76 Epilogue: Lord of Celebration
July 1st, 1021 Domina Solaria
Twenty Years Later
Near the top of Mount Change Tse - the closest of the towering mountains to Yakyakistan while still being located in the Crystal Empire - lies a modest apple orchard, terraced against the steep slopes. In the center of that, built mostly into the mountain, protrudes an even more modest villa. But the view couldn’t be better: on a clear day, one can see most of the way down the mountain, and all the way across Equestria.
The railroad leading to the city Change Tse, primarily built and operated by Hive Industries, stops at the Lower Tse changeoff. It’s always fun to watch the song and dance as cargo and cheapskates go to the utilitarian lift, while passengers who splurge on a ticket ride a circuitous route around the mountain’s exterior. Faint bubbles can be seen on many of the nearby peaks, though none are quite as majestic as the Hive’s main base of operations.
Doug watches the blinking lights of the train pierce into Change Tse’s bubble from his customary spot on the roof of the villa. His auburn hair has darkened to a salt and pepper that gets saltier with every passing year. His lean and muscular build has been weathered over the years from the high altitude, and he finds he can’t go nearly as many days without wearing a light jacket purely for warmth. One hand, calloused from years of farm work and hewing stone, swirls a glass of sweet apple cider. The other rests comfortably in the sunburnt mane of the Apple matron Applejack. Her blond shows more hints of gray than she’d like to admit, yet would never hide. She tilts up her battered Stetson, favorite despite rows of newer ones that everypony, for some reason, insists on getting her. She beams a quick smile at her stallion, cooing at the affirming squeeze to the back of her neck in response, and raises her head to Castle Change.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stand on the southern facing balcony of the squat beacon, grinning broadly. Around the city heads turn up as not Princess Celestia but Princess Dawn strides forward. The reddish orange alicorn, cutie mark of a sun and moon cresting the horizon, closes her eyes as she concentrates, her tongue sticking out just the barest amount. Her sister, Princess Dusk, matches her steps. The pale blue alicorn has a nearly identical cutie mark, the differing background of their coats the only difference. The alicorns bask in dawn’s glow as the sun rises above the mountains far to the east, and the moon sets below the mountains far to the west, their duties complete.
Celestia leaves first, Luna following, gliding down to the villa’s landing zone built specially for their heavier weight. The white alicorn joins Doug and Applejack, greeting with a pleasant, “Morning,” and nuzzling her stallion warmly.
“Morning,” Doug returns, nuzzling Luna next. “Enjoying being just a figurehead?”
“I dare say retirement suits me,” Celestia says, though her eyes flick to one of the neighboring bubbles, the furthest to the east.
“Thou has not quite earned the title of ‘retiree’, given how frequently you are ‘requested’ to ‘assist’ in the formulation of a new city’s charter and governance.” Luna sticks her tongue out at her Sister, Celestia returning a quick flick of her own. “Or the reams of papers you sift through every day.”
“I’m just trying to stay on top of the daily news, and it’s all freelance work anyway. With so many frontier towns and cities sprouting up, and new ponies?” Celestia snorts as Cadance flies up from the train as it passes under the villa. “Besides, you’re one to talk. You haven’t taken a night off in, how long has it been?”
“That is only because Midnight is more suited to running the Night Court, just as your Noon runs the Day. Perhaps we must convince Magic to conceive again, were our desire to abandon our duties as strong as yours.”
“I heard somepony needs my help!” Cadance calls as she lands next to Doug, a single suitcase carried in her pink aura. “Morning, everypony.”
“Morning, Cadance. You can ignore them, they just want to get another set of four in,” Doug says with a grin, greeting Cadance with a nuzzle. A crack appears in his chipper expression, a slight hesitation in his voice. “Is Shining Armor coming?”
Cadance sighs heavily, her cheerful expression fading. “He still hasn’t forgiven you, Doug, even after all this time. He knows it was Harmony’s doing, not yours, and we all agreed. But every time he sees Rage? I can see her namesake in his eyes, even if he says and does nothing.”
“It’s been eighteen years,” Doug says, matching Cadance’s heavy sigh. He continues after a short delay, shaking his head. “Well, tell him I hope he’s doing well.”
“I will,” Cadance says, her smile returning. She glances towards Applejack’s pregnant belly, showing after four months. What was a quick glance turns to a longing gaze. “Didn’t you say something about stopping after a dozen?”
“Well, Ah figured Ah’d make it an even baker’s dozen,” Applejack says with a chuckle. “Ah’m still hoping one of ‘em will go into farming, but ever since Big Mac took over at Sweet Apple Acres with his herd’n Pomarbo it’s been looking less and less likely.” She glances around at the apple trees surrounding them. “Maybe one o’ the littlest will take over for me here, but they keep goin’ into the business side of things instead of the harvestin’. How’re yours doing?”
“Flurry Heart still governs the Crystal Capital, and always looks for ways to assist with my Princess duties. Now that it encompasses all these new cities popping up in the Frozen North? I’m quite thankful for the help. Rage continues to live up to her name, and thankfully her smiting is focused on taming the land. If you didn’t hear, they’re breaking ground northeast of Manehatten, the largest peak that’s close to the Griffon Lands. Of course, they’re getting their primaries ruffled, claiming all sorts of nonsense about us spying on them, but there’s nothing they can do about it.”
“They sent me a postcard, and I think I’ve gotten two death threats from the Griffons, but it's the same vague nonsense they always pull. I might need to check for more.” Doug turns to Celestia and Luna, “How are the rest of the Mortals doing?”
“Grief is doing well, as is Ignorance,” Celestia says, Luna confirming with a nod. “You’ll have to ask Twilight the specifics of Hope, but they were recovering from fabricating the latest Crystal Heart last I heard. I don’t get to see them nearly as frequently as Dawn; since I have promised to be with her every dawn until the Council is satisfied? There isn’t much chance of that changing, not that I would want it to.”
“Hopefully they’ll be able to make it,” Doug says brightly, glancing towards the hallway leading inside the mountain and the majority of the villa. Dozens of ponies stream into the outside area from both above and below. They run the gamut of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Every age is represented; from herds just starting out with young foals, young mares who recently earned a cutie mark, and singles figuring out their careers. Applejack leaves with Celestia and Luna, going to greet many of the newcomers. “Ah, and here’s the other half of Equestria’s expansion into the north!”
“You see me every week,” Chief Architect Chrysalis greets icily. She glances over at Applejack, seeing the earth pony frown. “Well, most weeks.” She hides her sly wink at Doug, “We still on for tonight?”
“Sure,” Doug confirms as Applejack shakes her head and looks away, any animosity about Chrysalis monopolizing her stallion long past. “This make a thousand?” Doug asks, though no other changelings are visible among the ponies, and not because they are transformed. “Can’t believe you haven’t found another stallion that suits your needs better, after all this time.”
“Thereabouts, and the others are far too bright and colorful.” Chrysalis shakes her head; her nymphs with Doug almost always come out in a very similar color scheme to her, rather than the garish pinks and bright blues of, say, Shining Armor. She plops down next to Doug and stares out over the expansive view. “I keep telling you, the view from the castle itself is better.”
“Yes, well, I enjoy being a bit more off the beaten path,” Doug says as two earth pony foals, one a burnt orange and the other a dull red, force their way forwards and leap into his lap. He hugs the two foals close, exclaiming, “Oh, look how big you’ve gotten!” Following close behind is a brown earth pony mare, Applebaum all grown up. His attention turns to her, saying, “I still say I’m too old to be a grandpa.”
“Great grandpa,” Applebaum corrects, smiling broadly. “Gray Shoal should be right up, him and Trap made sure to bring extra diapers this time.”
“Wouldn’t want a repeat of their last visit,” Doug says, shaking his head. His hands scrunch up the two foal’s manes, gently pulling their heads back to look them in the eyes. “How are Seismic and Spire?”
“Other than getting into everything they could on the ride over, couldn’t be better.” Applebaum leans over, whispering, “The best part is, I get to give them back.”
“I believe I told you the same thing with Trap and Mine,” Doug says with a grin, “though I seem to have misplaced my candy.”
At the mention of the word the two foals bounce excitedly, spinning every which direction to try to find the promised sweets. When it doesn’t immediately make itself apparent they employ their best hurt and betrayed looks at Doug, the human’s hard exterior quickly crumbling.
“Auntie Twilight made a map,” Doug says, motioning towards the towns far below. He pulls a thin slab of stone upwards, the map mirroring the panoramic view. Each little cluster of buildings, roads, and railroad tracks is labeled in a tiny, flowing script. “You wouldn’t know what it was like before, but many of them didn’t even exist twenty years ago. Do you know where you live?”
The two foals study the landscape, then the view, then back to the map. Spire yelps, pointing a red hoof at a small chocolate placed over one of the small mining towns to the west. She gobbles it up, her sister’s orange hoof finding the other piece next to it.
“Very good!” Doug says, smirking at Applebaum’s roll of the eyes. “You get to see where everypony has gone.” His voice fades as he looks around at the twelve mares, forty foals, and nearly one hundred grandfoals crowding themselves around the villa. Each of them has a location marked on the map, nearly the entirety glowing. “So many ponies.”
“And here’s your favorite one!” Rainbow Dash exclaims as she lands, neatly pulling to a stop just above Doug. The two foals screech in delight, scampering out of Doug’s lap and forcing Applebaum to chase them down. She takes several deep breaths. “You doing all right, you big lug?”
“Better, now that you’re here,” Doug says with a smile and a hug for the chromatic pegasus. “You know, if you lived here, the high altitude wouldn’t bother you so much.”
“Yeah, well, the Crystal Heart does too good a job keeping the weather nice. If I ever look to retire, I’ll become head weathermare here.” Rainbow Dash smirks, then pulls out two Wonderbolt themed balls as a pair of white pegasus fillies charge forward. Both eschew the balls as they fly into Doug’s lap, getting a tight hug, a cyan pegasus stallion following behind.
“Sorry, dam, they’re more into strategy board games now,” Divine Wind says, offering a conciliatory smile, though he keeps the balls just in case.
“You mean, like, Storm Hunters?” Rainbow Dash asks hopefully, looking down at the fillies with a broad smile. They both stick their tongues out in disgust, Rainbow Dash pouting.
“Maybe something slightly more challenging,” Divine Wind says apologetically.
“Yeah, whatever,” Rainbow Dash says, rolling her eyes. “Hey, Grandmare Dash wants to see how your flying skills are coming along! Up and at ‘em!”
The two fillies moan but dutifully take to the air, flying off, Rainbow Dash giving chase.
Now that there is an opening Fluttershy cautiously approaches, furtively looking left and right. She warily watches Chrysalis, the large changeling licking her lips forebodingly. “Um,” Fluttershy says as she gets close, sticking to the opposite side of Chrysalis, “Have you ever thought of, um, inviting less ponies to these reunions?”
“Well, it’s just every five years, and it lets Pinkie Pie show off those party planning skills of hers,” Doug says, motioning backwards to where the pink mare is hard at work feeding the multitude. “Besides, you’re always free to bring the herd up here at other times.”
“I suppose,” Fluttershy says meekly, “but I don’t like leaving the animals in Ponyville alone for so long.”
“Even with Hedge and the others running that sanctuary thing?” Doug shrugs. “Yeah, I guess if you all are making the trip up here, and you had a lot of animals that need help.”
“Pretty much; it’s a lot like Rarity, and how she can’t make it because of some Manehatten business thing or another.”
“That’s a shame,” Doug says, sighing disappointingly. “I was hoping everypony would be able to make it.”
“Well, there are a lot of us.” Fluttershy glances around the party, looking for her little ones, none of whom are so ‘little’ any more. “I was glad I was able to make the trip. We had a beaver and a manticore get into a nasty argument, and it ended with the beaver dropping a tree onto the manticore’s tail.”
“That sounds incredibly painful,” Doug says, wincing. “I guess you were able to help her?”
“Yep! She’s got a cast, and is healing, so doesn’t need a lot of looking after,” Fluttershy says chipperly. She looks over as Applejack starts directing everypony with a large bullhorn. “Oh, I think we’re about to take a group picture!”
“Right,” Doug says, disappointed. He looks to the horizon as everypony lines up several rows deep for the picture. The littlest foals litter the front, then fillies and young mares, and their dams. Doug sits in the middle, alicorns laying down in front of him and leaving a noticeable spot for Twilight. The mares line up behind: Applejack closest while Trixie and Starlight take the edges.
“Wait for us!” calls Twilight Sparkle from far away. Rarity clings to her back while Spike and six alicorn mares fly behind. In unison they teleport closer, and each gets a nuzzle from Doug before taking their place by his side.
“Say Cheese!” shouts Pinkie Pie. Everypony smiles together as the flash goes off.
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And so it ends. I can say Doug has quite the large family. I hope we can break down the exact amount of kids they all had. Still Applejack has had 12 foals and has one more on the way.
9726819
Roughly at the time of the epilogue, and subject to change if I do write more:
Applejack: One every other year or so, ending up with 12 (+1); ages 1-27
Rarity: 3; age 27, 19, 11, and done having more.
Rainbow Dash: 2; 27, 19, done.
Fluttershy: 3; 24, 18, 16, done.
Pinkie Pie: 4; 25, 23, 18, 15, done.
Trixie: 2; 18, 14, done.
Starlight Glimmer: 5; 19 (x4), 13, done.
Twilight Sparkle: 3; 19 (x2), 18, Harmony restricted
Celestia: 2; 19, 18, Harmony restricted
Luna: 2; 19, 18, Harmony restricted
Cadance: 1; 18, Harmony restricted
Each non-alicorn pony who is approximately 15+ has married/joined a herd and has 2+ foals. Applebaum joined a herd first, at 12; Trap, her first filly, also joined a herd at 12 and had twins, giving Doug his first 2 great-grandfoals.
9726863
So if my math is correct he had 39 kids. Wow just wow. Applejack’' final one will give him an even 40.
I'm kinda sad its done. This is a wonderful end to the series. Your stories are amazing. I wish you luck with all your future endeavors.
9730244
It's been a long, fun, if at times challenging road. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!
Good stuff. I started on the first story the past couple months and now I'm all done. So much wonderful reading. 👍
9796243
Glad you enjoyed it, and the long slog was worth it ;)
Well I finally got around to finishing the story. Good stuff.
9997890
Glad you enjoyed it!
Woo! So binging through, the story’s finally over. What a ride!
Overall, I loved most of the additions and little changes you made to the plot of the season openers and finales. It was entertaining all the way through but the most memorable ones to me are Chapter 9, when the crew lose their connection with the Elements due to chasing their dreams, and Chapter 30 when Chrysalis’ plans are derailed and shipped off to the Crystal Empire.
Compared to AB:TFY and Continuity Disrupted I think the biggest problem this fic has is it’s pacing. Rushing through all of Equestria’s threats plus Twilight’s ascension in three months is incredibly unrealistic, especially when the scale of the entire universe takes place over 8 years. Inserting some slice-of-life bits here and there between each arc, such as those in Continuity Disrupted, could have done a lot of good. Chapters 53, 57-59 are another highlight for me just because of how chill they are.
For the entire series though, unfortunately the weakest point is Doug himself. He’s just an incredibly bland, passive character that doesn’t do much of anything. The only thing I can recall him doing is coming up with the initial plan of how to outwit Chrysalis. For the rest of the story, he’s kinda just there. Even in the Chrysalis arc, once Twilight knows about Chrysalis, she replaces him in that role and basically does everything.
He’s boring, doesn’t say much, and pretty much only personality trait is that he has a huge libido. We don’t learn anything about his motivations, goals for the herd, thoughts about the current situation, and thus makes for a terrible protagonist. Thankfully, most of the fic is viewed from some other character’s perspective. These were great (especially Twilight!), which only makes Doug‘s poor characterization stick out even more like a sore thumb.
It’s a shame because my gripes with the second half of the Tirek arc might not be present if we simply knew more about him as a character, and how he reacted to the revelation that he was the source of the magic drain. Instead, he suddenly turned into an antagonist of sorts for Twilight for some reason, and a terrible one because he has zero personality. None of his actions during that entire sequence made any sense to me
Thankfully this is improved in the AB:TFY rewrite where we see more into his fears and thoughts.
Despite that though, I really had an enjoyable time binging through your works this week. Thanks for them! Looking forward to what you’re gonna put out next
10068720
The pacing is, certainly, quite fast. I find it somewhat humorous that you bring up AB:TFY because the pacing there is also quite ludicrous, at least as far as 'this happened in how many days?'. I think it's a theme of mine or something.
A part of me wants to argue the Doug part but... he's set up that way. He never gains special powers (until the end, and we know the cost of that) which leaves him quite vulnerable and weak, not traits you normally see (or want to see) in a protagonist. He even lampshades this when they want to send him against Tirek! And I also didn't want to turn him into a Gary Stu of sorts where it's always him coming up with the plans to save everypony. Thus, his contributions tend to be relatively minor. But I think anyone's would when you compare them to the level of power Twilight and the Elements casually throw around.
His personality is also not the standard badass. He's pragmatic to the point of being cowardly, he's too content with the status quo to do the boat-upending that many narratives thrive on and require, and he's long to anger and quick to forgive. Now, he's not afraid of hard work and sacrifice, but those things almost have to be laid at his front door in order for him to get them done, which is not an admirable trait.
More focus on his thoughts and fears would have served the fic well, and provided more of those 'chill' chapters where the characters are able to relax and reflect on what they've gone though. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
10068968
Regarding Doug... I think at some point in the fic you addressed it as well. That Doug doesn’t have any special powers, but acts as a pillar of stability and comfort to the heroines of the story; he (and the foals) are who they’re fighting for, and who they return to when the fighting is done. Said by Celestia I think.
So I think this is exactly what’s missing in Errant Finale: scenes where the mane 6 just come back to unwind and get comforted by Doug, for them to just process what just happened and plan about the future. Action scenes where Doug himself is in danger and the mane 6 are actively fighting for their beloved. Passive protagonists aren’t always a bad thing, but they at least need to be interesting or provide a unique perspective to events that happen.
You’re probably right in that AB:TFY had too many “chill” scenes, but on the other hand you can see in this story what happens when there’s too little.
Ah well. Really fun story though!
That was an enjoyable adventure. Sure sucks about Harmony up and stopping the Alicorns from ever having kids again.
Sure would be fun to read about Doug trying to deal with a bunch of Alicorn kids. :P
10132873
Thanks for all the comments and proofreading! And someday, we might...
pheeww done and man what a ride i can only say thanks for this great story i loved it from year one to now all the ups and downs trough the story and i have absoluty nothing to whine ..... ehm complain about !!!
well actually just one i would like to have read more what actually happen with cadence here i mean the sire of Rage is Doug isnt he? would be interesting to have read about that to to be honest i can only assume that Harmony like Discord sayd it did catch on and acted? And why chrysalis hangs around Doug now but otherwise an super ending for your series and will definitely recommend it to my friends interested in fanfics
have a good day and maybe see u again on another amazing story off yours
Regards Shen
10169900
It's certainly been fun to write! I suppose if your only complaint is there isn't enough of it, that's pretty good. The story will continue (at some point) in Growing Harmony, answering those questions.
10243358
Ain't that a kick in the head?
10243599
Oh ok....I knew that Q voiced Discord so I'd always gotten the ST:TNG jokes but I've never even played Starcraft unfortunately. Thanx DG.
10244736
That's the problem. Discord IS Chaos, the antithesis of Harmony. Yk what I mean? Don't get me wrong, I think Chaos can be a VERY good thing, but that's what it is to be human. The ponies are ruled by Harmony and anything that threatens that Harmony...
Idk what happens, bc everytime I think about it I keep spiraling down to see the world covered in blood. Though Chaos is the same way, it would only end in the end of all life.
I'd still smash Discord's statue though.
10246260
Pouring clouds out of him? So he's Cloudsdale now? Idk... it still doesn't make sense to me.
10247653
Yeah. Democracy is great for somethings, but not everything. Lol
10254856
Oh ok....I wasn't sure if it was just something that the paper came up with or what.
10264494
Oh....for some reason I was getting two stories mixed up in my head.....another story I'm reading the one that is by Chrysalis' side is named Doppel
That and Cely is a common nickname for Celestia though to be fair it's usually spelled Cele
20 yrs later??? Yikes! Que the spoiler alert lol
10410845
Yeah, Divided Rainbow was the one.
Started out very well, and was still going reasonably well. But I could definitely see how the author may have pretzeled his story path to the point where he didn't know how to tie it off.
So Cadance ended up with three kids before harmony caused a fuss?
Will the alicorn kids also have problems conceiving or can they use that same spell a few times before harmony gets mad? :P
Plus does Harmony Restricted == they no longer go into Heat at all?
10423009
One foal for Cadance before Harmony throws a fit. We'll have to see how the 'restricted' part plays out in the sequel!
10475499
Lol but Pinkie Pie is so random that she can actually make the waltz fun. Or just add it to the endless list of things that fall under the heading of Don't Question It, It's Just Pinkie Being Pinkie
Just another reason she's the Pink Eldritch Horror lol
10479034
That's hilarious
10479102
But you can't replace your profile pic DG, because you have the best one already. Nothing is better than Best Pony.
10482191
Then we do it again, just to make sure.lol
10520738
So she was pretty much doomed from the start I take it?
10520817
I mean, she had a shot; she got Cadance out of there successfully. The Crystal Empire threw a wrench in her plans, and she tripped up.
10539327
I'd love to reread the story because I've read a lot of others since my comment.
10539379
You better not retire from writing Jack. It's great writers like you ang DG that keep people like me somewhat sane.
10540039
Yeah like I said when I made that comment, I forgot where I was going with it. I know when I'd started writing that comment that I was going somewhere with the comment, but for some reason I'd tore up the map and blindfolded myself (figuratively speaking obviously)
10540026
Yeah very much not like this others.
9924241
That's where you should've stopped that thought. The moment you went on to people being executed, you contradict yourself. Killing is evil unless in self-defense or to defend another in imminent danger. If you start punishing evil with acts of evil, you're no better than them because you are evil.
10540163
Mmm, pretty sure I disagree with your conclusion. Rape, kidnapping and murder are all violent crimes. The idea of executing violent criminals - in my perspective - is to protect others from a broken, twisted person. If they can do it once, they can't do it again. Really, the only argument I've heard against capital punishment that holds any water IMO, is that certainty is a rare thing and you can't undo death if you make a mistake. I don't believe the system as is can reform violent criminals, and locking someone up in an eight by eight box for the rest of their life doesn't sound any less cruel than execution to me.
10541027
They'll be getting 3 meals a day and a bed to sleep in. I agree with the certainty is rare thing, but even if you have certainty they should still be locked up not killed. They shouldn't have done the crime in the first place and the fact that they get treated better than the homeless seems to be far from cruel.
10541057
Is that all life is though, three squares and a place to lay your head? If it's animal abuse to lock a dog in an 8x8 kennel for the rest of its life, then a human should be treated at least as well. As for the homeless, I think that's far more a commentary on how we treat the least of our society, than how we treat our prisoners. IMO, prison should be a place to rehabilitate those who can be. If a person either can't be rehabilitated or won't change, then why are we bothering?
I guess my question is one of standards? By what metric have you decided that self-defense/ defense of another is not evil, but capital punishment is? Because, without a standard, we can't go anywhere with this conversation, it'll all be opinion. I for one am looking first at the well being of the community and secondarily at the well being of the convicted.
10541653
The metric is imminence. Capital punishment is punitive and deliberate. Self-defense and defense of others from imminent threat is in the moment, passionate prevention.
Don't get me wrong, I understand where you're coming from. My original point was about the way that earlier comment was initially made in response to the equating of fornicators to murderers and rapists. I'm not sure when it evolved. Sometimes I can't even figure out my train of thought lol. I think most of the time it's just off the rails.
Let me start by saying this, I really liked Errant Finale. I liked the way you mashed plot-threads into plot ropes that felt logical and coherent. I'll again reiterate my praise for the Twilight Sparkle - Queen Chrysalis - Crystal Empire triple threat, that was breathtaking. Then came the last arc. I'm trying to put my finger on when everything went wrong and I'm kinda leaning toward the second-half of 72. The Tirek arc had started off strong, hell, even Discord's betrayal seemed logical - he had said he was going to do it. Things just started to get out of hand from Discord's reveal, and led into a lot of questionable decisions. By the end of the whole arc, I was just left in a daze. I had no real idea what was going on, or why...it felt like you handed Pinkie the pen and let her write. 74/75 were a nice nod to the movie, but didn't feel like they added anything to the story, or set up anything for a sequel either - feel free to prove me wrong there.
All that being said, I think 76 was the worst disappointment. The epilogue actively made me sad. I like that he has a big old family, with many foals, grandfoals and great-grandfoals...but it feels like his herd has fractured apart. He's living in the Crystal Empire with AJ I guess, but he left Fluttershy behind in Ponyville, Rarity is off being a big wig in the fashion industry. I get the sense that RD is someone important in the Wonderbolts now, and that Twilight, Celestia and Luna are all busy being princesses. This means, even if Pinkie and Trixie are still with him, most of his herd's moved away. It almost feels as if he's a victim of his own success (I.e. libido).
IDK, there are some pretty fun moments in Errant Finale, but I can't help but feel down after finishing it, especially with that epilogue.
10542057
Fair enough, and thanks for all the well-thought out comments!
The roping of the season four and five endings together... didn't go nearly as well as I originally envisioned. I wanted to keep building and building, with ever higher stakes... but then there isn't enough to support it. The momentum just runs out; I could have cut the entire time travel arc entirely and not lost much, if anything.
Glad you liked 74/75 (I liked them a lot, too), and they lead into Growing Harmony; which, hopefully, will explain why they have fractured so much. Although, I suppose I didn't see the epilogue showing them fracturing as much as fulfilling their dreams. RD is nearing the end of her Wonderbolt career, Rarity does her fashion stuff, Celestia and Luna have their proteges (technically Twilight's foals) taking over for them and letting them 'retire'. Very similar to The Last Problem. (I wrote my epilogue before I saw the episode, the timestamp proves it!)
Now that I think about it, the main (only?) reason the Mane Six are still together in Season Eight, having fulfilled so many of their hopes and dreams, is because they started the School of Friendship. Will that happen at some point? Perhaps; Growing Harmony's bloating worse than AB: The First Year!
And since the season six finale doesn't make sense, that leaves the start of season four, six, and the start and end of seven to somehow mash together... Oh, and include stuff from season eight and nine.
10564331
I could have sworn she did, or Starlight said it to Twilight, but I can't find the episode.
10564427
It is certainly a fun revelation, indeed.
10565235
Yes. Yes I did. I'm actually very surprised the show never made this joke.
10565464
The three 'sins' that come up are actually a quote from Warcraft 3/Monty Python's Flying Circus. The Paladin says "Is that a sword? Luxury! Is that a horse? Sloth! Is that a helmet? Vanity!"
Glad no one had to die in the end, as that was quite terrifying.
Most excellent.
love this also now onto the next one
11356242
I personally don't believe The Pink One is actually an earth pony... Or not entirely pony, period. Maybe some Eldritch Abomination in pony form? Or maybe the descendant of some long long ago Chaos spirit ancestors...? Not necessarily Discord because I think Chaos wouldn't have just one spirit... Though with how often Discord duplicates himself, who's to say one of him hasn't decided to just do his own thing and who's to say there hasn't been a Screwball in the distant past?
Besides, how does having access to earth pony magic mean that Celestia would have access to Pink's magic? I mean no other earth pony does, right?
Well done! This was well paced throughout the series, detailed enough to be its own canon, and unique in many ways. And far too few fim fictions get to any endings!
11362047
Thanks for all the comments! There were so many, I felt bad not replying more often, and I hope I answered the most pertinent. Which part(s) of the story did you enjoy the most, and what parts could use extra help?
On a side note, the adventure continues in Growing Harmony, though that remains incomplete as I slowly plod away.
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I don't see it so much as Purple Smart just shrugs it off like outliving all her friends and everypony else is "No big". I tend to think of it more like she's just displaying the Bookhorse good ol' naivete, because she's too new to the whole Alicorn lifespan to not just know the concept about it but to actually Understand it and Know the Truth of having a very very long life.
I mean I could try to imagine what it's it like to have lived for a few centuries or millennia, though I don't have any delusions that I could even come close to what the Reality may be. I've had 30+ years to get used to my twin brother's death and it's still hard to except that he's gone, and I had the dubious benefit of still being a kid when he passed. I've outlived a few other friends as well and part of me still doesn't believe they are Actually Gone.