Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 4: Alicorn

by Jeweled Pen

Epilogue: Story wrap up, let's give our finished story cheer!

Journal entry: So, I've never done this before, but Fluttershy said it would be a great idea and I have to agree with her. I mean, as many books as I've read, it only makes sense I'd eventually write my own. I'll be cataloging our adventures and everything we went through in order to defeat Discord. I hope these journals will one day find their way to you, next avatar.

I'm hopeful you grew up in a time of peace, I've done everything I can to ensure that there would be. I've actually started my own little plans to help aid and bring the four nations together. If all goes well, you'll know all about it and these books will be stored there. Well, I think they'll be books. Rainbow said I'm kind of an egg head and any book I write is bound to be three times as long as it needs to be. I don't see the problem though, the small notes help to bring context to everything that's happened to us. Not to mention the different bending styles and information to aid you.

Anyway, I'll start from the end. It's been over a year since Discord fell and there is no sign of him returning. Unfortunately, there's no sign of the elements returning or his last minion, Trixie, either. Last I knew the Alicorn Amulet was with her. I'm afraid you'll have to make do without it, but I have faith you'll succeed. The war is over, though the scars are still felt everywhere. The population was hit hard and there are a lot of areas that nopony lives near now. The borders have it the worst, nopony lives there any more. Which, in some ways, is good I suppose. It makes my plan easier.

The great wall that appeared north of the Fire Tribe lands disappeared with Discord's defeat and you won't believe what happened. Well, maybe you will. Zebras, negasi, centaurs and even minotaurs have been making their way to our lands. We've always had a few, but they were never in the numbers to match ponies, or even griffons for that matter. But now they are slowly integrating with our society. They don't have bending like we do, but they have their own ways of doing things. There has been a bit of hostility between them and others, but I think my plan will fix that.

The bad lands have been left largely unexplored by the four kingdoms, but now, who knows? I've heard of so many different creatures and plants living there, just the thought of seeing some of them for myself makes me giggle with delight. I doubt I'll be able to see them anytime soon, but I fully intend to visit the lands once I have everything here settled. I'll be cataloging what I find to add to these books.

I'm not sure how to explain everything else. There's so much that's happened, a lot of which won't make sense until you read about our adventures. I'll try to keep it simple, though. I'll start by explaining how the Fire Tribes are doing now. There's still a lot of pain and suffering for those who lost their horns. Especially those who lost them just before I returned. It's made even worse because of all those fire benders who can still bend. Still, my ponies are persevering and slowly making their way from day to day. Many are managing to find happiness in other ways, though I do fear there are those who will never truly be happy after their loss.

The dragons are doing very well. Many of the eggs have hatched and there are now dozens of dragons living in Manehatten and the outer settlements. The fire benders are doing everything they can to make sure they make it again and return to their once thriving numbers. Spike is rising to the occasion, like I knew he would. Oh, Spike is my baby dragon. Well, I guess he's not a baby really now. He's the oldest dragon in the world. A lot of the babies look up to him and a lot of nights he stays up in the lava pits, telling the dragons stories about what happened in the last hundred years and how he helped save the world from Discord. He sometimes over exaggerates, but I don't tell anypony. He's earned the right at this point.

The Great Dragon was buried properly again, all except his skull. It was moved to replace the head of one of the great dragon statues in the city, so he can watch over Manehatten forever. I think he would have liked that. He was a bit rough around the edges, but he really was a sweet dragon in the end. I don't know what I would have done without him when I started out. I still sometimes wonder what I'll do now without him.

The country itself is doing wonderfully. Our culture is slowly returning, thanks to the fire benders that had been hidden away in the Everfree Forest and what I could remember. I've done my best to aid with my memory, but sadly some of our culture will be lost forever. But everypony is trying their hardest and I think we're slowly making progress and new traditions. The Summer Sun Celebration this year was beautiful.

We have quite a few ponies working to keep the day to day operations going and I'm, fortunately, no longer needed to aid ponies in that respect. Most my time now is spent settling disputes and performing my basic avatar duties. We even have a military now, though it's still pretty weak. One of the generals is a pony by the name of Caballeron. I was a little wary, since he had apparently aided the Water Nation during the war. But I've been assured that he is a loyal member again and he is being watched closely.

All in all, I think my people are doing great. The last hundred years nearly destroyed us. But from the ashes, we will rise. In a few generations the pain and conflict caused from the war will hopefully fade and there will be true peace between the four countries.

Now I need to talk about the big one, the Water Nation. When I first went on my journey to visit all my friends, I headed there first. Let me tell you, it was completely different from the first time I went there. About a year ago, when Pinkie left, she and Cheese were planning to party everywhere they went. Well, let me tell you, mission succeeded. I thought the Water Nation would have the lowest morale problems, but the ponies there seemed happy and excited. They were throwing everything they had into trying to fix all the damages they had done. Not only that, they were receiving a lot of visitors from other nations. When I arrived at the school, I almost couldn't get in. If I hadn't been recognized, I might still have been lost in the crowd trying to get through.

I think in the end, Pinkie is going to end up doing more to help aid the peace between the four countries than I ever could. For all my knowledge and clout, she's still the only pony I know who could turn two life long enemies into the best of friends in a few hours. I sincerely hope you get a chance to meet her. Well, I hope you get a chance to meet all my friends. I can't even begin to imagine where all her energy comes from.

After that, though, I headed straight to Canterlot. I barely managed to make it in time, but I did manage to see the official coronation of Rarity. She had technically been the queen for almost a year, but there had just been too much going on to have the official event. Apparently Pinkie had helped plan it.

I still don't know how Pinkie managed to beat me there. Or how she managed to get everypony there on time. She denies doing it, but I'm sure she was responsible. Sometimes I wonder if she does have some kind of magic I don't understand. The coronation was beautiful and Rarity did look like a true ruler. It was hard to believe that not even three years ago, that queen was busy trying to chase and capture me. The first time we met I actually threw her off a mountain. Now we're the best of friends.

I also got a chance to meet all the ambassadors from the other kingdoms. I was quite shocked to find out that Blueblood had managed to garner the Fire Tribe's position. I will have to remember to have a talk with Ashmane about that later. Still, he seemed very pleased to be there and he is quite fond of Rarity. I'm not sure how she feels about him, though. I guess only time will tell. There was one amusing part of the trip I just have to tell you about.

The coronation instrument of choice seemed to have been the kazoo. Apparently it came from a suggestion by Celestia. Well, at the end Rarity was just a tad annoyed by all the kazoo music. When we finally got away from the crowds, she threatened to stuff a kazoo down the throat of the next pony who played one at her. Poor Blueblood decided to test her. He really shouldn't have. I'm sure he'll be okay and he'll stop making kazoo sounds with every breath eventually.

Sweetie was mostly hidden from the public eye. She was still in the castle, but she tended to downplay what she did and had been focusing on training students over any position of real power. Luna is under even worse restrictions. She's imprisoned in the castle. I'm told her daughters and sister visit her daily. I did have the good fortune to visit her and she seemed quite happy and relaxed, for a prisoner. She said she understood the need of having herself imprisoned and she is well taken care of. She also offered me an apology for everything. She even apologized to Rainbow, though I'm not sure how well the pegasus took it. She said she was fine, but I'm doubtful. She was a tad twitchy and didn't look the once-ruler in the eyes.

I also got a chance to meet with Celestia as well. She'd opened her own tea shop in Canterlot and seemed to be doing quite well. Apparently she even has a few investors from the Earth Kingdom who she met during her travels. I sadly didn't get a chance to meet them, but I was assured they were quite generous. The tea was okay, but I really can't see the big deal. Then again, I've never really been much of a tea pony. Judging by the way other ponies were raving about it, it must have been something special.

I think the Water Nation will do well in their recovery. The damage was quite severe, but ponies are working their hardest to fix it. Rarity is doing everything she can to remove the worst of the commanders and generals from power. The heart of ice over the nation is slowly melting. It won't be easy, but I think they can do it.

After a few weeks we said goodbye to Rarity and traveled up to the Air Nomad lands. I saw Ponyville again. It was amazing how little it had changed after all this time. Well, I guess only a few years. It felt like so much longer to me, though. All that fighting, running, always moving. But the town looked almost the same. Angel wasn't too thrilled to be there, of course. Who could blame him, though? We didn't stay long, just long enough for Pinkie to throw a little party before she headed back to the school. From there it was just me, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Applejack.

Cloudsdale was our next destination and let me tell you, it was quite the visit. I got to see both Rainbow and Fluttershy in action. The former looked amazing in her Wonderbolt uniform and she even had special goggles to allow her to see when she flew. They weren't just normal goggles, either. She'd had them custom built with little lightning bolts around the edges. She said they made her look awesome. I don't know about that, but seeing her perform all her stunts and leading her own squad of Wonderbolts definitely did make her look awesome. She said she was back to how she used to be, but I know that's not true.

There were a few clouds I watched her veer away from, rather than risking a crash. Before her eyes had been damaged, she would have dove between them with ease, not even scraping a wing. I kept my mouth shut and pretended not to notice, but I still wish there was more I could have done to help her. Her air sensing is coming along nicely, however. She's even tried teaching it to a few ponies, but none have come close to the level of talent she has. I'm not surprised, Rainbow is one in a million. She even performed a sonic rainboom for us. It was amazing.

After the performance I got a chance to see Fluttershy's teachings. It was quite a bit calmer. She even had a few zebras with her, though her school was prepared on the ground. They weren't nearly as popular as the Wonderbolts were, but I saw all kinds of ponies taking interests in these non bender arts. The different potions and medicines she learned from the zebras will hopefully catch on and spread quickly. After all, there is only so much that healing magic and healing bending can do. There's always a need for new medicines and the like. It would do wonders to make more ponies accepting of the zebras integrating themselves into our society.

I also got a chance to see Scootaloo and a few of the other shadowbolts training. Hornclipper was with her as well. Their lessons were quite unique, though I do find them a bit frightening. It's one thing to talk about it, but the actual ability to take away a pony's bending, even temporarily, feels wrong. But in the end there is no telling how many lives these arts could save and I am quite happy they're spreading. I've been keeping my own reservations silent. I hope by the time you see this, my hopes for them will have been well founded. On the lighter side, Hornclipper is so obviously smitten with Scootaloo that I am amazed she has yet to have noticed. I do believe she is the only one.

Leaving Cloudsdale wasn't easy, it took me over a week before I could finally bring myself to do it. Saying goodbye to Fluttershy and Rainbow nearly broke my heart, but I knew we had to keep going. I could tell Applejack was getting a bit antsy being away from the farm for so long.

There were a few other places we visited, but the big thing happened when we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. Flowerbloom's adopted parents, the Cherries, were visiting. Judging by the look on Applejack's face, she was just as surprised as I was. Apparently the two had taken over as ambassadors to the Earth Kingdom during this time of peace, so they could have more chances to visit.

Flowerbloom and the whole farm is thriving. Even the Flim Flam brothers were tolerable. Those two were still hanging around the farm. I really don't trust them. Still, under the watch of the Apple family I doubt they can get into too much trouble. Not to mention they were apparently under watch from the Earth Kingdom as well. Perhaps they'll get time off for good behavior. I distinctly doubt it.

I spent a few days at the farm, though sadly I wasn't able to stay for the next earth bending tournament. It wasn't for at least three more months. So from there I traveled alone to Fillydelphia for the last step in my journey. Seeing the emperor. He was as eccentric as ever and you won't believe who he chose to be the new commander of their forces. Rock Knight, or as she is better known, Maud Pie. Apparently she's a distant relative of Pinkie, though they are nothing alike.

Well, I guess you don't know who she is, so maybe you will believe it. She gets along quite well with Photo Finish, which I thought was quite amusing. I think she brings a nice sense of seriousness to the quite... spirited upper echelons of power in the Earth Kingdom. I managed to--

“Twilight?” Spike's voice shook her from her thoughts. She glanced back and gave the small dragon a little smile.

“Spike, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?” the alicorn asked before she gently put the quill in the inkwell. “I didn't mean to.”

“No, I just woke up,” he lied before looking to the book. “What's that?”

“This? It was Fluttershy's idea. Just writing some journals about our journeys.”

“Really?” the dragon let out another yawn. “Is that what all those scrolls are about?” Spike motioned a claw towards a corner of the room where dozens of small scrolls were bundled up together in a roll.

“Oh, those?” She pulled them over and neatly unbound them. “They're the... oh, right. I guess you weren't around for the negotiations.” She pulled one out and showed it to him. “They're deeds. Land deeds, to be exact.”

Spike stared at them for a few moments. “What? Why?”

Twilight smiled. “A new project I've been working on.” She motioned to a small map on the wall. “It's... not set in stone yet, but...” She slowly drew her quill from the ink well and floated it over to the map. She circled a small area where the four kingdoms touched. “I've gained permission from the heads of the four nations. Most of the land has already been bought and transferred to me, it should hopefully be ready to begin construction within two or three years. Within a decade, I expect the city will be complete.”

Spike stared for a moment. “City? What city?”

“Harmony,” Twilight said as she slowly placed the quill back in the inkwell. “A truly neutral city where ponies of all four nations can mingle. Not to mention a place for all the new creatures entering our lands can find homes without fear of quarreling with the four nations. I'm hopeful it will help stop the thoughts of 'us vs them' that the nations have gone through. Perhaps allowing them to realize we're all just ponies together, no matter where we're from.”

Spike stared for a few moments. “That... seems like it'll be a lot of work. How are you going to get all the ponies everywhere to agree with it? Won't they fight?”

“The land is mostly war torn or damaged in other ways,” Twilight said with a smile. “And no, it won't be easy. I'm sure there will be a lot of arguments before I finish. For most ponies, I don't think this would be even possible. But I'm not doing it alone, either. Octavia and Vinyl have agreed to join me, along with the settlers from Cadence. Zecora and many of the zebras will be joining as well.”

“Do you think you all can do it?”

The alicorn closed her eyes and let the smile spread even further across her face. She thought back to Discord and the small glowing fragments across the ground. About her friends who had given everything they had to help her succeed on her journey. About the past avatars who had guided her. About Starswirl, who she knew could finally rest in peace after she had fixed what had started with him. “Yes. I do. I... believe I have just the right kinds of connections.”

------

Far across the land, past where the great magical wall had temporarily stood and far past the barren, dried plains, a wide network of caves stood out against the howling winds. Low whistling tore through the caverns as the gusts from outside slowly made their way deeper inside.

Far, far below, in the deepest levels of the caves, a small hairline crack formed. It began to slowly snake out, getting wider and longer with every passing second. Then the wall collapsed, revealing the statue of an ancient centaur with tiny horns. A glow formed from the creature's chest as it too began to crack.

With an eruption of stone and light, the statue completely fell apart and a centaur stumbled out, gasping for breath. “-as an accident!” he said as he fell to his knees and shook. After a few moments his head rose and he scanned the empty caves. “Harmony?” He looked up, sniffing the air. A small grin formed on his lips. “Discord? I can't feel either of you.” He slowly got to his hooves. A low rumble started in his chest before turning into a powerful, boisterous laughter. He started walking out, clenching his hands into fists as a small orb of light formed in front of him to light his way.

Author's Note:

And done! Wooo! Finally! Well, after all these years the Avatar the Last Alicorn series is complete. I hope you've all enjoyed it. Now, on the subject of the sequel, I'm not sure if I'm going to write it. I'm definitely not going to be writing it for a little bit, at least. However, I will be posting a little spoiler for the premises I have in mind. I have quite a few, though I think I've settled on one for the story. Thanks all and hope you enjoyed.

Comments

[eric-emanwu]

Okay. (I crack my neck and my hands) This isn't just going to be a comment on this chapter, but a comment on this whole series. So get ready. Chapter first, series second.

It seems there is one thing that Twilight is doing different that Aang never seemed to do. Create an autobiography in case her next reincarnation needs information without summoning her. (Which again has me wondering whether twilight can talk to the previous avatars at this time anymore) If it goes well, then whomever Korra turns out to be, she'll have it quite different with direct written context to turn to. Maybe the times of avatars Needing teachers will be changing. That instead they'd need refiners. That any avatar could pick up the volumes of Twilight, the purple avatar, and start reading all about the different styles, histories and what have you. The teachers then would be there to help her practice advanced techniques, and to better understand the spiritual side as well.

Trixie is still missing, though I still suspect she'll end up turning into the Yakone of the next story if she manages to survive past the avatar. Forever plotting revenge even through her children in time.
It also seems that there was a new wave of immigrants into the lands after the fall of Discord. Bringing in a variety of new minorities to strengthen the ones who were already there like Iron will or Zecora.
Though, why do I get the strangest feeling that twilight, despite her desires to go off on another adventure, will never get a chance to see the badlands? To fulfill Starswirl's desire that she keep alive the spark of learning in herself.
Spike meanwhile took up the mantle as the storyteller of the dragons, keeping the secondhand stories and the stories of his life together to tell of how he was alongside the avatar and the water queen and helped save the world. The fire benders of everfree managed to find their way back to the main city to share what they could from their time in hiding, but with the forest hampering some of their activities, like so many groups, there will always be parts of group that won't come back. It also seems Caballeron was given a second chance as well. He's a career soldier who follows orders to the higher powers to the best of his ability, so he decided to make amends with his original nation as the new commander of the armed forces.

Now, let's look and see how the elements were working in this new world. Pinkie had it the best. Since Joy makes all things worth it, her work with Cheese makes them bringers of happiness wherever they can, and from that, they've become healers of a special sort. By raising spirits for all nations, they'll make them more cooperative, and help bring them together in love and laughter. She's living her dream, forever partying for a purpose: To make others happy.
Rarity meanwhile had her coronation. Putting on her crown, dedicating herself to sharing the water nation's might through peace and trade rather than through force. It was also kinda neat you paid homage to how Zuko and Aang have somehow become friends after their rough start. (Though some dialog there might've been nice) As for Blueblood, he's become an ambassador for the fire nation. I suppose that Ashmane, upon seeing Bluey's lost horn said, "You've already paid a great price for betraying us. And you stepped up to make things right as well. Why don't you come work for us again to make it up for it." Given what we know about what happened in book 3 and book 4, I think the next water queen will come from the union of those two. And in fact, I think that Blueblood really was the reason why Rarity chose to return. Not because he was the only one that mattered to her, but because if the war hadn't gone on, if rarity hadn't challenged his beliefs, he'd still be a stuck up ruler with no sense of generosity and kindness. Rarity could have used him as the gradual springboard into discovering how many lives she affected through tragedy and generosity and that the life she built was actually more hers, and more what she wanted than the life she thought she always wanted. Buuuttt, that's just my theory. Oh, and the kazoos, always the kazoos. Who knew rarity still carried that much wrath towards a simple instrument.
The rest of the royal family was a mixed bag. Azula, being only half a face, stayed around in the castle, and worked on training others like her friends rather than taking up any kind of power in the new world order. I guess she decided she didn't deserve it. And besides, all she really wanted was her sister back, and now she has her, so what would she want power for? Celestia decided to fall into retirement. Setting up a tea shop near her home, and preparing to franchise and send out the miracle brew she created to all corners of the planet. No doubt, Coco's gonna give her a hand in this. After all, first employees remember their first good bosses.
Sadly for luna though, despite finally getting a 2nd chance to make everything better, her record is too blemished to get time to redeem herself for now. She's kinda in the same position as Ozai being imprisoned for her war crimes, but with the attitude of Zaheer (a villain from season 3 of korra), in accepting what she's done, and trying to live the best she can despite being behind bars. Maybe she can go all bird man and start helping out in prison with a great hobby or start working something to help other prisoners. At the least, perhaps she can write her autobiography so that at least future generations can know the story of the last nightmare moon. But for now, she's doing all she can to make peace how she can with those who visit, whether family, or element bearers.
The water nation is working to flow out into a spring after all the ice of years past. But, I think in time, with their higher technology levels, the other nations will grow to appreciate what they're doing in time, redeeming the nation in the eyes of the world.
Ponyville, where it all began, hardly changed. Sadly the prodigal daughters would never settle there again, with their destinies bound to greater things.
RD and Shy meanwhile began new lives with the air nomads. Rainbow was glowing with her new glasses/goggles with lightning and style. She still wasn't quite as daring as before, but war does take it out of you sometimes. She's also working on developing an air sense for all pegasi, but that's still a work in process.
As for the former healer, she began a new life as an alchemist and herbal healer. Her air healing never did get a chance to return, but she'll live on as the first pegasi herbalist.
Also, something I never pointed out before was that the crusaders eventually split up too. With sweetie back in the water nation, it seems scoots is taking some time to do training shadowbolt techniques to block bending. Just like Ty lee would for the kyoshi warriors, which would then spread to the equalists in the future. But, at least she's in a place where she'll be respected.
With RD and Shy behind, there was just AJ, the master earth bender left. And it was also time for apples and cherries to meet, to chat, to reconcile and learn more about each other. Forgive and forget about the farm incident all those years ago. Flowerbloom decided to stick with big sister for a while, helping big mac and Aj and granny with the next crops. As for the flim flams, it seems that no matter what discord did, something made them stick around. Though I suspect that they're also working on the idea for the supper squeezy cider 6000 in their off time. Something to make production easier, but give them a cut as well. Well, let's see if their time in the war changed them at all.
Speaking of the war, whatever did happen to sapphire shores? I know she fell under sweetie's control, but what happened to her afterwards. Well, whatever the case, Maud's got the job now. Working with Photo and the emperor to get the earth kingdom together again.

However, twilight's big project is that she's trying to create her own Republic City. But where in the avatar universe it was a compromise for the settlers and kingdoms by making them their own kingdom to stop a political crisis, Twilight's vision is a place to try and get the 4 nations to have neutral ground to mingle and grow together. And it seems Jeong Jeong and Bumi will be helping out, along with the people of omasu. Try and create a new safe haven for different species.

However, despite all that she's done, all that she's worked for, there are many challenges ahead of her. Depending on how close to the first script you want to stick to, Harmony could turn out to just become another nation in the game, with connections to the others, but with structural issues in its governance. Which despite twilight's best efforts, created classism and issues between benders and nonbenders. That is still up for your interpretation, but a worst threat is on the horizon: Tirac. An ancient spirit who was rival to both discord and harmony. and with both of them gone, it seems the new era is about to have a blast from the past in their future. I sure hope twilight either goes through her "chest of harmony" saga soon, or finds a way to draw the power again, because if discord was a threat to harmony, what kind of spirit was tirac that both harmony and discord decided to throw him off?

Anyways, so let's talk series overall.

So, I'm not gonna lie. Part of me was definitely all over this series, with taking both of their metaphysics together, and getting more creative as you went along. At the same time though, there were certain aspects of the story I either didn't quite get, or that got rushed through. Or that I didn't want left to the imagination, because of your writing talent. And there were ideas I had regarding some of the meta concepts that clashed with your vision, but that's just artistic differences, and nothing too major. Everything is cleanly wrapped up for the most part, so aside from some minor characters unknown fates, nothing too major to worry about.

It was great to watch these characters, grow, shrink, and grow again. For that reason, I thought book 3 was my favorite. Oh sure, the other books also had highlights, but that book changed everything, with all the extra twists and turns you wrote in. Particularly in giving "mai" and "ty lee" more comprehensive story arcs. And of course, finally getting the elements to work.

Overall though, I am glad I got to go on this journey with you, creating a new world of avatars and ponies. Optimism, cynicism, magic, force, betrayal, truth, honor, despair, hope, love. So much in these 4 books in the long 2nd war against discord. There are some questions like sapphire, sombra, if the spirit world is doing any better right now, and of course if twilight is going to reincarnate or be able to talk with her past selves at all. Oddly enough, if you were interested at all doing korra direct at all, you could also include the tree of harmony in there as well as parallel to the tree of time if you wanted. But, like I said, that's your choice, not mine.

Thanks for leading us on this walk with Twilight the avatar. I just hope that she doesn't truly turn out to be The Last Alicorn. Bye discord. [Well, at least I'll always have canon.] Bye pinkie. (Love ya Pony Wu. Until next time. )

[LibbytheKautz]

I'm finally done!
It took me nearly five and a half weeks, but I did it!
I'm done.
The time sure passes fast when you're reading a good book. It feels like I just started.

[Zubric]

Love your work man , swrously bravo. I'm probably easily entertained though. I was on the edge of my metephoric seat the whole time and loved the say you combined it. (Why is it these stories are left is on utogu while stuff like -fallout equeatia - *gag* get popular )

[Blaster M]

Roll Credits...

though, instead of the usual roll credits song...