Moving On
Moving On
Twilight slowly came to, much less dead than she had expected to be after that last stunt but also wondering if death might be an improvement over how she felt right now.
“Good morning, Twilight. We really must stop meeting like this. It seems it's becoming something of a bad habit for us.”
Twilight’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of the familiar voice. She tried to roll over, but the pain was too much. She lay back down again with a groan as the the voice’s source walked over to her bed, leaned over and nuzzled her forehead. The edge of her ethereal mane drifted against Twilight’s face, sending gentle, comforting tickles of energy radiating out along her nerves. Twilight giggled. It hurt to do so, but it was worth it just to feel the rush of being alive. “Hello, Princess Celestia,” she said.
“You had us all worried there for a while. When Captain Reinolds pulled you out of the water you weren’t breathing. They had to give you mouth to mouth,” said Celestia.
Twilight’s earlier relief vanished. “Captain Reinolds gave me mouth to mouth?” she asked with alarm.
“I believe it was a Miss Ample Booty who did the honors, actually. You and Luna certainly have made some interesting friends down here,” said Celestia, her smile as indecipherable as ever.
“Luna! And Ouroboros! What happened? What did... ow...” Twilight’s attempt to sit up as she realized she’d last seen her charge being devoured by a sea serpent uncovered a whole score of new aches and pains throughout her body.
“Ouroboros is dormant once more thanks to you. It will take it several days to recover from the wounds you inflicted. My sister and I will seal it away once more in that time. As for Luna, I arrived a few hours after dawn and was able to... extricate her from her predicament. There was no permanent damage, beyond what her ego suffered. She was as good as new after showering a few times,” said Celestia. “In truth, I don’t mind saying how glad I am to hear of your concern for her. When I stuck you two together, I’ll admit I wasn’t sure your relationship would ever recover after the fight you’d had. I hope you can forgive me for what I put you through. And for what I said to you that day.”
Twilight smiled despite herself. It was hard to believe that had only been three months, it felt like far longer. “What’s a little attempted murder between good friends, right Princess?” asked Twilight, playing it off. She was surprised at how little resentment she felt over the whole thing now.
“That sounds like an excellent, if somewhat unconventional, thesis for a Friendship Report,” said Celestia.
It took Twilight a moment to process the full implications of Celestia’s statement. “Wait, are you saying you want me to be your student again?”
Celestia beamed. “I do. Very much so. I see no reason to continue the punishment you’ve been laboring under, when it’s clear you’ve grown so much since I levied it. And if you’ll permit me to be a little bit selfish for a moment, I’ve missed you Twilight. I missed you so much.” She placed a hoof against Twilight’s cheek, ever so gently. “Midterms at the Academy start in two weeks, unless you choose to postpone them while you catch up. Whatever classes you’d like to take, I assure you we’ll find the space.”
It was a tempting offer. Part of Twilight, a big part, wanted to leap onto the suggestion that they go back to the way things had been before.
But another part of her knew that would be a mistake.
“I’m not really sure I’m ready to come back, Princess,” she said. Celestia was usually impossible to read, but nopony could miss the look of hurt and disappointment that settled on her face just then.
“I... I see. Well. I suppose, if that’s what you want,” she mumbled.
“I don’t mean forever. I like being your student. It’s an important part of me and it always will be. But I realized over the last few days that there are other parts of me that are important too, and I need to learn more about those. I thought for the next few months, maybe I would go see my friends in Ponyville and then do some travelling. When the new semester starts, maybe I’ll be ready then,” said Twilight. “Does that make sense? I’m not sure I’m explaining it very well.”
“It does. There is a great deal of wisdom in that suggestion, I think. Take all the time you need and know that whatever decision you reach, you will always have my love and support in everything you do,” said Celestia. “Now I think you have earned some rest, and I have lots to do here in Pensacolta. Try to take it easy,” she gave Twilight a gentle peck on the cheek and turned to leave. Twilight watched her go, wondering if she was making the right choice. In the end, though, she’d just have to deal with whatever happened as it happened. She lay her head back down on the pillow, and before long she had dozed off again.
----------------------------------------
When Twilight woke up it was the middle of the afternoon. The worst of the pains had faded enough for Twilight to get up. She was starving, and realized that she hadn’t eaten anything for a full twenty four hours. Rather than call somepony in to fuss over her, she decided to take matters into her own hooves and gingerly lowered herself out of bed, testing her weight. She wasn’t going to running any races in the near future, but she could walk without too much of a limp. Nudging open her door and peeking through, she waited until a nearby nurse turned away from her before she slipped into the hallway following signs for the hospital cafeteria.
The lunch rush had ended well over an hour ago, and only a few tables had anypony seated at them. The three figures across the room sipping on mugs of coffee stood out and Twilight trotted over to them.
“You guys are OK!” she said. She grabbed Luna in a big hug from the side, causing her to yelp and drop her coffee. She only caught it with her magic at the last second. Twilight realized her mistake and let go. “Oh, I’m sorry Luna, I didn’t mean to-”
She was interrupted when Luna turned and swept her up in a hug of her own. “Do not worry, we were simply surprised. Some of our bite marks are still a little tender but you did us no real harm,” she said. Her mane and coat were scruffy and a little patchy in places, but Luna was probably in better shape than she was right now. Twilight realized she hadn’t seen her reflection yet, and wasn’t looking forward to it.
“Good to have you back, Sparkle,” said Reinolds from the other side of the table once Luna had loosened her grip. “That was a hell of a stunt you pulled back there.” Ample nodded from under a cloak that had obscured her features until Twilight got closer.
“I’m just glad everypony’s fine,” said Twilight. Ample’s face twisted into a sly little smile.
“Actually, Twilight, there’s some bad news. Ample Booty is dead,” said Ample. Twilight stared blankly at her. “Taken from us too soon, at the very pinnacle of her awesomeness. They never even found the body. Tragic, really. It’s all spelled out in the very official press release that tomorrow’s paper is planning to run.”
“Why would you let them do that? You’re a hero. They should throw you a parade or something,” said Twilight.
“Don’t I know it. But I’ve been a bad pony for a very long time, Twilight. I probably have a good seven or eight outstanding warrants, and even if Luna here gave me a royal pardon there are some ponies on the other side of the law that wouldn’t take too kindly to me helping you with Gumdrop. Not least her old crew. My old crew.” said Ample.
“But what will you do? Where will you go if everypony in the city thinks you’re dead?” ask Twilight.
“Plenty of other cities out there. I hear good things about Manehattan. Plenty of ways for an enterprising mare with my kinds of skills to make a living with a dishonest day’s work,” she said leaning back in her chair
Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked over at Reinolds and Luna, who seemed completely unsurprised that the pony in front of them had just blatantly confessed her plans to commit more crimes in the future. “You can’t do that, we won’t let you do that, right Princess?” she looked up to Luna expectantly.
Luna shrugged. “We cannot punish ponies for crimes they have not yet committed, Twilight,” said Luna.
Twilight frowned. She had come up with four different ways she could do just that through the proper application of divination and chronomancy when Reinolds spoke up again.
“Yeah, Manehattan's good. Too bad you aren’t considering Canterlot, though. There’s a pony there who I would have introduced you to. New recruit at the guard. Green coat, blonde mane, picture of a coin for a cutie mark. She’s screwed up a lot in the past, but I wasn’t really interested in that when I signed her up,” said Reinolds, pausing to take a long sip of his coffee. “What was important to me is that she’s clever, brave, and she stepped up to help a bunch of ponies she didn’t know when she could have just run off and saved herself. Frankly she’s a probably a bit overqualified for the job.”
Ample sat there for a long time, letting that sink in. “How do you know that I... that she’s cut out for the whole straight and narrow, legitimate citizen thing?” she asked.
“I guess I don’t know, for sure, but she really came through and helped me out when there was nopony else who could and I think I owe her the benefit of the doubt. I know this Princess, you see, and even though she’s a bit weird...” Luna’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but she didn’t interrupt him. ”...she and I are both believers in the power of second chances,” said Reinolds. “Wish I could remember the mare’s name though, it’s on the tip of my tongue...”
Ample looked down at her side, staring at the spot where her disguise covered her cutie mark. “I think...I think her name is Golden Heart. That sounds like the name of the pony that she hopes... that she wants to be,” said Ample... said Golden Heart.
“You know, I think that was it exactly. Luna and I can take care of the paperwork, but she better be at training by 7:30 sharp next Monday. She needs to get her mane trimmed down to regulation length before then, too,” said Reinolds. “Oh, and one last thing. If I ever find out she has stepped even a millihoof out of line, or she’s been anything less than the pinnacle of integrity and trustworthiness, she and I will finish the knife fight we nearly started on the Tranquility. Got that?”
“Understood,” said Golden Heart. Reinolds’ glare didn’t relent even a bit. “I mean, understood... sir.”
“Wait, you two were in a knife fight?” asked Twilight.
“For the record, I totally would have kicked this geezer’s flank if he hadn’t chickened out,” said Golden Heart.
“Not even in your wildest dreams, kid.”
The two stared each other down for several seconds, until suddenly they both burst out laughing. “Alright. If I’m moving to Canterlot, I better go see my sister and give her a rundown of what’s really happening. If she sees my obituary in the paper before I can tell her what’s actually going on she might decide to make it come true,” said Golden Heart.
“I’ll come with you. You might need the backup,” said Reinolds. The two of them got up from the table and walked out of the cafeteria together, leaving Luna and Twilight alone. Neither of them seemed quite sure how to handle the moment, and an awkward silence descended over them.
“So, Twilight,” Luna began at last, “I suppose Celestia informed you that you were released from your duties as a bodyguard to us when she spoke to you.”
“Yes, she did mention that,” said Twilight, “I hope I did an OK job.”
“Of all our bodyguards who allowed us to be eaten by a sea serpent, you were the best.”
“You aren’t going to let that go anytime soon, are you?” asked Twilight, a skeptical eyebrow raised.
“Our sister made it clear that she would be reminding us of this incident regularly over the next several decades. So no,” said Luna.
“Do you two really poke fun at one another for things that happened so long ago?” asked Twilight.
Luna smiled a mischievous smile. “Actually, Twilight, allow me to answer that by telling you a story. Quite a long time ago, Equestria was hosting a trade summit with the Draconian empire. At the time, our intelligence about the empire’s internal politics was somewhat limited, but we had just received a very credible report that one of their princes had a powerful crush on Celestia. We decided to take advantage of this fact,” she said.
Twilight frowned. “You took advantage of a young dragon’s feelings? That seems wrong. And also somehow familiar,” she said.
Luna held up a hoof to forestall her protest. “Hear us out. It has been some time since anypony in particular has caught my sister’s eye but when she chooses to flirt with somepony, or somedragon as in this particular case, she is utterly, utterly shameless and heavy-hoofed. For three days, she applied her... charms... to the dragon prince.”
“Did it work?” asked Twilight, unable to resist interrupting the tale again.
“Well, as we discovered later,” Luna said with a smirk as she neared the climax of her story, “the Prince had never been interested in her at all. The whole tale was a rumor about an adolescent drake with a crush on a young rock farming mare in the borderlands that had spun entirely out of control,”
“So the whole time...” said Twilight.
“Exactly. At the end of the third day the prince took her aside, thinking it was she who had a crush on him, with the intention to let her down gently. If the later reports are to believed, he also told her that he wasn’t interested in ‘older mares.’”
Twilight winced in sympathy. “What did Celestia do?” she asked.
“What could she do? She resumed the trade talks as if nothing had happened and nursed her wounded pride in private. If you ever need a laugh, you need only drop the name “Prince Grayscale” into a conversation with her. We recommend waiting until she has just taken a mouthful of tea for maximum effect. Oh, and when you do please make sure you tell her from us that ‘now we are even.’” said Luna.
The two ponies shared a chuckle at Celestia’s expense. By the end of it Twilight felt that the tension between them had diminished just a little bit.
“In all seriousness, Twilight, we wish to thank you most sincerely for your service these last several months. You took on a great burden, protecting us in body and perhaps more importantly restoring us in spirit. We will not forget your efforts. Still... We are certain that by now you are ready to move on with your own life, and surely eager not to be stuck by our side. We would not begrudge you for wishing to... avoid us for some time after all this. We must surely bring to mind many hard times just by our presence,” said Luna, staring into her cup of coffee.
Twilight shifted in her chair, uncomfortable. “Well, Princess. I’m sure you’re sick of me too. There must be lots of things you’ve wished you could do without me interfering or hanging around uselessly. So if you want to go off on your own, or want me to just try to keep away from you for a while that would be completely understandable,” she said.
“Right,” said Luna.
“Right,” said Twilight. Another silence descended over them and both ponies found something more interesting to look at than one another.
“...on the other hoof...” said Luna eventually, “We discovered in one of the hospital’s periodicals that the Pensacolta Public Library recently began a new program displaying ancient tomes of dark magic and eldritch knowledge to the public. We thought we would go visit them. By ourselves of course.”
Twilight’s ears perked up at the prospect of rare and ancient books on display. “I think I’d like to see that too. You know, by myself,” she said.
Luna nodded. “Naturally. Though if we will be attending by ourselves, and you will be attending by yourself, perhaps we could each attend by ourselves... at the same time?”
Twilight couldn’t contain her grin. “I’d like that very much Princess. In fact I think that if we both decided to independently and coincidentally visit the exhibit, say, right now we could even walk over there together.”
Luna’s nervous and tentative smile changed instantly into a wide and genuine one, and Twilight thought there might even be the slightest suggestion of tears in the corner of her eyes. “We would very much enjoy that. We try to make it a point to attend such events ever since a careless librarian accidentally sorted A Newbie’s Primer on Necromancy in the young foal’s selection.”
Twilight grimaced a bit. “Oh dear, that must have led to some serious mental trauma for the poor little things,” she said.
“On the contrary, the foals found the entire experience delightful and exciting. Their parents, on the other hoof...” and with that Luna began to regale Twilight with the tale of the Zombie Gerbil Horde that had menaced Fillydelphia fifteen hundred years ago.
Side by side, the two friends pushed open the doors of the hospital and walked out into the late afternoon sun. Whatever the future held, they’d face it together.
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Holy crap it's actually done.
Thanks everyone who stuck with me through all the delays and long absences. I'm really glad to finish this and I wouldn't have managed it without you guys providing criticism and encouragement.
As for this last chapter, well, I wanted to end it on a forward-looking note. This did mean, unfortunately, no mention of Bronze or any angst over whether Twilight could have done something differently. I didn't want to imply that Twilight's just completely forgotten him but at the same time there wasn't really all that much to explore and I like that this chapter is compact, if a little heavy on the dialogue
1834817
yaaaaaaaay
Given how angry and bloodthirsy she was at that point, I'm not sure that Twilight would have been very...
...
...frond of that idea.
While I am sad that the story is ending, I am equally glad that it was finished before the apocalypse took place.
I can go to the end of the world satisfied. A life well spent.
I have to say. I adore this.
Eakin, that pun in your post was horrible. That said, good story and I enjoyed pretty much the whole trip. Nice to see Twilight and Luna settling back into being buddies again, perhaps even more so than before.
I would read that fic.
1835532
You keep making Ample sound like a hooker. XD
From Ample Booty to Golden Heart? Didn't think some of us'd catch that?
"She's got a heart of gold and a mouth full of..."
it was amazing
tnkz dor sharing this story with all of us
The Zombie Gerbil Horde of Fillydelphia...?
This. Must. Be. Written.
1835670
I would too. I imagine that Luna must have dozens of crazy stories like that, considering how cavalier Equestrians seem to be about storing their incredibly dangerous magical knick knacks.
1835675
I was trying to make her sound less slutty... I guess I'm sheltered. If anything, her name is a reference to the Kinks song and even that's a stretch.
yay,
Hmm... some divination would have been mighty helpful those last four chapters.
It's moments like this that I read your stories for
Now, go write "Daring Doo and the Spear of Windigos"
A small part of me is irritated at Bronze getting no mention, but the far larger part simply enjoyed the chapter and the ending. Definitely glad to see that apology from Celestia.
*Alondro's evil mind thinks up an alternative to the Celestia-Prince grayscale debaucle*
Celestia gave the large dragon prince a coy wink accompanied by a sly smile, "Soooo, I hear you'd like to 'add me to your hoard', as it were?"
Grayscales' tail began to wag excitedly sweeping away a pony-size table before he managed to control it, "I-I suppose... well, I hope you don't find it insulting. You know how we dragons tend to objectify things by instinct, meaning no disrespect."
Celestia leaned toward him and nuzzled his foreleg, "Oh no, I don't mind at all. In fact, I'm very flattered by your taste in mares."
Grayscale swallowed nervously, "My... t-taste in mares? Celestia... are you suggesting what I think you are?"
Celestia almost purred as she rubbed more of herself against his leg and belly scales, "Why not? Attraction comes in many forms, after all. I've heard of plenty of cases where ponies and griffons have shared the same experience."
Grayscale looked puzzled for a moment, "But how could the pony fit inside..." Then he grinned, "Oh I see! They make a game of cat and mouse out of it! That sounds delightfully tintilating!"
Celestia herself seemed a bit confused at the mention of a pony fitting somewhere, but soon took it to mean something scandalously lewd and smiled even wider than before, "Yes, I'm sure they found a way to play, no matter the size issues!" She stroked her hoof along his scales fondly, "I don't see it being an issue here at all... I like my males rather... big.."
Grayscale rumbled deeply, his eyes alight with passionate flames, "Oh Celestia! You have no idea how pleased I am to hear this! I hardly dared imagine you might grant me such a bizarre request!"
Celestia's musical laughter echoed through the great cavern hall, "What's bizarre about it? Pony, dragon, we all feel the need, the desire. The object of our desires may differ, the the hungers are still there! And this is one hunger I would gladly sate whenever possible! Especially with a mighty, and may I say... VERY handsome dragon!" She leaned her head upon his belly scales, basking in his radiating internal warmth while her pastel mane fluttered slowly, lightly tickling him with the faintest of ethereal touches.
Grayscale felt himself salivating. He could hardly believe such a fantastic dream, a fancy he'd long-thought utterly impossible, was about to come true. "Then... shall I... take a taste of you?" he asked nervously.
Celestia giggled and crooned, "Ooooo, such a naughty dragon!" She took a few steps away and then laid down and rolled over on her back, "Go right ahead, big boy! Taste all you like!"
Grayscale's heart lept for joy! The lovely Princess was SO eager! She wanted it right here, right now! Well then, he did not dare to disappoint! His stomach growled as he lifted Celestia in his talons and greedily opened his huge maw, from which drool ran like rivers.
Celestia's eyes widened, "Wait... I think we may have a bit of a misunder.." But before she could finish, Grayscale had thrust her into his mouth and began sucking on her like a lolipop!
Later that day, after the fires were extinguished and the craters in the landscape filled in, a rather humiliated pair of beings, Celestia (mane still somewhat matted from dragon drool) and Grayscale (sporting a blistered snout), sat apart from one another, only barely stealing awkward glances at each other.
"I-uhm... very sorry..." Grayscale mumbled. "Terrible misunderstanding... but, honestly, you are delicio..."
"CAN IT SCALE-BRAIN!!" Celestia snarled in the Royal Canterlot Voice as she stomped a hoof several inches into the solid stone floor.
It was later learned that a certain rather trollish younger sister of Celestia's had learned of the Prince's secret desire to nom Celestia by sneaking a peek at his dream diary, and altered the rumor hoping for exactly the situation that occurred. She was spanked severely as punishment, but couldn't stop laughing the entire time.
(Alondro bows his head, "I think even hell will throw me out for this... but anyway, TROLOLOLOLO!!!"
)
Nice little happy ending, I like it.
“Why would you let them do that? You’re a hero. They should throw you a parade or something,” said Twilight.
Pfff.... so pirate who turned good for like several minutes already become hero, did every-pony already forgot about Twilight Sparkle and Luna and guard who together risked they lives to safe every-pony in this city, come on.
Give Twilight and Luna some reward for job well done, where is parade in the names ?
Heroes in Equestria sure are not rewarded well, no wonder no pony else than mane 6 are heroes, since no one else want to bother.
Zombie... Gerbils?
1835910
Well that's... uh... wow
1835989
I suspect that that was hyperbole on Twilight's part. The entire point of that exchange is that one good deed DOESN'T erase all the consequences of a lifetime of being a pirate.
1836055
It would be the fluffiest apocalypse ever
Amazing story and you ended it quite well.
1835910
Where is your altar, so that I may pay respects to your Godhood?
Amazing author skills right here.
+1 & fav'd.
1836416 You do realize I am going to make a completed troll fic out of that idea... There shall be mountains of innuendo and double entendre!
1836092 Now you have some idea of what it's going to be like when I begin posting my Ultimate Pony Trollfics. All 14 of them...
Topics that will be trolled: HiE, Molestia, Self-inserts, Mary Sues, god-moding, angst, grimdark, cross-overs, and shipping. With many other lesser subtopics thrown in for more giggles and confusion!
I am mastering the ways of the original and most advanced form of trolling: satire!
From the political cartoons of Thomas Nast, to the wit of Groucho Marx, to the.. uhm... to the everything of "South Park"... I have learned the way of High Troll.
1836493
I have no idea what you are talking about...
It's... it's over?
i.imgur.com/fr0zV.gif
1836092
Yes I know, it is just that Twilight thought that this so called pirate deserve a parade for what he did, when she is the one who deserve one and not get it.
What I try to say is that Equestria have a very bad habit in poorly rewarding they heroes, not that Twilight complain about it, but do any-pony in town even know that she and Luna just saved every-pony, do they care to even thank them or reward them ?
The point is that it is very easy to give punishments when someone from mane 6 screw up ( after fight between Twilight and Luna, both sides did mistake, but it still end up in Twilight being punished since Luna hold a grudge again her and was going to make Twilight work as bodyguard rather hard, not to mention that Luna almost killed her, and if it was not for Twilight, Luna would be dead or on the moon in the first place ), but when Twilight and her friends cure Nightmare Moon ( giving Celestia her sister back after 1000 years banishment ), when they faced Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, they were not well rewarded, Twilight not even received any trust from Celestia when she need one.
My point is that every-pony make mistakes, every pony make good and bad thinks in they life, but mane 6 reward for doing good is far worse than punishment they would get for doing bad thinks ( in your fanfic, punishment for hurting Luna feelings is just one example, I noticed in many fanfics mane 6 are poorly rewarded for being heroes, and heavy punished when they screw up, and when in your fanfic Twilight said to pirate that he deserve parade for what he did, it just remind me that Twilight just do not get enough praise for all her hard work, and operantly Luna too.
Zombie Gerbil Hoards...
Nice ending.
Updated and Complete.
This is a very good fiction and I enjoy the little happy ending.
The character/persona developement is well-written.
Especially for Twilight and Luna. Both of them were a bit stubborn.
I enjoy the end and the whole story.
Thank you for this awesome fiction.
This was a wonderful and fascinating story. However, after reading that scene between Twilight and Celestia, I've decided that there was one problem.
Needs more shipping
Amazing story, it's come so far.
1836092
Interesting story, but I can't help but think it went sour not that far into it. Save the world three times, get stained glass windows. Defend yourself from a royal bully, get publicly reprimanded, humiliated and thrown under the tires of said bully. With the way Celestia acted towards her not-the-most-mentally-stable student, I'm surprised a pony like Twilight Sparkle didn't simply up and teleport away from Equestria.
I also can't help but think after she kindly told Celestia what to go do with herself (for now), that Twilight's opinion of her will cool even further, especially with the suggested investigation into dark magic. If she returns to the academy, she may not even want to be Celestia's student at all.
Aww, that was a nice ending
I found the confrontation between Twilight and Gumdrop a little weak. I think it might have been too much talking on Gumdrop's part.
That aside, I've really enjoyed this story. Twilight and Luna make such a great pair of friends.
I want to see a story about this Zombie Gerbil Horde.
1838945
Ha! Everybody was asking me if I'd be shipping Luna and Twilight before Bronze entered the picture too. Is everything I write laced with sexual tension, or is that just the fandom being the fandom? I intend to try my hand at an actual ship fic sometime in the next year, we'll see if I can do it intentionally.
1846151
Fair point. I knew I wouldn't be able to stretch it out that long once they actually threw down (Twilight v. Gumdrop would be no contest in Twi's favor, Twilight v. Ouroboros would end with a purple smear on the beach equally quickly). It was also important to me that Twilight not ever actually kill anybody herself, except in the "Hoisted by their own petard karmic death by outside force" sort of way, which my moral intuitions tell me is different but I can never pin down any logical reason why it should be. So yeah, I can see how it would be unsatisfying compared to Twi vs. Luna and the gang vs. Ouroboros.
1872780
I didn't write it with that view but then again it's Celestia. So sure, why not?
1916174
It isn't a coincidence that Tranquility is a synonym for Serenity
I actually wrote the name and the whole first chapter before I realized the Firefly connection, then decided to just go with it.
1916829 Well, I'm glad you did. Gave me a few giggles first time I read his name. And Horatio Mane? Gave me lots of laughs.
You know I've honestly been putting off reading this story for the longest time, and only just got to it. Glad I did, I'll tell you.
1917348
Glad you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it
lol twilight now has the means to troll trollesta
epic wining
1836092
At least they're not zombie rabbits. Imagine the waves they could multiply up.
Also, i would absolutely love to see a sequel (directly, or distantly in the universe's future, either one) to this. Have a fave, thumb and watch. I don't normally give a watch for a single fic, but this adventurefic was just that awesome.
1922216
I'm already working on another Twilight fic that's sort of in the same vein, action/adventure-y, mostly as an experiment to get me working with a first person perspective. No connection to the plot of this story though. I've kicked around the idea of an actual story line sequel, but I'd probably do something centered around Reinolds and Ample back in Canterlot rather than following Luna and Twilight again since I don't really know what direction I would take their relationship in now. Their character arcs ended in a good place, I think. Who knows? I'm not committing to anything nor will I rule anything out. Keeps my options open
If there was any evidence that Twilight and Luna could be the end of civilization as we know it, this would be it.
If there was any, that is.
Just finished this story, and I have to say it was an exciting and enjoyable experience all around. The action was well placed and entertaining. There were plenty of great little comedy lines, and the character interactions were nice.
There were a few issues I found in this story. One being that the first and second story arcs are somewhat disjointed in feel and direction. The first very briefly covered Twilight learning how to fight with magic, and the second was on Twilight and Luna's little adventure. On one hand this whole story was fast paced, so it never dragged at any point, but that came at a cost of being able to sit down and enjoy what the story was doing at the moment. It came across as slightly disjointed to me as a result given we rarely sat down and smelled the roses as it were.
Also the semi-romance subplot with Bronze didn't really hit me in any way. I just didn't feel Twilight attachment to Bronze due to a lack of interaction between the two of them, so his betrayal and death didn't carry much emotional weight with me as a result.
That all said, this was a fun story for me. I was entertained and enjoyed reading it. I liked the action scenes, the comedy, and the character interaction moments between Twilight and Luna. Though some of the other character interactions sometimes fell a bit flat for me.
That was good. I liked it.
2454482 <--- this. I agree with it.
Also, zombie gerbil apocalypse? Where do I find that book?
Very touching ending. I absolutely loved Celestia's scene; so much pride and affection for Twilight. The line about being 'selfish' was the highlight for me.
"Golden Heart" was almost as a touching for and ending scene. I wouldn't mind seeing a fic with her as The Protagonist or something else to show how she's doing.
Finally, 'going alone together' was adorably awkward. It feels like a counterpoint to the duel and really makes these two plot arcs feel like one story.
All together, a terrific ending for a great fic.
P.S.
Celestia as a shameless flirt? Hilarious and more so because of the circumstances.
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7uvz2c8kS1qh6w8to1_500.gif
The moment I say "Captain Reinolds," that character sounded and spoke just like Mal.
I love you.
As to the rest of the story, it's great! What a fun, action/adventure! Loved all of the references, the sly jokes, the witticisms, it all made for a fun story. I hope to see more pair ups with Luna and Twilight, because if you don't, I might try, and I don't know if I could capture the same fun, the same brisk pacing, and the great writing. Favorited, Liked, and Followed!
Poor Twilight never did get her lunch.
you know, this was just released a few days ago but i think http://badass2.ocremix.org/ track 1 goes nicely both with the games final boss and with other battles of that nature, like say ouroboros here
and now i have some other fic about gerbils or some such to check out >.>
twilight was never released from the hospital
3330506
Twilight Sparkle goes where she wants to.
But yeah, good catch.
3330506
And she never will be.
Officially, she stayed in that hospital until she died of old age.
Centuries later, historians were not amused.