Epilogue: Closure...?
Hours had passed since Starlight's execution.
The body had been removed and sent to the funeral home some time ago. Nobody would be going to claim the body. In the watching room stood a single mare. Twilight Sparkle couldn't stop gazing at the chair. Her eyes were distant, she had not moved since Starlight's death. The late afternoon sun shown outside, but Twilight never noticed. Three of her friends had already left, leaving Applejack with the task of shaking their friend from her thoughts.
"Listen, Twi'..." Applejack tried to begin, but didn't get more than those words out.
"Why?" Twilight continued to stare at the chair, her gaze still unwavering.
"Why, what?"
Twilight finally turned to face her.
"Why aren't I feeling any better? Any safer?" she asked. "I was told that... if I saw her go, then... then I'd feel better." Twilight closed her eyes before turning back to the chair. "Even with Starlight gone... I am still afraid."
"C'mon, Sugar Cube." Applejack motioned to the exit. "Ah'm sure you'll feel better in the morning. Just give it time."
Twilight sighed before turning to Applejack once again. With a small smile of appreciation, Twilight walked out of the room. The world had continued without them, with the afternoon sun shining down. Twilight saw none of this. She was lost in her own thoughts and regrets as she and Applejack made their way to the train station.
The two ponies returned to Ponyville, where they immediately went to the hospital. In room C-2 were their other friends. On the bed lay Rainbow Dash, who was in a deep sleep. Everypony greeted the newcomers.
"Has there been any change?" Twilight asked.
"No, she hasn't woken up yet," Fluttershy answered. "The doctor said that she was malnourished, and would probably be asleep for the rest of the day."
"That's okay... we can wait."
"Unfortunately, I can't stay," Rarity interjected. "There are still some matters I must settle with the boutique... and with Sweetie Belle."
"That's okay, Rarity," Twilight said, a reassuring smile forming on her face. "We'll send somepony to get you if Rainbow does wake up."
"Thank you, Darling. I do want to talk to her once she's up." Rarity left, though not without hesitation. The other ponies in the room turned back and watched their friend in her deep sleep.
The next few hours passed in relative peace. There was very little discussion, with each pony dwelling in their own thoughts. Even Pinkie was caught in the somber tone. Absent was her usual smile and optimism, replaced by a sad frown and worry.
“Ah hate to be the pony that breaks the silence,” Applejack interjected when night had already come, “but we can’t just stay here, can we?
“The doctors said we could stay,” Twilight answered. “Though if you want to return home, I understand.”
“And what type of friend would that make me?” Applejack grimaced as she thought about it more. “Shucks, I don’t want to leave, but we can’t stay up all night. We won’t be able to function tomorrow.” Everypony thought about this for several seconds.
“How about one of us stays awake, while the rest sleep?” Pinkie suggested.
“That’s… not a bad idea.” Twilight looked around, but couldn’t find any paper. “Be right back.” Twilight left the room, her speed betraying the nervous energy in her body. Grabbing a plain sheet of paper and a pen, she returned to the room and made out a chart with times and a place for names.
“What’s that for?” Fluttershy asked as she read what Twilight had wrote.
“It’s to decide who takes what time,” Twilight explained, pointing to the four time slots. “This way, nopony has to stay up longer than anypony else. So, who wants which watch?”
“I want the first one,” Pinkie said, grabbing the pen from Twilight and writing her name on the paper.
“Are you sure, Pinkie? You probably need more sleep than the most of us.”
“I’m positive,” Pinkie replied with a small smile. She had regained some of her old energy, but once nopony was looking it all drained away.
Once Pinkie’s shift started, her friends lay down and began to sleep. Though it took some more time than others, within an hour they were all asleep, except Pinkie. Pinkie sat in a chair by Rainbow’s bedside. The lights in the hospital, normally staying on as long as a pony was moving while in the room, turned off. The entire hospital was going into sleep mode, with only a few doctors and nurses walking about.
Still, Pinkie sat by Rainbow’s bedside. Hours passed as her watch continued, but she didn’t move. Her shift went on through Fluttershy’s, then Applejack’s. Her mind flashed back to their pranking schemes, their adventures... and the look on Rainbow's face when Pinkie said she would join the town.
When the morning sun rose and ponies began to wake up, they found Pinkie still standing vigil over Rainbow.
“Pinkie?” Twilight asked, still half asleep. “What are you still doing up?”
Pinkie broke her gaze from Rainbow’s bed for the first time in hours. “Oh, sorry. I guess I lost track of time.” Pinkie’s smile seemed weak, as did the chuckle that followed. A yawn escaped her as she finally took notice of what time it was.
Fluttershy walked up to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I think you need to get some rest. Nopony can stay up all day and night.”
“I’m fine, honest.” Pinkie’s assurances didn’t fool anypony, but they knew that they couldn’t force her to go to bed.
“Are ya sure, sugarcube?” Applejack asked with some hesitation. “But, Pinkie, you do know you’ll need some energy for when Rainbow’s awake, right?”
“Trust me, I will be awake with plenty of energy for her.” Pinkie met Applejack’s look with an intense look of her own. Pinkie was being far too serious for comfort, though nopony felt like questioning her about it.
Rarity came in with food later that morning, though she was unable to stay.
While the four remaining ponies ate, the smell made its way over to the comatose Rainbow Dash. As if the smell of food pulled her from her sleep, her eyes began to open. She looked around and saw four ponies; three supposed friends, and one true friend. They were there, waiting for her. Letting her head fall back onto the pillows, she closed her eyes once more. This did not go unnoticed by one of the other ponies in the room.
"Dashie? Are you awake?" Pinkie Pie asked as she bolted over to where Rainbow Dash lay. Putting her ear close to Rainbow's face, she listened for any response. She could hear short breathing, but Rainbow's eyes were still closed.
"Pinkie, what are you doing?" Twilight asked as she moved to pull Pinkie from on top of Rainbow Dash. At hearing her voice, Rainbow Dash's eyes opened once again.
"Hey, everypony," she said with a weak smile. Immediately, she was swarmed in a flurry of hugs and squeals of joy.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Fluttershy cried, tears of joy rolling down her cheek.
"It’s good to see ya awake." Applejack held back tears, allowing them to come out on the inside. After many seconds of closeness and hugging, everypony gave Rainbow Dash the space she desperately needed.
"How are you feeling?" Pinkie asked. "Need us to get you anything? Cupcakes? A Daring Doo novel? Maybe bring you Tank for a visit?"
"N-no thanks... Pinkie, I don't need... you to bring anything from my house."
"Oh, alright... do you maybe want some---"
Just then, the door opened. The doctor assigned to Rainbow Dash checked the machines and noticed that Rainbow's heart rate had increased. Taking a second glance at his patient, he asked, "Ms. Dash, are you awake?"
"...Yes," Rainbow answered after several seconds.
"Good morning, Miss Dash," the doctor greeted. "I am Dr. Riwoche. Tell me, are you in pain anywhere?"
"No, I'm good. I just need some more sleep." Rainbow Dash was betrayed by her stomach as it growled in protest.
"Now, now, Ms. Dash, your body is malnourished. You'll need plenty of food to regain your strength. I'll have the nurse bring you some nutritious food." Doctor Riwoche smiled as he said that last word. He turned to address the other ponies in the room. "Ms. Dash is not to have any food other than the food that we will provide until she has satisfactorily recovered. Don't give her anything." Without saying another word, he left, leaving Rainbow alone with four other ponies.
"Sorry, Dashie." Pinkie looked back at the food in the corner. She had saved something special for Dashie, but now she didn't have a chance to give it. Shaking her head, she returned to her friend. "You sure you don't want me to bring you anything?"
"I'm sure," Rainbow Dash reassured emphatically.
"Somepony needs to go get Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed, realizing they hadn't even thought to go get her. "Be right back."
"Do you have to be the one to go get her, Twilight?" Rainbow asked nervously. Her eyes shifted to the other ponies in the room, and looked slightly scared. "I mean, can't somepony else do it?"
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes at Rainbow’s antics. “I know I’m not as fast as you, but I can still be fast when I want to be.”
“That’s not what I mean!” Rainbow told her emphatically. “Do you have to be the one to go to get her, and leaving m--- us?”
“It’ll only be a few minutes. If you really need something, just ask your friends.” Without allowing Rainbow Dash to continue, she closed the door and trotted out of the building.
"Hehehe... yeah, three... friends..." Rainbow Dash murmured after Twilight had left. Her eyes stayed on the doors for several seconds before she closed them and laid her head back on the pillows.
The ponies around Rainbow chatted idly, trying to draw Rainbow into the conversation. The only time Rainbow responded to anypony was when the nurse brought in a strange looking colorless mush which was supposed to be called food. Rainbow ate it easily and returned to her half slumber. It wasn't until Twilight returned with Rarity, 10 minutes later, that Rainbow regained some aspect of her old self.
"Darling, you are looking quite well," Rarity commented looking Rainbow over. Despite being malnourished and injured, Rainbow only looked skinny, and not too unhealthy.
"Yeah, the doc gave me some really good food," Rainbow said with a smile. Her eyes betrayed the validity of that smile, as it darted between four of the ponies in the room.
"You missed the 'stopped-a-crazy-pony' party, but I'll be sure to plan you a 'out-of-the-hospital' party," Pinkie promised with a wide faced grin.
"T-thanks, Pinkie... you'll be there, right, Twilight?" Twilight’s eyebrow raised at that. With a quick nod, she affirmed that she would be there.
"Why did ya want to make sure Twilight was there?" Applejack questioned. It wasn't like Rainbow to be so dependent.
"I... just wanted to make sure that she'd be there," Rainbow answered, her voice lacking her usual confidence.
"Are ya sure about that?"
"Of cour---" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she quickly made a verbal backtrack. "I mean, yeah, I'm sure."
"Rainbow, you know you can be honest with us," Rarity reminded. "We are your friends."
"You left me." Rainbow visibly tensed up, her muscles hardening. She seemed to be holding back tears, whether from anger or sadness, it was unclear.
"What do ya mean by that?"
"You four left us. You abandoned all we stood for, just for the comforts you were used to!” Rainbow, though struggling, forced herself out of the bed. A single stream of tears began to come from her eyes. “You were willing to go against everything you believed, just so that you could feel happy?” She pointed her hoof at Rarity, her entire limb vibrating in anger. “Did you ever think about what I felt? Did you ever think of staying loyal to one of your closest friends?” She turned to the rest of the group and pointed at each of them. Tears flowed freely as she continued to speak. “Every single one of you left, except Twilight. She is the only one who didn't turn, she suffered through as much as I did. The rest of you... the rest of you bought into her philosophy and lost sight of what it meant to be a friend!"
Applejack stood still, staring at Rainbow. Her eyes were intent on looking deep within the soul of her old friend and competitor. Rarity stood stiff, remembering that she was the first one to turn. She may not have been joyous while in Our Town, but she had had a semblance of happiness. Fluttershy stood in open shock at what her childhood friend was saying. Never had she seen such raw anger directed towards her anypony Rainbow had called a friend. Lastly, stood Pinkie. Her mane was slightly deflated, and tears were building up. They were not tears that would cause a stream, they were true tears of sadness and heartbreak.
"Rainbow, please, calm down," Fluttershy said, trying to calm down the situation. "We were never following her philosophy."
"Like I could know that!" Rainbow retorted. "You never once told me what you were going to do. You never once tried to help me. You even tried to get me to join them."
"Now, hold it there, Rainbow," Applejack interrupted. "You and Ah both know that ain't true."
"Oh? Do we? Maybe they talked with you, but all of you left me to deal with Starlight's torture on my own."
"Please, calm down, Rainbow Dash," Rarity pleaded, pointing her head towards Pinkie, who was getting closer to tears.
"I am calm!" Rainbow shouted. Even as she screamed, tears continued to stream from her eyes. "You don't understand what I went through! None of you do, except Twilight. What I endured... days of the same voice... not getting much sleep..." "The same room to stare at, day in and day out... the inability to move while in a box..." Her eyes were now flooded in tears, no longer able to stay open. "The fear of getting suffocated in a bag, knowing nopony would help you even if they heard you..." Rainbow finally broke. She began to sob as she collapsed to the floor, no longer able to form coherent thought or words. She couldn’t move; she was powerless.
Fluttershy tried to get closer, but was stopped by Twilight’s magic. Turning her head, she noticed that Twilight had a dark look on her face, her eyes hidden behind her hair.
“Can you leave us for a moment?” Twilight asked, her voice carrying despite its lack of volume.
“S-sure.” The four other ponies left the room, leaving the two who had stood against Starlight.
As soon as the door closed, Twilight flew to Rainbow’s side and hugged her to her body, her wings shielding her friend. Rainbow continued sobbing into Twilight’s fur, slowly being comforted by her last true and trusted friend. After many minutes spent in Twilight’s embrace, Rainbow began to run out of tears.
“You know, they didn’t just turn,” Twilight said after some time. Rainbow raised her head, her mind still not ready to hold a conversation. “I don’t know what they were doing, but I know they didn’t just give up.”
Rainbow stared at her in disbelief. Her friends had abandoned them, had left them to join that town. How could Twilight be defending them? Twilight, as if reading her thoughts, answered them.
“I may not know how they were trying to help us, or if they truly believed in the philosophy, but I know that they were doing what they could to help. I can’t doubt them, though I probably should. I trust them, even if what they do I disagree with.”
Rainbow lay silently for a few seconds before nodding along with Twilight. What she was saying did make sense, after all.
“I… I don’t think I can trust them,” Rainbow confessed, facing the real issue. “They turned against us. No amount of good intentions erases that.” Twilight thought for a few moments before trying a new approach.
“Everypony deserves a second chance, especially our friends. Even if you don’t trust them, at least give them a chance to regain that trust.”
Twilight didn’t wait for Rainbow’s answer. She got up and opened the door, calling out for her friends to come over. Closing the door behind her, she went into the hallway to explain the situation.
“She lost her trust in the four of you,” Twilight said bluntly. “I know she still wants you to be her friends, but this is an emotional time for her, and everything is still fresh for all of us. I’m sure that, in time, she can learn to trust again.”
“Can we even manage that?” Rarity asked. “Can anypony ‘learn’ to trust again after such a harrowing experience?”
“I don’t know, but we owe it to her to make the attempt.”
After a brief deliberation and explanation, the five ponies returned to the room. There, now standing up, was Rainbow Dash. There were still tears on her face, but they were slowly drying.
“Rainbow, Ah know your feelin’s about us and what we did to ya, but Ah promise, we will show ya that we’re still the same fillies ya once knew.” Applejack approached Rainbow Dash and threw her hooves around the weakened pegasus.
“We don’t care how much time must be spent on this endeavour, we know you deserve it.” Rarity joined the hug, taking Rainbow’s right.
“We were trying to help you, in little ways, but now I know we should have helped you more.” Fluttershy flew over and got into the hug from above.
“We gave you false smiles, when we should have truly looked at you and make sure you were okay.” Pinkie pronked over and dived into the hug from the front.
“From all of us, we’re sorry, for everything we did do, and what we didn’t,” all four said together.
Twilight finally joined the hug, using her wings to get extra reach. In the middle, Rainbow’s tear reserves had replenished and were once again overflowing. No longer from pain or sadness, but from faint sparks of real hope. It was a new beginning.
Though each mare was too focused on the hugging, they didn’t notice or feel their cutie marks. The marks were pulsing, with smaller version going outward. It didn’t feel right just yet, but nopony paid it any mind. They had survived, and after enough time to heal, their friendship would be stronger because of it.
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I have to admit I was a bit upset at how it ended. I understand the need to close the fic for whatever reasons, but after giving such in depth look at Starlight and her personality I have to say I'm slightly disappointed with this ending. It was a good ending but too much emphasis was put into Starlight as well as the mane cast to not put more into her part in all this.
I loved the warm(er) ending to this but I was really hoping to see more into Starlight's friends reactions or... I don't know something. I'm sorry but the death of Starlight in this fic affected me a lot more than fics usually do. I feel it was an unnecessary death but one I could understand from the view point of the rulers. The one thing I didn't like, and the only other thing of two things I didn't like about this fic, aside from Stars death which was still good, was the fact noone not even Twilight seemed to care that she died or gave any thoughts on her after her death.
It was good but it felt cheap. Did they still hate her? What was Shinings view? Cadence? Luna or Celestia?
It left me wondering and wanting more even though there is no more. Sorry I'm being so pessimistic but I really do like this fic I just felt a more in depth look into how the execution affected everyone would have made it better. I also have a bad habit of showing respect for the dead even if they're evil bastards. Everyone deserves to be remembered in my view and a visionary like Starlight should get one too.
It was also kind of sad that she is going to be unclaimed even though she has a lot of friends? back in her town. I'm not sure but are the ponies in her town actually her friends? I recall they were and read this fic several times and Double Diamonds reaction to her letter suggests he is, but still I have to ask in case I'm wrong. Still loved this story a solid 9/10 hands down second best Starlight fic I've read, or story with her in it.
Anyways you've probably been discouraged by me enough so sorry again and hope this comment sees you well. Until next time I'll be watching for any potential sequels.
Bad end.
6921380 Believe me, that was anything but discouraging. It was proper criticism, and made in a respectful way. Anyway, about the whole "unclaimed body thing" you have to bear in mind, Double Diamond told the ponies in Our Town that Starlight was in prison, not executed. Bringing back a body might be a bit... strange. Other than that, I can accept the faults I made in this story and, hopefully, learn from them.
6921918 I personally think having her body brought back would make it better. It'd give a chance for Starlight's friends to see her once more and to say their final goodbyes. It even has potential to setup Moon and what drives her whether it'd be Starlight's equailist ways or something else.
It's just sad that her friends may never know she passed and that this was it. Plus they'll ask why can't we see her? Why's Moonie got her cutie marks? So many questions!
I actually just realized something. I think you took the main shows canon on how cutie marks worked and completely changed it for this fic. Maybe? Hmmm.
6922305 I won't deny taking many liberties with the shows canon. Frankly, I have no idea what are their limits and/or abilities.
As for Moonie's motivation... I have plans.
Great story overall, but I'll never get past that ending. It feels like the ending to some other story. Starlight is genuinely dangerous, but I don't think she deserved to die by HUMAN standards, much less pony standards. Taking a few liberties with canon is one thing but I draw the line at state executions.
I also don't understand a part of Starlight's plan. Naturally she was setting everything up so that her village could go on without her, but why drug the cider she gave the guardsponies? Was it really necessary for her to sacrifice herself like that? They were about to leave anyway. And if not even Twilight herself could stop Starlight (as we saw in the finale), I don't believe Shining could either.
At any rate I am happy to see you completed this. I can't go along with what happened later, but the early chapters were good and really got me absorbed in the story.
So is this like Equestria becoming Soviet Russia-like, that is, communist in the marxist sense?
7001766 First off, the USSR was not marxist, it was leninist/stalinist. Secondly, Equality is not communism.
7002033
I was just going by the picture, the description and referring/joking about how way too many people think "equality is everyone being the same, this is why communism is bad".
7002171 Ah, alright. In all seriousness, in my mind, Starlight's theology is, in short, that everypony should be put upon the same base. No cutie marks to declare you better at one task, no difference in the base pony, except for personality of course. Rather than having somepony be better at something simply because of their cutie mark, if a pony wants to improve, they must work and train their skills, just like everypony else.
7002217 So like the ideal of a liberal or left-leaning society, right? Equal opportunities are after all why things like affirmative action exist. If you think about it, pony society does seem to be very different from the democratic ones we're mostly used to. More conservative and such.
7002254 Yup, you are mostly correct on these regards. And about the conservative nature of Equestria...
Politically: Monarchy, but I'll excuse it since she's an immortal, and its more pragmatic than conservative.
Socially: A strange mixture of modern and social Darwinism. Parts of it liberal, but other parts are very conservative
Economically: Laissez Faire economics (Flim and Flam) that could be broken with a coming industrial era, so think early 19th century America or pre-industrial Britain. This is not to mention that they are, apparently, still on the gold standard, which will bite them in the flank later.
Now, these are all by today's standards of liberal and conservative, and that's likely to change within a few decades in canon... but what did I just do? I just judged a fictional world of pastel colored ponies on today's political climates. I think I have other problems to look at.
I wouldn't really call it social darwinism at all, especially since ponies seem to be very compassionate, which is very much un-darwinic, where it's all about growing or thriving on the expense of other living beings. It seems to me more like "everyone has a place that they are born into", which sounds much more like a medieval worldview, where you also were usually born into your profession, that is, either nobility, clergy or peasantry. Or, later on, merchant or guild worker in the city.
The economic system seems to me more from that period, too.
And regardless of how silly it might be to think about these things, I think it's nice to do as it can help you consider what makes a society in general conservative/liberal/whatever else, after all, these things can still apply even to a fantasy world one with magic.
7034074 that is precisely what I'm arguing.
7825881 Almost a year and no one caught that... huh.
Thanks for the catch.
These seem to be comments that slipped into the story proper. Possibly a result from copying it from the Google Doc. Seen that happen before.
8285922
All this time and no one pointed it out. Thank you.
8369063
And here I thought I was a Rettianite stranded among regular baronies and pegasisters. Yup, not just a Muffins fan!