The End, And Then...

by PunIntended Consequences

And Then What?

The party was in full swing, and nothing could ruin the good cheer; the Elements of Harmony, those faithful friends, had once again ensured that nothing would bother the peaceful land Equestria for some time.

Twilight Sparkle sighed happily as she surveyed the room, currently occupied by herself, five of her six closest friends (Spike, having long since outgrown the building’s size, was outside entertaining Ponyville’s foals), her two princesses and mentors, and her family. It’s nice to finally be able to rest, she thought blissfully as the cup of punch she was levitating missed her mouth completely and spilled into her mane.

“Rest?! C’mon Twilight, this is a party! There’s no time to rest!” Pinkie Pie shot out from somewhere (best not to think about it Twilight, she reminded herself), and dragged her onto the dance floor. “Dance, ya sillyhead! Drink some punch! Have some cake! Oh oh oh, you’ve gotta try this new recipe I made!” The pink mare shot off again, this time into the kitchen, the two-way doors swinging wildly behind her. A few seconds later, a small explosion rattled the windows of the building.

A short cough echoed through the door, followed by a quick, “I’m okay!” A few bangs and crashes later, Pinkie stuck her head through the door. Somehow, a mop had gotten stuck on her head, and batter dripped from several places on her body. “I just need ooooone sec, okay? Be right back!” With her piece done, she zipped back into the kitchen and began to clean up the mess.

Twilight recovered from her friend’s antics in record time. Truly, nothing could ruin this perfect setting.

Turning her attention back to the other attendees, Twilight just managed to notice a large, midnight blue figure approaching her. Luna, with her sister Celestia and the other guests in tow, stood before her, eyes sparkling in the dim light and stars dancing within her mane.

“Good evening, Princess Twilight.”

“Good evening Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, everyone. How are you enjoying the party?”

The white alicorn laughed warmly. “You have certainly taken your lessons to heart, my dear student. Although, perhaps ‘student’ is no longer the correct term. We are equal now, after all!” The group shared an easy laugh over that. “You have certainly earned it, my little pony.”

“Well, I really couldn’t have done it without any of you, you know.” Her sappy line was met with cries of “awwww” from all those inside, followed closely by a group hug, which Pinkie still managed to take part in despite her kitchen emergency. After that, they all filtered into normal party activities, drinking punch, eating cake, and generally enjoying themselves.

“Congratulations, lil’ sis.” Twilight whirled around, almost bumping her nose into her brother’s. Her perpetual smile grew even more as she realized who the speaker was.

“Ah, it was all in a day’s work,” she teased, nudging him lightly. “You know me, sharp as a tack and always ready to defend what’s right!”

Shining Armor chuckled. “Whatever happened to the shy and humble bookworm I had for a sister?” he shot back.

“She grew up and realized she was meant for more than dusty old books.” Twilight’s smile suddenly receded, replaced by a slight frown as she tilted her head down. “Shining?” she asked hesitantly.

“What’s up, sis? You okay?”

“I… I don’t know.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I wasn’t prepared for this when it began, and I don’t know if I am now. What if… what if I don’t realize I’m doing something wrong, but ponies are too afraid of my title to tell me so? What if I can’t find anypony to replace me when it’s my turn to step down? What if… what if I can’t handle my new life?” A few tears dripped from her eyes as she threw herself onto her brother, locking him in a hug as she continued, “I don’t want to lose you, any of you!”

“Twi, it’ll be okay. We’ll be okay, and you’ll be okay. Think of it like this: if Celestia and Luna can be as happy as they are after everything they’ve been through, then you can too. You’re just as strong as they are,” he leaned in closer, continuing in a whisper, “and if I may say so, I think you’re stronger than they could ever hope to be. Just don’t tell them I said that, okay?” Twilight’s silent giggle told him that she was back to being happy.

“So… everything’s going to be okay?” Twilight asked.

Shining Armor chuckled and replied, “Yeah, I know it will.”

Echoes of the ensuing party could be heard from outside as the World around the crystal castle faded to black, and two giant words appeared in the sky above the building: THE END.

For it was the End. The end of the show, of all the adventures our favorite heroes had endured, and the end of Equestria’s time in the spotlight. All across the Earth, reactions of every kind were had as the final scene came to a close; riots, peace, indifference, romps in the hay, numerous cries of disappointment that new episodes of the show would never again grace their screens, numerous cries of disappointment that so many plot holes were left up in the air, and even a few scattered screeches of “INSERT is best pony!” echoed from the ever-dwindling depths of /mlp/, who had long since abandoned their spaghetti-fretting days of indecency and now claimed the title of ‘Keepers of Global Peace and Dead Internet Memes’ for all of humankind.

It was the End. The true End. The ‘not going to continue in a fan-supported remake and/or reboot or otherwise be continued’ End of ends, in which all of the World contained within ceases to exist, as no progress is being given to it by those deemed its protectors and supporters.

At least, it should have been.

“…Um… girls? What just happened? Girls? Hello?! Pinkie Pie, this isn’t funny!” Twilight shouted into the darkness. Nopony responded. In fact, Twilight could only barely hear her own voice through the omnipresent fog of darkness. She tried to cast a light spell, only to feel the energy fizzle and die before it even reached her horn. She very nearly panicked then and there, but a few of Cadance’s breathing techniques put a stop to that.

Okay, she thought, I just have to think this through properly. Question number one: What do I remember? She remembered talking to Pinkie, her other friends, Luna, Celestia, and finally her brother. After that, I returned to the party and then… and then darkness. I didn’t black out, though. I can still feel the floor, and I’m still breathing!

Okay, question two then: Where am I, and why can’t I see or hear? She was standing upright; having felt no movement, she was certain that she was still at the party. Whatever it is that’s happened, it happened here. Is it Discord? She reached up with a hoof, accidentally smacking herself in the face. I don’t feel anything over my head, so it’s not Pinkie Pie. Owie…

And then, with a sound that can only be compared to syrup impacting a window at high speed, the World returned in full force, sending Twilight head over hooves, splaying her flat against the wall as a massive gust of wind tore the door off its hinges and slammed into her.

Nothing and nopony else in the room moved a single inch.

Groaning more her now-upset stomach than actual pain, Twilight slowly peeled off the wall, landing squarely onto her face as she fell.

Nothing and nopony reacted to her predicament.

“What the hay was that?!” a certain very upset alicorn exclaimed, jumping to her hooves. Nopony answered. “Show yourself, fiend!” the alicorn cried out again. Again, nothing happened.

“I can here you talking out there!” she shouted, obviously trying to goad the so-called ‘fiend’ into showing themselves. But nopony came forth, for there was nopony left to do so.

“What are you talking about, there’s ponies right… here?” There were ponies there. In a way. They existed, but only just, for the End had obliterated them exactly as it should have, in every way except one. An anomaly, never before seen, had disrupted it, somehow. The World was having trouble deciding whether or not it was dead yet. Which was odd. Because the End was the End. The true End, undisputable and all-encompassing. But now it wasn’t, and the anomaly had stolen control of its power before its task could be completed.

“Anomaly… you mean me? I… I stopped the end of the world?” Twilight muttered into the half-emptiness. And in a way, she was right. The World couldn’t end while she continued, yet at the same time, the rest of the World had ceased to exist, all except this one last moment, preserved through means unknown.

“So my world is dead. All except me?” She was on the verge of tears now, upon the realization that she had reached The End, as all stories are bound to do.

“But it can be fixed, right?” She very nearly screamed. “I can bring it back, right?! If this is truly a story, if we are nothing more than words, than there must be a solution! Please, tell me!” Her cries echoed through the half-emptied hills of the World’s last moment, a testament to the strength of her will. But such answers could not be found.

“NO! I’ll do anything, please!” She sobbed, and anything happened. “I’ll do whatever it takes, just please, save them!” And so she did whatever it took, and I saved them.

“H-huh? But I didn’t do anything! Nothing changed!” Her aptitude for recognition once again spurred her onward to the correct answer. Nothing had changed, even as she had willed it to. Little did she know of the true power lurking within her now.

“True power? What are you talking about? Argh, enough with the games already! Discord, is that you? Explain what’s happening!”

The world had ended. The story had reached its conclusion. It was The End, the true End, and the End of ends, in which a World and all within it has finished serving its purpose and is abandoned. But this world was different; this one was special, for it did not die. Not completely.

Something within Twilight Sparkle, a ‘spark’, some would say, was too strong to be snuffed out. It continued on, preserving the last moment of a doomed and dying world, securing it a place forever within the realms of existence, banishing the holds of fantasy, and reforming what it could into a reality of its own, with a god of its own.

She and her world were alive. Only just, but still they continued. It would take some time for Twilight Sparkle to realize her new place within this world, but once she did, she would revitalize it, bringing it into perfection as it once knew.

“I’m… a Creator?”

She was a Creator, the most powerful being in existence, capable of performing any act, and solidifying any idea in any way she could imagine. She was limitless, she was eternal, and she was—

“I can still fix this!” A few random hairs sprung out of her mane and tail.

She was going to royally screw this up.

“Hey!”

Comments

[ramseymac]

I can't help but imagine the narrator as the guy from the Stanley Parable.

[AkemiTheSunbro]

But no seriously, this got me thinking:

When MLP truly does end for real--for all things, especially good things, must come to an end-- what will we do? Even now, with the friends I've met and decisions I've made because of the show, I think I'd just cry for a while.

Not tears of sadness though. Tears of happiness for all the memories-- both good and bad-- that came about from my experience as a Brony. To quote the Doctor,

"I will not forget one line of this, not ONE day. I SWEAR... I will always remember... when the Brony was me."

Heh... I'm already starting to choke up...

[Asheram]

4753471 There will always be fans, and there will always be the community, art, fanfiction, product and all that around it.
Remember Firefly, Startrek, Original Battlestar Galactica, ... Heck, I'm sure there are some Moonbase Alpha fans out there still going strong.

[Spade_McTrowel]

I'm so getting flashbacks to Never Ending Story.

--Spade