Vinyl screamed, as she pumped out her wings and took flight, knocking over the Ball-o-Fluttershy. “Vinyl, listen. I’m about to bring back another timeline. Give Equestria a little reboot. There’s only one way to bring me back. It’s going to kill me, Vinyl. Not peacefully either.” He was dragging Twilight out the doors of the Asylum, “Frankly, it hurts quite a bit to be completely wiped from existence. Not to mention, you won’t be an Alicorn anymore. You’ll still be a Time Mare, but just not anything from after you grew up in the hills. This isn’t the timeline we’re returning to, we’re returning to the Original timeline.” He mouthed ‘Remember Me’, then sealed the padded door of Twilight’s asylum cell, leaving Vinyl and Fluttershy to weep openly. The Doctor took a deep breath, before continuing down the halls of the Asylum, undoubtedly receiving strange, yet understanding looks from the workers. They removed their hats and gave a small bow, honoring the brave colt who saved them from the Vashta Nerada before. This didn’t help his uncharacteristic mood, as he continued to cry silently. His weight was aided, as 3 gray workers proceeded to use their magic to help him carry the body to the TARDIS. The orange light beamed softly through the dense foliage, onto the navy of his TARDIS. Leaving the comatose corpse outside, he took a quick gallop inside, and placed a small book in the bag lying beside the TARDIS. ‘Vinyl’s bag.’ The book was blue, with four white outlined boxes in the middle of the cover. It was a symbol, a symbol of the TARDIS. On the second page, with a small hole cut into the middle for a few pages deep, were the words REMEMBER ME. He gently placed a locket inside, with a picture of Vinyl and himself inside. He let a tear graze the brown burlap bag. He once again grabbed the body, and set it on his back. Pushing open the doors of the TARDIS, he heard a second set open from behind him. “DOCTOR!” Cried Vinyl, as she broke through the doors of the Asylum. As soon as she hit the grass though, she lost her hoofwork and began an impressive impression of a barrel roll. He turned back to look at Vinyl, who was resting on her belly somewhat near 10 feet from the TARDIS. She was followed by Fluttershy, who was follow by 145 employees of the Asylum. “Don’t do it...” Vinyl begged, sobbing and crying. Slowly, all of the ponies behind the white Alicorn began to bow, lowering their heads and giving the Doctor their utmost respect. They owed him their lives, after all, and now they would owe them to him a second time. “Vinyl...” The Doctor started, before running back into the TARDIS. “Vinyl, listen. This is important.” She opened her eyes and found him standing above her, a small metal disk in his mouth. “Will you marry me?” Her jaw dropped. Her eyes flooded like never before. She hopped up and gave the Doctor a long embrace, before solemnly removing the ring from his mouth and putting it in her pack. “Get the wedding prepared for when I come back, Vinyl.” He said, before walking back to the TARDIS. He once again scooped up Twilight onto his back, who groaned and twitched in her comatose state. He turned to the ponies bowing before him, behind the weeping Vinyl and (slightly) comforting Fluttershy. “Remember me.” He whispered, before turning and walking up to the console of the TARDIS. He left the door open, letting them watch as he pushed a few buttons, and the TARDIS screamed to life. He then took an axe, and smashed the middle glass cylinder in the middle, exposing the Time Matrix. It began to envelope the TARDIS, before once again, exploding into a fiery inferno of blue energy. THREE YEARS LATER... Vinyl opened the doors to her apartment, revealing a cluttered mess of dishes, socks, and DJ vinyls. She set down the paper bags, using her magic to carry a full 5 with ease back to her home. In the corner, under the dim light of a lamp, was a brown burlap bag. For a reason she couldn’t remember, she had vowed to never touch that bag again. Maybe it contained a few of her childhood fears, from up on the mountain cottage. But she was intrigued by it today. She threw her keys onto the counter, which slid them into the sink and down the drain. “Buck, not again!” She cried out, dropping her food all over her floor, tripping on some apples and crashing her into a wall. When she opened her eyes, she was staring into the heart of the burlap bag. Slowly she opened it, letting the tension rise as she pulled off the top cover. “What?” She thought, as the small blue book and ring revealed themselves. She opened the book, and flipped a few pages, but saw nothing written in it. Blank. She flipped to the front page, and almost fainted as memories flooded back to her. ‘Remember me.’ Was still written in large letters on the page, and the locket had broken open, revealing the small picture of her and the Doctor. She began to remember it all; the Vashta Nerada and the asylum, the Weeping Angels, the creepy humanoid dolls that had turned her into a singing stuffed animal, it all came back to her in one giant flood of nostalgia. She remembered. The Doctor. The Doctor! THE DOCTOR! “DOCTOR! DOCTOR PLEASE! WHERE ARE YOU?” She cried out, sobbing and throwing her forehooves to the air. She waited for a few minutes, before giving off a long sigh. “Doctor, the wedding...” She was interrupted by a familiar sound. Almost like a continually wheezing old lady, mixed in with the sound of blippity blops and timey wimey space sounds. It started off at the frequency of a grain of rice hitting some carpet, and began to escalate until it began to shake the room. Lamps fell over, apples rolled across the ground, the TV flickered on and off, and her keys rattled themselves up and out of the sink. There was a lot of smoke and an audible -THINK- before she opened her eyes again. She was staring up at a familiar face. Her childhood hero. The large box that she had grown up beside, hearing stories of how it had helped save Equestria many times over. In front of her, was the very thing that had destroyed itself to save Equestria. She was staring at the open doors of the TARDIS. And in that doorway, was the Doctor. “Hello, Vinyl. How long has it been?” He asked, brushing of his mane and stepping out. “Three years.” She responded with glee, hopping up and embracing him. “We’re terribly late for our wedding, aren’t we.”