This story is a sequel to Meliora
Jacqueline Kessler was the Dreamknife, a being that crossed between worlds to dispense her own particular interpretation of justice. She served for thousands of years, living in the nightmares of dictators and murderers and all of the worst ponies that had ever lived.
But in the end, she cared enough about her world to be willing to let it go. She sold herself for a powerful spell in order to save a post-event earth from Athena's digital tyranny. Now she's dead, almost. There's just one piece of unfinished business. One last changeling to find...
If she can stop her mind from decomposing long enough to reach her.
A PaP story, also meant to be my farewell to a character I've loved since the early days of the universe. This story is also a commission for the wonderful Bitera. If you'd like a story like this, feel free to drop me a PM.
Cover is by Zutcha, in case you couldn't tell. The crew did the editing like bros.
Updates daily until complete.
Let it never be said that Jackie was good at giving up...or really knew how to much at all!
This is going to make for a very interesting farewell indeed. Looking forward to it.
It begins again... Lets see what kind of a ride we'll be going through this time.
The place described reminds me of something...
Lets see if im right about where it is. I did always like that universe's Jackie.
Yeah boi let’s go I’m already crying and it hasn’t even started yet
I guess this will be our farewell to Jackie...
...as far as Starscribe's stories go, maybe.
I'm still probably gonna drop a doodle of her every once in a while in places.
I'm not ready to say goodbye to Jackie yet
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Me neither X.x
So one bat every chapter?
Haha! I called it! Friendly fire jackie!
You know you're deep in the Dreamlands when you stumble into different narrative continuities. That said, fragments of the Dreamknife scattered across probability space would explain all those other Jackies... but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right explanation. I suppose we'll find out in time.
This story is exactly what I asked for.
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When... a... grid's misaligned with another behind, that's a Moiré!
(Credit/blame to Randall Munroe.)
xkcd references aside, the gang is increasingly here. And every time a new Jackie joins the party, the world starts attacking them. Most curious. Hopefully the primary Jackie won't have to pull any more industrial tools out of the aether; she doesn't seem to have many left in her.
The world certainly doesnt want to have a moment for them to talk about whats going on, and at this rate we'll have the full cast of jackies [/spoiler ]before they do. So far i've guessed correctly which jackies we'd be meeting. Im going to guess the next one lives on a certain ring...
Ah yes. Just in case isn't wasn't clear who "Sarah" truly was. Though given the nature of that Equestria, her dying would be an impressive and deeply worrisome feat:
In any case, I'm almost certain Jackie Prime doesn't quite understand what's really going on here... but I have to admit, I'm not totally sure. I suppose we'll find out in fairly short order. Still, Moire picking up any kind of vital signs from her is curious indeed.
Loving the fanart every chapter.
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I can't recall a time that matches what we're seeing in this universe. We've got a flood of changelings, and Sarah looking for Photuris, but I don't recall Sarah being anywhere near a changeling flood at any point after Photuris was introduced.
Knew I was justified in thinking of 'Sarah' as Jackie to the point I was surprised every time I read her name!
Also, I hadn't really thought through the sheer amount of sass a room rapidly filling with Jackie's would have!
This is the strangest crossover I've seen in a while...
Huh. And we're back in unfamiliar territory for me. I really do need to do a more comprehensive sweep of your work. Still, nicely creepy atmosphere. Eagerly looking forward to the Sun.
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Yay called it once again! Now up next.... i have no clue. This'll be interesting.
Ooh~ new place, and no new jackie. Seems like we might have completed our crew and will now be going into whats actually going on
Also despite not having read it im pretty sure i saw a Futile Resistance reference in there.
d'aww... squeaks... Im surprised they opted to stay behind, essentially seeming to give up on being with Harley again as well... Cant help but wonder if there is something more going on that im missing.
What revelations await below?
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And then there were two. And from the sound of it, Sarah may be a lot less willing to make her sacrifice. Still, the journey isn't over yet. Now that Charon's collected his fee, it's time to see what's on the other side of the river.
Jackie's minor freak out suggests the ship's systems sound like Athena. I bet the HPI just used the same bargain brand voice synthesizer that every other computer on the market uses. Happens all the time.
Hopefully they can change it once Moire is installed. Doubt Jackie will like her robo-self sounding like the person that repeatedly tried to kill her.
Edit: I think I misunderstood something about putting Moire in the boat
I'm not sure I understand what happened at the end. Did Jackie go back and redo her choice from the beginning, or does that mean that she'd just forgotten what she actually chose?
Heh, did Jackie's journey through other stories just sneak in a trip through Friendship Abroad as well?
The hero's journey is a wheel, sometimes more literally than others.
Though that lingering Incomplete tag is a curious one. I mean, we're out of Major Arcana. I suppose we should expect a Foolish epilogue.
Whether or not that's the case, a wonderful if bittersweet journey this far.
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Am I missing something? Because I only see the last 8 of the 22 major arcana.
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Such a wonderful ending, and yet I'm not at all ready to call it the end.
...I think I need to go back and re-read each story she plays a part in.
I must admit i do not fully understand what happened. but... im satisfied with the end. Thats enough for me.
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I'm pretty sure at some point Star typo'd Sarah's name as Jackie. I think anyway.
Goodbye Jackie. You were always one of my favorites.
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I... think the whole story is kinda a metaphor? We're finally laying her to rest. Each in turn. I'm pretty sure the order even matches the order each of the series she was present in reached their Jackie- related conclusion. She started out not ready to move on... as I'm sure a lot of us were feeling. And then finally at the end, just like Jackie was able to accept it, we too can accept that she's gone. By remembering that she had such a long, fulfilling, varied journey.
Just do like they promised each other. Don't forget them.
Farewell, Jackie.
I see what you did there.
Damn. I didn't expect that ending to hit me like it did.
what universe this village is from?
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I don't either. I was bothered by the fact that I didn't understand the ending, so I came back and read this last part again. I've got an idea that might not be right but I think it's interesting, at least.
The Tarot says that life is a cycle. Maybe... one that can repeat? If Jackie traveled deeply enough, she might've ended up where she started. Not just once, but multiple times. Could be that those other parts of her that appeared to be figments were actually truly her. Time loops, basically. The main Jackie of this story is just the final iteration. The Tarot starts with the Fool, which basically says you don't know anything when your life starts. Could be her memories were mostly wiped on each iteration of the loop, with only her love of Ezri surviving. It'd also make sense for why it is that each of her "figments" each went through a full story of their own. You'd think that if they were just figments that there wouldn't necessarily be a full story behind them. They'd just be a part of some nonsensical dream. But they have full stories that make sense behind them because they're each the real Jackie on one of her cyclic journeys. She had to complete the full cycle before she could start again. This would make the whole thing more romantic, since it would mean she went through the same cycle multiple times to find Ezri.
Not sure if this really jives with the details of the fic. But I thought it was a nice enough idea to post anyway.
Heh. Isn't it "who's not dead?"
So this is like inception! Jackie needs a top.
My thoughts on this story.
Well, at least the two are reunited now. Somehow, it feels like most of the suffering in the Universe has just passed. And that is a lot of tragedy.
Feels like the ending to the series as a whole, really, which is interesting. Though I wish there were a way for the world to be whole, somehow.
This, was equally parts about what I hoped and expected, and equal parts unexpected...
Dang Jackies had rough rides.
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A fulfilling ending isn't always a just happy ending.
I'm not sure this series is over, but another red thread has weaved it's last knot in the tapestry.
Out of the original crew, who’s stories still need to be tied? (Of course Alex will probably come as the saying; the first shall be the last.)
I'm quickly starting to wish this story came with some way to tell what world each page takes place in. For those of us that haven't (and are unlikely to any time soon with how much there is
) read everything Starscribe has ever typed out.
I'll be honest. I just binged books 1-9, 'cept 7 and 8, all within the span of four days.
Coming back around, I never read this far, till the end. An utter masterpiece, if you ask me.
I also cried, right at the end. It took seeing no "next chapter" button for it to really hit, that last scene. and god damn your words got hands
Thank you. 💚
I've been reading Bedtime stories, to Meliora, to this in like two days. Yesterday alone I've read for 13 hours straight and finished at 1am.
Time for another story. Bottle maybe?
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
YES! Haha! And she did it! Because of course, she did. A fantastic end to her story, Jackie, you did fantastically.